She looked up into my eyes. “Tell me how you got injured.”
“You know the price,” I reminded her.
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.” She bit her lip again, and it was all I could do not to capture that plump lip in my mouth, licking and sucking and biting on it myself. But she needed to tell me she wanted it first. “Do you trust me?” That was the key question, wasn't it? That was the crux of this exchange. Neither one of us could take part in it without trust.
Slowly, she nodded “yes,” then looked back up into my eyes.
“Then trust me, Annie. The way I'm going to trust you.” I traced my thumb along her jaw, up her cheek. Her skin felt so soft, such a stark contrast to my own. She swayed into my touch, leaning into my hand, her eyelids fluttering closed. “Do you agree?” I murmured.
In a whisper, she gave it to me. “Yes.”
“All right then.” I withdrew my hand, and began the only way I knew how, by telling her about my friendship with Liam, Jax and Chase.
“It all started the summer I was ten. I used to visit here in Scotland, but after my granddad passed I headed out to Naugatuck Island with my mother and sisters. I met Liam first, then Jax and Chase soon after.” I told her how we used to fill our summer days, young, unsupervised and always up for a good time. There was a shed on my family's property and we made it into a hangout, gaming and movies on the screen, plenty of snacks and drinks. We were too young to get into anything serious, and some of what we had done had been downright wholesome, going fishing, sailing around in Chase’s 16-foot sailboat.
“Where was this again?” She hung on my every word, and didn't want a moment to pass without complete understanding.
“Naugatuck.” From her blank look, I realized she had no reference point for the small, wealthy island that served largely as a vacation spot for the New England elite. “It's an island off the coast of Massachusetts, mainly a place for rich people go on holiday.”
“So Liam, Jax and Chase, were they all kids you knew from school?”
“No, kids I met on the island. Chase was the only one my parents approved of. Liam was a local, the son of a firefighter, and Jax's dad was working construction, a seasonal laborer, even lower on the rung.”
“But you became friends anyway?”
“Kids aren't born snobs, they're made into them. And, sadly for my parents, it never really took with me. The four of us had way too much of a good time together for me to worry about what my parents thought.”
“So how did you get injured? Was it with them?”
“Eager for me to get to the point?”
“You've made me wait so long.”
I smiled. She had no idea how long I could make her wait for what she wanted. “Anticipation makes the reward that much sweeter.” She rolled her eyes, not understanding my meaning. She had so much to learn. Good thing I'd be her teacher.
“Yes, Annie, I was with the three of them when I got injured. We always messed around when we were together, grabbing a kids’ skateboard—”
“And giving it back later, of course,” she interrupted.
“Yes, Goody Two Shoes, we didn't leave any little kids crying in the street. But by the time we got 14, we were on to bigger and stupider things. And one day, Jax and I decided it would be cool if we took a 34 ft. long catamaran out for a joyride.” Her face darkened. “Chase and Liam hopped on. We headed out, none of us knowing exactly what we were doing but full of the kind of confidence all 14-year-olds possess.”
“Oh, Ian.” She knew this story wasn’t going to end well.
“Oh, Ian indeed,” I agreed. “A storm came up.” No words could do it justice. I'd never seen anything like it, before or since. The white foam walls crashing over us, the gale force winds blasting out of nowhere, it was a bad one. “Once the sun set on us, the power cut out and everything went black.”
“That must have been so scary.”
“Terrifying. Everything was happening so fast. We were rushing around, bumping into each other, trying to hold on, trying to steer. Thank God, Liam had the sense to call the Coast Guard.”
“He was the one who lived year-round on Naugatuck?” She was a good listener.
“That's right, and his father was a fireman so he'd had proper safety protocol drilled into him from day one. It didn't make him smart enough to not hop on board a stolen boat, but he did save our lives by placing that call.”
“So the Coast Guard saved you all?” She looked at me so anxious and concerned, I wished I could give her a happier ending to the story. But I’d promised her I'd tell her the truth.
“Yes, Annie, the Coast Guard saved us. But not until after the boat had cracked in two.”
She gasped and brought her hands over her mouth in horror. “Did you go overboard?”
“No, Chase did. He got thrown right off as the ship split apart. Liam had the sense to tie himself to a life raft and dive down after him. He saved Chase’s life.”
“What about you and Jax?”
“We clung to the boat.” Now came the part I didn't like talking about. It was the part that still woke me up at night, bathed in sw
eat, gasping for air. The next few minutes had changed the course of my life forever. I didn't want to talk about it, but I’d promised her that I would.
“The boat caught fire. The mast fell over and pinned me down. It crushed my foot and broke my back when it fell on me.”
“Oh, Ian, I'm so sorry.” Her voice quavered with emotion and I found myself not quite willing or able to meet her eyes. Instead, I plowed ahead.
“Jax tried to get to me and help me, but the boat was at this crazy angle and lurching around in the waves and wind. There were flames everywhere, and I don't think he could've lifted the mast even if he had managed to get to me. It took three full-grown men to pry me out from under it.”
“The Coast Guard?”
“Yes, they got there fast and rescued all of us. But I got badly burned while I was trapped there.”
“Ian.” She reached out and touched my shoulder. I looked at her face and saw a tear on her cheek.
“Come here,” I said quietly, gathering her to my side. She burrowed into me, nestling her head against my chest. Funny how good it felt to comfort her over the pain that I had suffered. “Shhh, it's all right.”
“No, it's not,” she protested. “It wasn't fair what happened to you. That must've been so terrifying, trapped like that.”
“I was the idiot who had the idea to steal the boat in the first place. I should've known better.”
“But you were only 14. 14-year-olds can't think straight. Believe me, I've taken care of two of them, and they make stupid choices all the time.”
“Some choices are stupider than others.” I felt a twinge of pain in my leg as I said it, as if adding an “amen” to my sermon. She reached her hand up and gently stroked my neck, bringing her fingers to where my skin was mottled. I grasped her hand in my own and drew it back down to my chest, where underneath my shirt my skin was unscarred.
“Does it hurt, if you’re touched where you were burned? Does your back hurt?”