Outer Banks (JJ Maybank x Reader) Book 1

The Royal Merchant

"You did what?" I scream at JJ, shoving him. "Hey, hey, hey, it was only a countermove," He defends. "Look, Topper and Rafe attacked Pope. I mean, like, attacked him. Bloody mouth, busted lip, busted head, everything," JJ says. They had been delivering for Pope's dad at the kook country club when it happened. Rafe and Topper had jumped Pope, hitting him with golf clubs and yelling at him to get his dirty ass pogue-self off of their side of the island.

JJ had convinced Pope to get revenge, and they had sunk Topper's boat, the really nice one. "JJ, they'll literally kill you if they find out!" I hiss at him. "Relax, they won't find out, I promise," He says, grabbing my wrists. "Come on, let's go," Pope shouts as he runs out of the house, board in hand. "Just don't tell him I told you," JJ hisses through the corner of his mouth. I roll my eyes.

~~~~~

"Hey! Save some waves for us!" JJ shouts, sprinting into the water with Pope and I to join Kie and JB. "Hey, where you been?" Kie calls with a laugh. We surf the waves together until dark, laughing and having fun, gold and kook life in our minds. Once the sun goes down, we head back to the Château together, laying in the hammocks.

"You really think it's out there, like, no bullshit?" Pope asks, gazing at the night sky. "Our father thought it was," John B says. My hand hangs off the side of my hammock, finding JJ's in the dark. "But do you?" Pope asks. Thunder rumbles above us. "After hearing his voice on that tape... I think I do," He decides.

"Only one way to find out," Pope says, doing the special Pogue handshake with John B. "Look, we're gonna find it, you know?" Kie says. I can hear the smile in her voice, even if I can't see it. "Even JJ believes," She grins. I lay my head back, a smile on my own face. This is our chance. "Oh, my God, JJ, do you really believe?" I grin with a smirk. "Totally. Wait, are we talkin' about four mil?" He asks. "Four hundred mil," The four of us echo.

"Jinx," Kie mutters. "I'm gonna dream about shipwrecks," JJ smiles, rolling over to face me. Kie chuckles. "Goodnight, Bird!" JJ calls. "Good night, Bird shit," John B calls back. JJ flips him off in the dark, squeezing my hand one more time before we drift off to sleep.

~~~~~~

The next day, we borrow Pope's dad's delivery boat instead of our small one. We drive it all the way out to the point, smiles on our faces. "Alright, JJ, pin it here!" John B calls when the boat stops. "Roger that! X marks the spot!" He calls. "Alright ladies and gentlemen," John B says, unraveling the tether around the drone.

"To going full kook," He says, dropping it into the water. "Alright, JJ, we're right over it, ten seconds northwest," John B calls after a minute or two. Pope controls the camera, John B the map, JJ the boat, and Kie and I slowly feed the tether over the boat. "Got it! Ten seconds northwest," JJ echoes. "One hundred feet!" Kie and I call when we find the first red marker on the tether. Pope gasps suddenly, jumping back. "What? What, what, what, what?" John B says nervously, running towards the camera. "It's nothing," He mutters.

John B groans. "Sorry, I thought...," Pope trails off. "Don't do that to me man!" JJ shouts. "Come on, bro," John B sighs. "My bad, I just thought I saw...," Pope takes a deep breath and turns back to the camera. "And to quote the hobbit, "Down, down, to goblin town. Down, down, you go my lad."," Pope says in a weird accent. Kiara and I exchange glances, smirking at each other.

"Four hundred feet!" Kie calls as I mark the next tally into the side of the boat with a piece of chalk. Thunder rumbles. "The tide's turning!" Kie calls. "Hey, JJ!" John B shouts. "Yup?" He nods, spinning the wheel. "Ten seconds easy, alright?" John B calls. "South, southeast," He yells. "Copy that!" JJ nods. I hold my breath, waiting as the boat turns.

"JJ, 20 seconds mid-speed, alright? South," John B calls again. "Copy that! Aye, aye!" JJ yells. "Come on," He groans, trying to turn us away from the sudden thunder cloud. "Keep the tether out of the prop!" He shouts. "I'm trying!" I yell back. "JJ, keep going!" John B shouts as more thunder rumbles. "John B, is that good?" He shouts. "We're good," John B says anxiously.

"Okay, 700 feet!" Kiara yells, passing me the chalk. Thunder crashes overhead, booming loudly. The weathervane spins quickly and big waves rock the boat. "Shit," I mutter. "Okay...," JJ groans as he's slammed into the side of the boat. Thunder crashes again, the clouds coming nearer to us as the wind picks up. "JJ, hold it steady!" John B shouts. "Okay, 900!" I scream.

"JJ, were gonna turtle in this storm, man!" John B yells. "920!" I yell. "Crank it north by northwest! 10 seconds!" John B shouts over the roaring wind. "Pope how we doing?" He whispers to Pope. "Almost there!" Pope nods. "John B there's too much current we're gonna lose it!" Kie shouts as both of grab tightly onto the tether, trying to hold it on. "South, southwest, JJ, hard!" John B screams over the roaring thunder.

Kie and I grunt, trying to hold onto the tether. "Half speed, steady at this bearing, JJ!" John B calls. "What do you got, Pope? Come on, man, what do you see?" John B asks nervously. "Nothin', a whole lot a nothin'," He groans. "You should be right above it brother!" John B groans, slapping the side of the boat. "Y/n!" He shouts. "960!" I reply as Kiara feeds it over. "970!"

"980!" I shout, the rest of the tether unraveling quickly. "I'm at the bottom! I'm at the bottom!" Pope shouts. "Okay, okay, steady here, JJ, steady here!" John B calls. "Steady here! Quarter speed, alright?"

"You should be seeing something, man, you should be seeing something!" John B says. "I know, I know, wait, wait!" Pope shouts as the thunder continues to rumble. Kie and stand in front of the camera now, breathing heavily. "Oh, good god," Pope breathes. "See anything?" JJ calls as John B laughs. "It's the Royal Merchant," He breathes.