THE CRAZY GOOD SERIES - Rachel Robinson Page 0,174

of the imagination, but it’s hard to be a SEAL if you despise water.

“You are such a pussy, dude. Throw me a beer,” I order. Maverick complies, grabbing a couple brews for Cody and me, and water for himself. Then he takes his designated place at the steering wheel to drive.

“Pussy is as pussy does,” he says smirking. “Here Cody.” Maverick tosses a beer to our teammate, but not before shaking it down by his side. I chuckle.

I clear my throat, tighten the ties on my blue board shorts, and get the unpleasantness out of the way. “Just to be up front. We just have to check on her, you know, and make sure she’s having a horrible fucking time, and then we can head out and fish and eat lunch and drink beers until we don’t care if we catch fish or not.” Cody and Mav just stare at me like I’m from an alternate universe. It would seem to them that I am another person, I guess.

“You’re fucking serious, aren’t you? You didn’t crack one fucking joke. You aren’t wearing your speedo. You have something to prove today, don’t you, Stevey?” Cody says, looking between Maverick and me.

Maverick doesn’t say anything, but his stony face says it all. “Say it, Maverick. Just fucking say it,” I prod. He merely shakes his head. “I’ll tea-bag you and put bleach in your shampoo bottle again. Just fucking say it.”

Cody clears his throat and moves out of the way, jetting to the back of the boat. He avoids conflict at all costs. A computer genius, his aim is damn lethal, but his social graces aren’t as rough as the rest of us. Sometimes it seems as if he doesn’t want to be bothered, other times it’s like he has some huge fucking secret hiding deep inside.

Maverick perches his hands on his hips, his smart-ass half-smile blazing. “I don’t have to say anything, do I? It’s been long enough. It’s been more than long enough. Stone was…is…my best fucking friend. If I thought you were doing something wrong or off base, you’d know it. I’d still be out on this boat with you,” Maverick says, pointing down to the floor. “But you wouldn’t have a heartbeat and there would be concrete molds encasing your pansy ass feet,” he finishes, head cocked to the side, his bone frog tattoo, the same as mine, twisting around his huge neck. “I love you Steve. I love you. But you’re being a wimpy ass toddler. I’ve watched you prance around your feelings for Morganna Sterns for too long. Let me tell you something: you don’t have the fucking body or graces to be prancing around anything. March your fucking ass up to her and lay it all out for her. She’s an intelligent woman. She’ll give you a direct answer on the spot and put you out of this purgatory misery.”

All I can do is stare at this motherfucker. He’s saying these wise things because he has Windsor. Not everyone gets that sort of fairy tale. Some stories end up in the goddamn shitter. It’s been years since Stone died. I’m not sure what measure one uses to know when they’re ready to move on. What if they’re never ready? But Morganna is. She’s dating. I cringe when I think about her having sex with the dude.

“I’ll prance circles around you,” I say, rising onto tiptoes and prancing my most delicate prance all the way around Maverick. I rub my ass against his when I complete a circle around him. He swats at me with a huge arm.

“Don’t make jokes, dude,” he commands. Cody’s beer can cracks open and explodes in his face, fizzing until he gulps several sips down. I laugh.

Humor is my fall back. “I’m not. It’s just harder than you make it seem. I can’t fill his fucking shoes, man. I can’t even pretend. It would be like asking her to play pretend. She is dating a creative type. It’s obvious she doesn’t want the reminder of what could have been,” I explain as best as I can, but the concept is foreign. I’m also treading on thin ice. You can’t talk about Stone to a certain degree without upsetting Maverick. I’m not sure where exactly that line in the sand is, but I know when you cross it he shuts down almost completely. He always will, too. Everyone knows it and respects it. It’s how he’s moved on. Stone was my brother