The Island's Secret - 3. Friday

I woke in the morning, and went straight to the sauna, not worrying about clothes. I lay down on my stomach on the wooden bench, enjoying the heat against my front. Soon, my muscles weren’t sore anymore, and I got out, walking back to my room. I put on some clothes, and went upstairs, where I found Tommy drinking coffee.

“Good morning,” I said, and he nodded. “How do you get electricity out here?” I asked.

Tommy grinned. “We’re completely off the grid,” he said. “It’s all run off solar panels and some hydro I had put into a river nearby.”

“What if it’s a cloudy day?” I asked.

“It generates more power than we use on sunny days, and stores it for cloudy ones. If we turned it all off now, we could last a week on what we have stored.”

I nodded, and began making some toast.

“Could you hear my music last night?” I asked, curious.

“No,” he said. “Everything’s soundproof here. If you closed the door to your floor, you could play it as loud as you want and I wouldn’t notice until the floor started thumping.”

“Wow,” I said.

Tommy grinned. “I was blasting my music last night, and I assume you didn’t hear anything.”

I shook my head. “That’s amazing.”

Tommy nodded. “I’m gonna go work out now,” he said, walking upstairs. “See you later today. You should pick out an ATV and a jetski today. Just find one you like online, don’t worry about the price.”

I waved goodbye, thanking him, and finished eating. I decided to go on the ATV and see town, so I grabbed my camera and left. I hadn’t taken it yesterday because I wanted to experience everything fully, without the temptation to take pictures, but today I felt like capturing some memories. I put the camera around my neck and grabbed my wallet before heading out to the garage. I took the guest ATV, and headed out, going towards the road. I took a few detours, snapping some nice pictures of trees and granite outcroppings, trusting in my perfect sense of direction to get me to the road.

I reached it soon, and started to drive along it, seeing how fast the ATV could go. I slowed as I saw a car coming towards me, and pulled over to the side of the road. It was a narrow road, so the car slowed as it approached me and I got a good look at the occupants. It was Bernie, who was driving, and someone who was definitely not Martha. I realized it must be Asher, and I grimaced in my head, careful to keep my face blank as I waved to Bernie. When they were closer, I could see them better, and the first thing I noticed was that Asher was hot. Really hot. He had black hair in the same hairstyle as mine, and he was tanned. He had a straight nose, and his pink lips were shaped perfectly. He looked like he’d just walked out of a wet dream. The only problem was that he was wearing exactly what I’d expected. He was all dressed up, and I guessed that meant he was really snobby.

Fuck. I hadn’t had high hopes in the first place, but him being hot made it worse. Still, I could at least hang out with him. For Bernie and Martha, of course. Nothing to do with how sexy he was. They waved as they got closer, and I saw Asher give Bernie an annoyed look as he broke out into a smile as if this made us best friends. I mentally grinned, realizing that look meant that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t appreciate being forced into a friendship, but then Bernie stopped beside me.

Oh, shit, no! I thought. I don’t want to have to talk to him!

Bernie seemed to have other ideas, however, because despite dirty looks from both me and Asher he rolled down Asher’s window and said hello.

“Hey,” I responded dutifully. “Hi Asher.”

“Hey, Ben,” Asher said, in the exact same tone I’d used, his voice slightly higher than mine, but still fairly deep.

Fuck, even his voice is sexy! I could feel my cock beginning to stiffen. I don’t think I can hang out with him after all, I thought to myself. If I can’t hear his voice without popping wood…

“Do you want to come over and help Asher unpack?” Bernie asked, grinning at us. I wasn’t sure if he was oblivious to the dirty looks we both kept giving him, or if he enjoyed them, but either way he kept digging us deeper and deeper into this shithole.

“No, I should really go check out the town,” I said. “I haven’t been yet.”

Bernie grinned at me, and I decided that he enjoyed this. “Nonsense,” he said. “You can go exploring together later.”

And I thought Martha was the domineering one.

Asher met my eyes for the first time, and what I saw didn’t even surprise me. Of course his eyes would be beautiful. It’s not like there was anything about him that wasn’t. They were light blue, but they had flecks of grey in them. He looked like he was feeling exactly what I was. He glanced back at Bernie, silently pleading, but Bernie just looked at me again, forcing me to answer.

I shrugged, agreeing reluctantly, wondering why I’d ever thought I’d liked Bernie.

“OK,” he said, sadistically pleased, “You can meet us at our house. The road goes straight there.”

I nodded, beaten, and Bernie began to accelerate. I wondered what he’d do if I gunned it in the opposite direction, but I didn’t find out. I turned dutifully around, starting after them as slowly as I could without offending them. I admit that I might have exaggerated Bernie’s sadism a little bit, but not by much. I thought about it more as I drove, wondering why Bernie and Martha wanted Asher and I to be friends so badly. I pinned it to obsessive grandparenting, and started to think about Asher again. He was way too hot for this to work out well for me. I was going to end up outing myself somehow, and then Tommy would tell my parents and everyone would know. Actually, I could imagine Tommy being cool with it, and I don’t think my parents would care, but I still don’t want to deal with everybody else. I arrived at the Hastings’ house, interrupting my train of thought, and climbed off the ATV, ambling over to their car. The longer I went without meeting Asher, the longer I could see that beautiful body in my mind without having to deal with imagining his personality too.

“Thanks for helping with this, Ben,” Bernie said, as if it had been my choice.

Asher had a sarcastic look on his face that made me think he’d had the same thought as me.

“Anytime,” I said insincerely, taking the bag Bernie handed to me. I followed Asher inside, but he stopped at the door.

“I don’t actually know where we’re going,” he admitted. “I’ve never been here before.”

“That’s fine!” Martha bustled into view, waving us into the house. “It’s just over here!”

She led us to Asher’s room, which was plain. We dropped Asher’s stuff on his bed, and Martha began dictating to us where everything should go. I wondered why she was deciding, if it was Asher’s room, and from the look on his face he wondered the same thing. Eventually, we heard Bernie calling her, and she was suddenly gone. The noise level in the room dropped a few decibels, and I felt relieved. Asher must have guessed from the look on my face, because he grinned.

“Just take a few deep breaths. The smothered feeling goes away soon.”

I laughed guiltily. “Was it that obvious?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I just know what it feels like. My grandparents have a tendency to get what they want. I didn’t even want to stay here all summer, yet somehow I’m up here, bundled up in this shit,” he said, pulling at his dress shirt. He didn’t sound bitter, just slightly amused.

“That’s not what you usually dress like?” I asked, pleasantly surprised. Maybe he wasn’t a posh piece of shit.

Asher laughed, shaking his head in violent negation. “What you see is not what you get,” he laughed. “I wear shorts and a t-shirt,” he said. “I hate anything and everything formal. I’m only wearing this because nobody informed Mrs. Joseph Stalin there that dictatorship is frowned on in free countries.”

I grinned. Maybe I could be friends with Asher.

“She does seem a little controlling,” I said sarcastically. “But if you’re looking for an excuse to get out of that shit then let’s go swimming! The water is the perfect temperature.”

“OK,” he agreed, excited. “I just have to find a swimsuit first. I’ll unpack later. Sorry about Grandpa conscripting you like that, by the way.”

I laughed. “It’s OK. The only reason I didn’t want to was because I thought you’d be one of those snobby kids who dislike having fun.”

Asher laughed, shaking his head. “To be honest, I thought the same thing about you, and that was why I was so pissed at Grandpa for setting me up like that.”

We smiled shyly at each other for a minute, and then he found his shorts.

“Here we go,” he said, holding them up. “Wait,” he said, looking at me. “You don’t have swim shorts here, do you?” I shook my head, and he started digging through his suitcase again. “You can borrow some of mine. We’re probably the same size.”

I tried not to laugh as I realized that my decision to wear jeans while ATVing meant I’d literally get into Asher’s pants. He pulled out another suit and threw it to me.

“I’ll go change in the bathroom,” I said, walking out. I looked around, and I found the bathroom quickly. I locked the door and got changed quickly. When I got out, Asher was waiting at the door to his room.

“Do you want to leave your stuff here?” He asked, holding the door open.

I shrugged. “Sure, thanks,” I threw my pants, phone, and wallet into his room, and we went down to the lake. I turned on my camera, taking a few pictures, and we walked to the end of the dock. I sat down at the edge, my back to the water, and Asher sat with me.

“Let’s get a picture,” I suggested, setting the camera to five second burst before turning it around and holding it out. I pressed the button, and then put my arm around Asher’s shoulders and fell into the water, pulling him with me. I kept the camera in front of us, hopefully capturing the expression on his face, and we hit the water. I let go of him, kicking deeper, and took some pictures of him floundering in surprise. It didn’t take long for him to find the surface, and he looked like a strong swimmer when he wasn’t surprised. I let myself float to the surface, and I took a picture of the glare he gave me as I surfaced. I grinned at him, putting my camera carefully on the dock.

“You could have warned me,” He said, frowning.

“That wouldn’t have been fun,” I laughed. He grinned, too.

“It was pretty funny,” He admitted. “I was terrified for your camera at first.”

“Yeah, I should have warned you about that at least,” I said apologetically.

He grinned. “It’s OK. That made it funnier. I can’t wait to see the pictures.”

“I’ll text them to you once I get my phone again,” I told him, and he nodded. I dove underwater again, swimming for the bottom, and Asher followed me. It was deeper here than at Tommy’s place. I had to stop at thirty feet down, waiting for my ears to adjust to the pressure, and I saw Asher a few feet above me. He waved, and I dove deeper, my ears adjusted. The bottom was around thirty five feet down, and I had to stop again before I reached it. When I touched the bottom, my lungs were beginning to ache. I grabbed a rock, noticing that there was no sand here, and pushed off the bottom, kicking strongly for the surface. I passed Asher, who’d come a bit deeper, and he began to follow. I let some of the air out of my lungs, and as I neared the air my lungs were on fire. I pushed the last bit of air out of my lungs at the same time that I broke the surface, and I took a huge breath. Asher surfaced a second later, the same way I had, and he grinned at me.

“I thought you’d died down there,” he said. “My lungs were going to burst waiting for you!”

I grinned and held up the rock I’d grabbed.

“You reached the bottom?” He asked, amazed. “How deep was it?”

I shrugged. “Thirty five feet?” I guessed, unsure.

He laughed. “Can I see that rock?” he asked, interested.

“Sure,” I said, handing it to him. “You can have it.”

He examined it, treading water with only his feet, and grinned.

“Was the bottom all like this?"

"Yeah," I told him, confused.

"I bet there’re underwater caves around here,” he told me, looking excited.

“Really?” I asked, intrigued. “How do you know?”

“The granite goes all the way to the bottom,” he said. “It erodes easily.”

“Are you interested in rocks?”

“More minerals than rocks,” he replied, shrugging. “I am interested in them, though.”

I nodded. “I’m more interested in living things,” I said.

“Like plants?” he asked, excited.

I shrugged, sorry to disappoint him. “Not really,” I replied. “I like animals.”

He nodded, understanding. “Do you like dogs?” he asked.

I nodded enthusiastically. “I love them,” I said.

He grinned. “My dog’s coming up here sometime next week,” he told me happily.

“You’re making two trips?” I asked, surprised. “How far away do you live?”

“Only half an hour,” he said. “I just moved, and this is the first opportunity I've had to come up here."

I grinned. “I live half an hour away too,” I replied, pleasantly surprised.

We compared where we lived, and I was disappointed to see he lived in the opposite direction as I did. This was pretty much the halfway point between our houses.

“So you’re here all summer too?” I asked, hopeful.

He grinned and nodded. “I wasn’t very excited about that, until now,” he admitted. “It’s nice to know that I have a friend here now. I wasn’t looking forward to spending the summer with a bunch of spoiled assholes.”

“I’m definitely an asshole, and my uncle is doing his best to spoil me,” I warned, grinning. “He doesn’t like that my parents won’t accept money from him, and this is his way of getting around that.”

“Is your uncle one of those people then?” Asher asked.

I shook my head, grinning. “He hasn’t been rich for long,” I said. “He’s not posh at all. He’s spent all his time finding and funding worthwhile causes, and this is the first that he’s stopped to spend time or money on himself.”

“How’d he get rich?” Asher asked, curious.

“He created a construction company,” I told him. “He worked constantly until it was one of the biggest ones out there, and now he works to keep the money flowing into the charities he funds.”

Asher laughed. “So you aren’t used to all this either?” He asked, gesturing to everything. I shook my head.

“My family isn’t rich, just my uncle. He offers money a lot, but nobody in my family accepts.”

Asher grinned. “It’s the same situation with my grandparents. They’re the only rich ones in the family.”

“That’s good,” I said, relieved. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what?” He replied, curious.

“If I ever start acting like one of those rich kids, punch me.”

Asher laughed. “OK, but only if you’ll do the same for me.”

I nodded, and we shook on it. His hand was colder than mine was.

“Shit, you’re warm!” he exclaimed.

“I always am,” I laughed. “That’s why I love the cold.”

He shook his head, amazed. “That’s awesome,” he said. “I’m so jealous!”

I shook my head. “Don’t be,” I told him seriously. “I can’t even sleep sometimes because I’m too hot. It’s not a good thing at all.”

Asher shrugged. “I guess I understand. It’s easier to warm up than it is to cool off.”

I nodded, and Asher kicked his feet, gliding out into the lake on his back. I followed, going faster because I wasn’t carrying the rock. We floated for a little while, until we heard someone yell.

“Hey Ben!” Tommy shouted. I looked up, and he snapped a picture of us with my camera. I laughed, and sunk underwater. We were fifty feet off shore, but I was confident that I could swim that far underwater and avoid more pictures. I looked back, still underwater, and saw Asher following me. He grinned at me, and I grinned back. We reached the shore, and swam underneath the dock before surfacing. I saw Tommy’s feet through the space between the boards above me, and I splashed him, making him run back onto shore. He set my camera down, and I grinned at the indignant look on his face. I decided to climb up onto the dock, and I ignored the ladder. It was too far away. I went underwater, sinking deep before swimming up as fast as I could. I broke the surface and was able to reach high enough to grab the side of the dock and pull myself up. When I looked back, I saw Asher was just pulling himself up the same way.

“Creative,” he commented, grinning. I laughed, but I forgot what I was laughing about as he pulled himself out of the water. His muscles bulged, and drops of water slid down his flat chest, in between his pecs, and slid down his abs like it was a plinko game. I looked away before it became too obvious that I was staring, but the image was burned into my retinas. I wished I’d had my camera and the balls to take a picture of him. Before, I’d managed to ignore how hot he was in favor of intelligent conversation, but now I couldn’t stop noticing how soft his skin looked. He was tanned, and the only thing marring his perfect skin was five dots arranged in a circle on his shoulder. It was a weird birthmark, but I was fairly sure it wasn’t a tattoo. I decided to ask later, if I got an excuse for it. Right now, it would just draw attention to how I’d been staring at him.

“Hello, Asher,” Tommy said before turning to me. “I didn’t think I’d find you here,” he continued, surprised. “I thought you’d be exploring town or something.”

I laughed. “No, Bernie made me come over. Asher’s not a pampered shit, by the way.”

Asher looked surprised, and so did Tommy, but they both laughed.

“Well that’s good,” Tommy said. “Now you won’t complain when Bernie and Martha make you hang out.”

Asher and I laughed, and Tommy led us up to the house.

“Have you picked out an ATV and a jetski yet?” Tommy asked me.

I shook my head, and whispered to Asher. “This is what I meant about me being spoiled.”
Asher laughed, and Tommy decided to ignore us and continue.

“You should,” he said. “That way Asher can use the guest ones when he comes over.” He looked at us.

“I’m assuming you will be coming over?” he said to Asher, making it a question.

“Yeah, as long as it’s cool with you guys,” Asher said, grinning.

We nodded. “Wait ‘till you see the house,” I told him. “Tommy went all out.”

Tommy grinned. “It is a little bit much,” he admitted.

I laughed, and Asher looked confused.

“You’ll get it when you see it,” I said. “Maybe you can come over tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Asher said enthusiastically. “As long as my grandparents don’t force me into anything else, I’ll be there.”

We grinned at each other, and went inside after Tommy. I was surprised at how quickly we’d become friends, but I attributed it to Asher’s personality. He was just a likeable person.

“Don’t come in here all dripping wet!” Martha yelled, throwing towels at us. We laughed, and she grinned. “I’m not in the mood to have half the lake spilled across my floor,” she said. We dried ourselves off under her watchful eye, and when we met her approval we continued into the house. She led us to the dinner table, where Tommy and Bernie were waiting, and then left us to seat ourselves as she got dinner out of the oven. Tommy and I laughed as we saw that she’d made pizza. We explained ourselves when everybody else looked confused.

“We had pizza last night,” Tommy said. “And we were planning to have it tomorrow.”

Martha laughed. “Oh,” she said. “I made this because it’s Asher’s favorite food.”

I grinned at Asher. “OK, you’re going to love our cottage,” I told him. “We’ve got a pizza oven and a fully stocked kitchen.”

Asher looked like he was trying not to drool, and we all laughed. I wasn’t sure, but I thought Martha and Bernie looked just a little bit smug that we’d become friends like they’d predicted. I smiled at them, not even mad. We all ate, and it was really good. For dessert, Martha brought out fresh brownies.

“Something tells me you guys are going to have Tommy here for dinner every day, whether you like it or not,” I joked, pointing out the look of delight on his face. We all laughed, but it was true. Tommy hated cooking, and Martha was a really good cook. We finished the brownies, and Tommy sadly declared that he had to go back to work. Asher convinced me to stay, not that it took much effort, and we all said goodbye to him. Asher and I went back to his room, and I helped him unpack all his things. When we were done, he opened the large window, trying to get some air into the room. We stood in front of it, enjoying the light wind, and looked out over the bay.

“Your room faces our cottage,” I told him. “You can’t see it past the trees, but there’s another bay just around that corner, and our cottage is on a point in the middle of that.”

“I didn’t see any roads leading that way,” he observed, and I grinned.

“That’s cause there aren’t any,” I told him. “You can’t get to the cottage by car.”

“That’s why you were on that ATV?” He asked, and I nodded.

“Wow,” he said. “That’s awesome.”

I took a picture of the bay from his window, and he remembered something.

“Can you text me those pictures now?” he asked, and I grinned.

“Sure,” I said, having forgotten. “I can’t wait to see them.”

I grabbed my phone from my jeans, and uploaded the pictures to it. I showed him the ones where I’d pushed him in, and we laughed about the look on his face. I sent them all to his phone, adding his number to my contacts, and he added mine to his. I looked back out over the bay, and saw the sun was beginning to set.

“I should go back now,” I told him, disappointed. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, just as disappointed. “Text me.”

I nodded, not letting on how much happier that made me, and grabbed my jeans off the floor. I got changed in the bathroom again, and gave Asher his shorts back before leaving.

“See you,” I said, and he waved, still looking out his window. He was perfectly outlined by the setting sun. I snapped a picture of him, and laughed as he turned towards me, surprised.

“I’ll send you that one too,” I promised, and then left. I said goodbye to Martha and Bernie, and then got on the ATV and rode home, racing the sun. I arrived before dark, and I put the ATV in the shed and went inside. I went down into the basement, enjoying how much cooler it was down here, and went to the living room. I texted the picture to Asher, captioning it ‘Majestic af’. I sent him the two pictures Tommy had taken of us, too. The first one had us both floating on our backs, looking at the sky, comfortably silent, and the second had us looking at the camera, looking indignant. Tommy actually wasn’t a bad photographer, when he tried. We texted for a little bit, but we soon got annoyed with typing and exchanged Skype information. I went on my computer, and we started a video call. The skype logo was replaced with a much better looking image, and then he started talking.

“Hey,” Asher said. “I was just wondering how you guys have internet and power out there.”

“We have solar and hydro power, and the internet is from my phone,” I said. Asher nodded thoughtfully. “Does that mean you have internet wherever you go?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Then you can take me on a tour,” he said, grinning.

I laughed, and thought about it. “No,” I said. “You’re going to have to wait until you’re here in person. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” Asher sighed dramatically, and I ignored him. “Besides,” I said happily. “I have to pick out an ATV and a jetski.”

“Want any help?” Asher asked, and I grinned.

“Absolutely,” I said. “I know nothing about ATVs or jetskis.”

I shared my screen with him, so he could see it on his computer, and then went on the internet. I found a website that had jetskis first, and began browsing. When one of us liked one, I opened the link in a new tab, and soon we’d seen them all. We began reading through the descriptions of the ones we liked, and we quickly found that the ones Tommy had bought were the best. That only left choosing the color, and we discussed which looked best and eventually settled on red and black. I favorited the page so I could show Tommy later, and then we started looking for ATVs. We got distracted, and ended up looking through dirt bikes instead, and it didn’t take me long to figure out that I’d prefer a dirt bike over an ATV. We picked out a good one, and I saved that page too, so I could ask Tommy if I could get that instead of an ATV. We decided to choose an ATV in case he said no, because we were having so much fun with this. We found, unsurprisingly, that the ATVs Tommy had bought were the best, and we decided on red and black again.

“This is so unbelievable,” I said, shaking my head.

Asher laughed. “I know exactly what you mean,” he said. “What happened to worrying about the price of things?”

I grinned, glad someone understood, and we heard a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I yelled, and I waited for almost ten seconds before I remembered it was soundproofed and Tommy couldn’t hear.

“One second,” I said to Asher, getting up to open the door.

“Hey Tommy,” I said. “I yelled ‘come in,’ but I forgot about the soundproofing.”

Tommy laughed. “I didn’t know if knocking would work, anyway,” he said.

“It wouldn’t have if I’d had my music on,” I said. “I only heard because it was quiet.”

“Why didn’t you have your music on?” Tommy asked, surprised.

I grinned. “I’m Skyping with Asher,” I explained. Tommy nodded.

“Hi Asher!” he yelled.

“Hey Tommy!” came the faint response.

I led Tommy into the living room, and he explained how I could hook my laptop up to the speakers too. I did it while Tommy talked to Asher. When I was done, Asher’s voice was coming from everywhere.

“Wow,” I said. “That’s cool for music, but it’s kind of creepy with a person talking.”

“What is?” Asher asked.

“Surround sound speakers,” I explained.

“That’s pretty sweet,” Asher said. “You guys have a really nice living room.”

Tommy and I laughed, and Asher looked confused.

“What’s so funny?” He asked, unsure.

“You’ll see when you come over,” I said, grinning.

“I’m dying of curiosity!” Asher exclaimed. “If I run through the forest and arrive at your house in the middle of the night then it’s your fault for taunting me,” he warned, grinning.

Tommy and I laughed, but then I remembered what we’d been doing.

“Asher and I picked out a jetski,” I told him. “But we decided on a dirt bike instead of an ATV. We picked out an ATV anyway, though, so it’s fine if you’d rather I got that.”

“Sounds good,” Tommy said. “You can have both.”

Asher and I both gaped at him, and he laughed. “They’ll be here tomorrow,” he said. “Express delivery is a wonderful thing.”

“Wow,” Asher said. “I mean, you warned me that you were being spoiled, but…”

Tommy and I laughed. “This way you two can drive around together without having to use the guest one,” he explained. “I’ll probably have friends over occasionally, and I have a feeling you two will be here a lot.”

We laughed, knowing how right he was, and he continued.
“Ben, you should get your boating licence soon. Do you have yours, Asher?”

Asher shook his head, and Tommy grinned. “I’ll come back down in a few minutes with codes so you can study and take the test online.”

“Thanks, Tommy,” we said together, and he waved and left.

“Wow,” Asher said when we heard the door close. “He’s nice. And rich.”

I laughed. “Yeah,” I said. “Really nice, and really rich.”

“This is going to be so fun,” Asher said. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

I grinned. “Just wait,” I said. “Tommy owns an island. Nobody’s been on it yet, and we can explore it tomorrow.”

Tommy came back down then, with a sheet of paper he’d just printed.

“Here you go,” he said, putting it on my desk. “You can take this whenever you want, but until you’ve passed it’ll be illegal to drive your jetskis, so you won’t be able to do it when we’ve got company.”

“Jetskis?” I asked, emphasising the ‘S’.

“Yeah,” Tommy said. “I’m ordering two of the ones you picked. Same reasoning as the dirt bike.”

He laughed at the amazed expressions on our faces, and went back upstairs. “I’m going swimming,” he said. “If you need me I’ll be on the west side of the point, by the beach.”

“We have a beach?” I asked, and Tommy grinned. I shook my head as he walked away.

“Want to start in on this test?” I asked, and Asher nodded. We both navigated to the website, and I read one of the codes to Asher. He entered it, I entered mine, and we were on. We made our accounts, and then started the online course. We talked with each other the entire time, and when we were done, we took the test. We didn’t cheat, and we both passed anyway. It was a fairly easy test, but we congratulated each other anyway as we printed off our temporary boating licences. The permanent ones would be mailed to the store, which was the only place mail was delivered around here.

“I’m gonna go swimming in celebration,” Asher said, and I grinned.

“Want me to come over and go with you?” I asked. “I can come over on the jetski and we can drive it around,” I offered.

Asher grinned. “As long as you have a light,” he said, quoting the study course. I laughed, and nodded. “The jetskis have headlights,” I said.

“Make sure to tell Tommy where you’re going," Asher said seriously, and I nodded.

“I’ll be over soon,” I told him, and we ended the call. I got changed and ran down to the boathouse, texting Tommy on the way, and he said it was fine as long as I went slowly. I got on the guest jetski and started it, driving out of the boathouse and turning on the headlight. I went slowly, like I’d promised, so it took me a few more minutes to get to Asher’s house. I drove up to his dock and saw him standing at the end of it, waiting. He helped me tie the jetski to the dock, and then we dived in.

The air had cooled down, and the water was almost warmer now. It was really dark, so we couldn’t see anything farther than five feet away. I stopped swimming when I couldn’t see Asher, listening intently, and then splashed him and dived underwater. I swam away, coming up as quietly as I could a little bit farther away. Asher must have heard anyway, because he splashed me back. Now it was my turn to listen again, and I soon heard the water moving to my right. I splashed him, and while he was focused on listening, I swam underwater towards him.

I soon saw his feet, and I grabbed one with my fingernails, shaking it slightly as if I were something trying to tear off a piece. He kicked violently, panicking, and I burst out laughing. He felt the bubbles against his leg, and realized it was me. I surfaced beside him, just getting my laughing under control, and he tackled me, pulling me under with him. I saw the moonlight glint off his white teeth, and realized he was grinning. We wrestled underwater for a while before we both had to surface for air, and we both laughed as we looked at each other. We were breathing hard, so we swam back to the dock and climbed up. We sat at the end of the dock, catching our breath, and Asher laughed again.

“I have to admit,” He said breathlessly, “You got me good. Really good.”

I laughed, remembering. “I still can’t believe that worked as well as it did,” I said.

Asher nodded, grinning.

“That must have been crazy scary,” I said, imagining it.

“Oh, it was,” he laughed. “How did you make it feel like a bite?”

I reached over, pinching his shoulder with my fingernails, glad for the excuse to touch him, and he laughed.

“That was so fucking scary,” he admitted. “I was freaking out until I felt the bubbles and realized it was you laughing.”

I tried, and failed, to not laugh. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I would have been screaming like a little bitch, if that helps your pride at all.”

He grinned, trying to imagine it. “I don’t think you would have,” he said. “You don’t seem like you scare easily.”

I shook my head. “I don’t,” I said. “There’s just something about being in the water and not being able to see.”

He nodded. “I know exactly what you mean,” he said.

I giggled again, and he gently punched my bicep. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go on the jetski now.”

I nodded, getting my laughter under control, and we untied the ropes. I let him get on first, took a picture of him, and then jumped on behind him.

“I’m driving?” He asked, surprised, ignoring the picture.

“I already drove over here,” I explained. “It’s your first time, so you should get to drive.”

He started the motor, grinning, and turned it around, facing out into the bay and turning on the headlights. He gunned the engine, and we flew forward. I had to grab onto him to prevent myself from being thrown off. I held onto him tightly as he turned, staying in the small area that we knew was deep. He did sharp turns, jumping off the waves he was creating, and I enjoyed the feel of holding onto him. His skin was soft, and I could feel his abs against my arms as I held on. His stomach was hard, even while he was sitting down. I could feel myself getting a boner, and of course that was when he turned into the dock, throwing the ropes up onto it and hopping up.

He knelt down, trying the rope, and I threw him the other one when he was done. When the jetski was fully tied, he offered me his hand to pull me up. I shook my head, not able to stand up for obvious reasons, and threw myself backwards, off the jetski and into the water. I swam backwards, grinning at him, and he jumped in after me. We swam around, doing laps together until we were both panting again. We swam in to the dock, sitting on the end and looking at the moon. I reached over, grabbing my camera, and aimed it at the moon, adjusting the exposure until it was perfect. I took a picture, and lowered my camera, looking at Asher. He had scooted closer to see the picture as I was taking it. Much closer. Our shoulders were almost touching, and now that he looked at me, our faces were less than two inches apart. He must have realized, because he scooted over again.

“Sorry,” he said, embarrassed. “I was trying to see the picture.” I silently selected the picture and handed him my camera. He looked at the screen, admiring the photo.

“You’re a really good photographer,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said. He grinned, until he noticed the time on my camera.

“Shit,” he said, worried. “It’s one AM. Will your uncle be worried?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “It depends on if he texted.”

I grabbed my phone from the waterproof container in the jetski, and saw that Tommy had texted me half an hour ago asking if I was staying at Asher’s. I quickly responded, explaining what had happened, and he was OK with it.

“Safe,” I commented. “He wasn’t worried. He knew you would have called him if I hadn’t shown up.”

Asher grinned. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble because of this.”

I laughed. “It would have been worth it,” I said truthfully. “This was awesome.”

He laughed. “It was really fun,” he agreed. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

I grinned. “Neither can I,” I said. “What time you do wake up?”

“Usually seven,” Asher said. “You?”

“The same,” I replied, grinning. “It’s good to know I won’t have to wait for you to wake up. I’ll drive over at eight, K?”

Asher nodded enthusiastically. “See you then,” he said, grinning.
I nodded, and we stood up. I jumped onto the jetski, and started the motor and headlights.

“Bye,” I said, waving.

“Bye,” Asher responded, starting to walk towards his house. “See you in seven hours.”

I laughed and accelerated, turning towards my house. I drove back, grinning the whole way, and put the jetski in the boathouse. I checked my phone as I walked to the house, and I saw Asher had texted me.

Didn’t die on your way home? It read. I grinned, and responded by sending him the picture of him on the jetski for the first time, as per our tradition. I thought for a moment before deciding to send him the picture of the moon, too. He texted a smiley face, and said goodnight. I wished him goodnight too, and put my phone away. I walked into the house, and saw Uncle Tommy was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee.

“Hey,” he said as I walked in. “What were you just grinning about?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“The walls are glass,” he said. “I could see you outside.”

“Oh,” I laughed. “I was texting Asher.”

Uncle Tommy nodded, smiling. “Did you have fun?” he asked.

I grinned. “Yeah,” I replied. “It was awesome.”

Tommy nodded. “I ordered everything,” he said. “They told me to expect it at one PM. That means we can have it all brought in by helicopter for three.”

“Thanks,” I said, grinning happily.

“No problem,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to work now. This coffee break has been way too long.”

I nodded, and walked downstairs. I went into the living room and grabbed a drink of water before going to bed. I fell asleep almost immediately, tired out by the fun day.