“And you were going to say what?” he asked slowly. “That you hoped she forgave you for allowing Scottie to puke on her too?”
I rolled my eyes. We both knew I was trying to get out of what I really was on the verge of saying. “Look, whatever I was about to say, it doesn’t matter now. That was then, and this is now.”
He nodded. “Right, now you’re alive, so you should keep all those feelings bottled up.”
“Exactly.”
“I mean, what’s the point in living if you have to spill your guts and make things uncomfortable?”
“That’s no way to live,” I agreed.
“Much better to just keep putting yourself in life or death situations so you can get that cheap thrill of having her cling to your arm as you scream and she calmly takes everything on.”
“I don’t scream.”
“You screamed a little,” he disagreed.
“As I recall, I was perfectly fine until she tried to drown me.”
“You freaked out when she was driving.”
I turned a little to face him. “Yeah, what was with that shit? Where did she learn to drive like that? Or did she just get in and hope for the best? And why was she so terrified to get on a plane, but driving to the edge of a dock was totally fine?”
He shrugged, not having an answer for me. “I can tell you one thing, Kavanaugh will never get in a vehicle with her again.”
“I doubt any of us will,” I muttered.
The night slowly passed after that. I started to drift off, but every time I started to fall asleep, a wave would wake me up and I would look around for the boat causing it. Of course, there never was a boat. But as the sun was starting to rise, I finally gave in and let myself drift off.
“You’re such a liar!”
I was startled awake some hours later. The sun was higher in the sky, but it was still morning. And my feisty…friend was arguing with IRIS.
“I didn’t lie.”
“You so did!”
“How do you lie when you’re playing rock, paper, scissors?” IRIS countered.
“I don’t know,” she glared at him, “but you did.”
He scoffed and leaned back against the raft. “I’m not playing if you’re gonna be a baby about it.”
“Like I would play with you anyway!”
Max slid his glasses down his nose, eyeing me. “This is your woman?”
“She’s not my woman.”
Sarah turned to me, her arms crossed over her chest in anger. “Really? Now I’m not your woman?”
“You’re the one that left me,” I argued.
“Because I had a flight to catch!”
“And you didn’t give me your number.”
“Like you would come to Chicago to see me,” she said in irritation.