Nick woke up the next morning with a smile on his face. He looked at the clock beside his bed and was shocked to find out that it was only 5:23AM. He rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. When he couldn’t fall back to sleep he decided that today would be a great day to go out on his boat. He climbed out of bed and took a shower.
When he stepped out, he stopped in mid track. Why the hell did I just shower? I never shower when I go on my boat alone. Nick got dressed and gathered his things to get ready. As soon as he was ready, he started to head out to his car. He stopped with the feeling that he was forgetting something. He looked around and looked through his stuff. Everything seemed in place, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of forgetting something.
He stuck his hand in his pocket as he thought about what he was forgetting. His fingers wrapped around a napkin that he had shoved in his pocket. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and looked at the napkin. It had Erica’s phone number on it. Without thinking, he picked up his phone and dialed.
Nick listened to the ring for a few minutes and became almost certain that she wasn’t going to answer. Finally, he heard a groggy voice say “Hello?”
“Hi, Erica?”
“Yeah. Who is this?”
“It’s Nick. Did I wake you up?”
She looked at her clock. “Nick? It’s barely 7 in the morning.”
“Sorry. I’ve been up since 5:30. I forgot it was so early.”
“Why were you up so early?”
“I don’t know. I woke up and then never went back to sleep. I decided to go on my boat today.”
“Oh, that sounds nice.”
“Would you like to come with me?” He had no idea where that came from.
“Are you serious?”
Nick thought about it and realized he was serious. “Yeah. Do you want to come?”
“When are you leaving?”
“Well I was leaving now, but if you want to come, I’ll wait for you.”
Erica thought about it for a few minutes. “Sure why not. I’ll be at your place in like an hour.”
“Great. I can’t wait.”
Nick loaded up his car and looked at his watch. Only five minutes passed. He went back into his house and made up a picnic basket for the two of them. He looked at his watch again; another five minutes. He ended up on his couch to keep him occupied with the television while he waited for Erica to show up.
He jumped when the doorbell rang. In his excitement to get to the door he tripped over the area rug in his living room.
Outside, Erica heard the crash and wondered what had happened. Moments later, Nick flung the door open. “Hi.”
“Hey Nick. What was that crash?”
Nick looked away embarrassed. “I, um, tripped over my rug.”
Erica smiled trying to hold back her laugh. She failed and burst out laughing. “I’m sorry Nick. I just couldn’t help it.”
“Yeah yeah, laugh at the accident prone one.” He looked over her denim shorts and her blue bathing suit tankini top. “You look really good.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself. Shall we go?”
“Yes we shall.”
They spent the car ride in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. Erica kept looking over at Nick in attempts to strike up a conversation. She became speechless when she noticed that Nick kept sneaking glances at her. She blushed and looked away.
Soon Nick parked his car and stepped out. He ran to the other side of his car and opened the door for her. Then he went around to his trunk and carried everything to his boat. Erica kept trying to help him but he kept refusing. She giggled as he readjusted the stuff he was carrying after nearly dropping it for the fifth time since they got out of the car.
When they finally reached the dock where his boat was, he gently loaded the boat. Erica never let her eyes move from Nick. She admired his body when she was sure he wasn’t looking. Erica jumped when she heard his voice. “Ok, everything’s loaded up. Let’s go.” Nick helped her onto the boat and untied it from the dock. He jumped onto the boat.
After taking Erica on a short tour of the boat, Nick steered the boat away from its dock into the wide open water. He glanced down at Erica every few minutes. The morning sun was warm. Erica set out a blanket and removed her shorts. Lying on her back, she rolled up the front of her tank top exposing her flat stomach. Nick had to consciously move his eyes away from Erica and pay attention to the water in front of him.
Erica had chosen her spot on the deck strategically. From where she was, she could see Nick at a perfect angle. Erica gazed at Nick once more. Nick turned his head and their eyes locked. He smiled and she blushed. She stood up and walked over to him. “It’s so beautiful out here. No wonder you always come out here.”
Nick looked at her with a smile on his face. “It is a pretty site. Although, the company is a hell of a lot better than usual. ”
She leaned her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her. “Do you come out here often?”
“As much as possible. My schedule doesn’t allow me to do this as often as I would like.”
“Do you usually take someone with you when you come out here?”
“No. I usually come out here alone. It relaxes me. I don’t have to be Nick Carter, Backstreet Boy. I can just be myself.”
“Then why…”
“Why did I invite you?”
“Yeah.”
“I really don’t know. I had planned on coming out here alone. Then I called you and the next thing I knew I was asking you to come with me.”
“So you really didn’t want me to come?”
“It’s not that. Once I asked you to come I realized that I really didn’t want to spend the day alone.”
“So what is the plan for today?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, are we going to drop anchor with nothing surrounding us but open water?”
“No. I own an island out here.”
“Really.”
“Yep. I stumbled across it on one of my trips out here. I thought it was so peaceful that I purchased it and built a house on it. I go out here when I want to be alone.”
“And you’re sharing it with me?”
“I can’t think of anyone better to share it with.”
“But you barely know me.”
“That’ll change.”
“Thank you.”
Nick gave her a blank look. “For what?”
“Picking me to share this with.”
Later that morning, Nick came up behind Erica. She felt him behind her but when she turned around, she jumped. “Damn Nick. You need a bell.”
Nick chuckled. “Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“If you’re down here, who’s steering?”
“We’re drifting right now.”
“Is that dangerous?”
“Not at all.”
Erica starred down at the water below her. “I want to go swimming.”
Nick laughed. “As you wish. Let me just go anchor her so that she doesn’t drift away while were swimming.”
Erica laughed. “Yeah that would be bad.” As Nick walked off to anchor his boat, Erica starred after him. He returned moments later with towels. He placed them over the rail and lowered a rope ladder down the side of the boat.
“After you.”
“Oh no. What if the water is cold? You go first.”
Nick chuckled. “I don’t think so. You’re the one who wanted to go swimming.”
“But you could be a gentleman and warn me if the water is cold.”
“Or you could test the waters yourself.”
“Fine.” She turned toward the water. “Big baby.” Erica climbed down the ladder and slowly eased her way into the water. When she was under water, Nick dove off the deck and landed in the water behind her. Erica surfaced and faced the boat to get Nick in. She looked confused when she didn’t see him there. The next thing she knew she was getting splashed from behind. She turned around quickly. “Hey. That wasn’t very nice.”
“Who said anything about playing nice?”
“Oh, you.” She dove at Nick. He moved and she missed him. She turned toward him and splashed him. Nick went under and swam until he was behind her. He surfaced and splashed her and then went back under. She turned around to splash him, to once again be splashed from behind by Nick. She turned around to find that he had already gone under water. She went under and opened her eyes, the salt stinging. She saw Nick and grabbed him and pulled him to the surface. Once they surfaced, she splashed him in his face.
“Ok, ok. Truce?” Nick held out his hand to her. She grabbed it and he pulled her closer. He wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned in slowly as if he was about to kiss her. Then he picked her up and threw her. She surfaced with her hair in her face. She saw Nick and smiled coyly at him. She went under and grabbed his ankle, pulling him under and held him there. He was trying to get away from her. She smiled because she thought that he wanted to get her back. She held him until she couldn’t hold her breath anymore then released him, and headed toward the surface. When she surfaced she expected Nick to attack back. Nick surfaced a couple seconds after her, gasping for air and coughing.
She swam to him when she was noticing that he was struggling slightly to keep his head above water. “Oh my god. Are you ok?” She grabbed his arm to assist him.
“Next time…*cough*…warn me…*cough, cough* before…*cough*…you pull me…*cough, cough* like that.”
“I’m so sorry. Let’s get you back to the boat.”
No matter how strong a swimmer you are, if you get water in your lungs you need assistance to get out of the water. It was for that reason that he let Erica support him as he swam back to the boat. In the past, it was Nick who stayed in the water and held the ladder steady, while his female companion climbed out. This time it was Erica who stayed in the water. She couldn’t shake her feeling of guilt and it was for that reason that she was planning on doing anything to make up for nearly drowning him. Once Nick was safely on the boat, she climbed out.
Erica climbed over the rail and immediately went to Nick, who was kneeling, and holding onto the rail. When she reached him, she realized that he was coughing up water, and his breathing was still labored. The more she saw him struggling, the guiltier she felt.
She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Nick’s shoulders. He stood up on shaky legs. “You should sit down.”
He smiled slightly at her. “I’m ok.”
“You’re coughing and you can barely breathe.”
She grabbed his hand and led him below deck to his below deck cabin. “Erica, I’m fine.” His voice was a little raspy from coughing. He noticed her shiver. “You’re cold.”
She stopped and looked at Nick. “I just nearly drowned you. Shut up and let me pamper you.”
“I don’t need pampering. Just a few minutes to regain my breath.” As his coughing slowed down, his voice began to sound more like his own.
Once they were below deck, she pushed him to the cot. She opened the cabinets until she found him a change of clothes for him. She placed it next to him on his bed. “Change your clothes. You’ll be warmer.” Nick gave her an amused look. “What? I’m serious.”
“I didn’t fall into ice water. I’m not freezing.” He chuckled and then coughed.
“Will you just change your clothes already?”
“Nope.”
“And why not?”
“I’m not changing in front of you.”
She laughed. “Nick, the bathroom is right there.”
“Have you ever changed in that bathroom?”
“Uh, no.”
“Well let me fill you in on something. That room is big enough to maneuver enough to do your business. But changing your clothes in there is like asking for your body to be completely covered in bruises.
“Ok. I’ll turn around.”
“Nope. If you want me to change, you go on deck.”
She sighed. “Oh fine. But you’re staying down here, you are changing and then doing nothing until I say so.” She obliged and went on deck.
She gave him fifteen minutes to change just to make sure she didn’t walk in on him. After the fifteen minutes were up, she went back below deck and saw him setting up the table with the stuff he packed up for their picnic. “Hey, what did I tell you?”
He chuckled. “Will you relax already? I’m fine.”
“Why are you fighting pampering?”
“Because I don’t need it?”
“Yes you do. Now, on the bed.”
“Will it shut you up if I do as you say?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. To keep the peace between us, I will.” He sat down on the bed and leaned back on his elbows. She prepared the food he brought for the picnic. Once everything was set up, she brought the food to his bed. They ate around friendly banter and flirting. When the food was gone, she stood up and cleaned up their meal.
When she stood up, Nick lied back on the bed. He closed his eyes. The clinging of his plates and the ocean below him was soothing. Erica turned around to say something to him when she saw his eyes closed. “Are you ok?”
He opened his eyes and smiled at her mother hen tendency. “I’m fine. I woke up earlier than I normally do, and then being out in the sun all morning and swimming…”
“Then almost drowning.” She interrupted.
“No, I wasn’t going to say that. I’m just tired.”
“Well, why don’t you take a nap?”
“I didn’t invite you out here to watch me sleep.”
“I’ll be right back.” She returned moments later holding a book. “Sit up.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
“Are you advertising for Nike?”
“Don’t be such a smart ass and do as you’re told.”
He laughed and sat up. She sat on the bed. Ok, lie back down.” For once he did as he was told without a comment. He rested his head in her lap. She was pushing his hair back as they talked quietly. Soon she heard his breathing even out and she knew that he was asleep. She leaned down and kissed his forehead and then picked up her book to keep herself occupied while he slept.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the delay. Life and not being able to bend my finger enough to type kept me from working on the story. Well, here's chapter 4. I hope you enjoy it. Please leave feedback.
