Shipwrecked

Chapter Five

"At least you're a timely thief," Sam grumbles, going through the gate and letting it close behind him. "I figured you would be late because of your date."

"It was not a date," I corrected, almost too fast to be believable.

There was a bit of tension relieved from his shoulders, but that also could have been my imagination. He led me through a boat yard where numerous boats were docked, Each boat seemed to get grander the further we walked.

Sam finally stopped and hopped on board a huge white boat that was two stories tall and white with minimal black features.

"Here she is," Sam said, slapping the hull. "A little humble, but the others in our fleet are two large for fishing."

Humble? The thing was straight glorious.

To hide my awe, I snarkily said, "You don't want to go out on your sailboat? I heard you racked up so many medals." I said the last part with extra enthusiasm so he could hear my sarcasm.

"Aw, did you stalk me? I am so honored," Sam said with a wicked grin. I rolled my eyes before he finished, "The yacht is easier to navigate the tougher seas with."

"A yacht? We are taking a yacht to go deep sea fishing?" I said in disbelief. My mouth definitely gaped a little bit.

Sam only chuckled a little and hopped onto the boat as if it was second nature. I could see several large poles already laid on the deck floor. I tried to mirror his confidence as I stepped onto the boat but everything began to wobble. I felt myself drifting back when Sam slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his arms. For a second we were just gazing into each other's eyes. I quickly broke us apart. Sam cleared his throat uncomfortably and rolled in the rope causing the boat to drift off.

Sam climbed the ladder and sat on a second, more elevated floor with a clear look out of the water. I slowly followed him up and sat by him in the leather seat to his right.

"Hold-on," Sam said as went inside to where all the boat controls were. The boat jolted forward and began to clear into the channel. We drifted for a bit until the docks were a tiny speck behind us.

"That was a pretty cool boat yard," I said looking off into the horizon. "I have never seen that many boats before."

I could hear Sam's laughter from the other side of the glass and watched his shoulders bounce up ever so gently. "Uhhh yeah those are not boats and that is not a boatyard," he mocked.

I turned over to him. "Then what is it?" I ask sarcastically, bringing my knees up to my chest and using my arms to cover them.

"A yacht club and a whole lot of yachts that hardly get used," Sam says as he turns the boat to the right using the steering wheel. He was standing above his seat as if ignoring it altogether.

"Oh," I said feeling stupid. I heard of yachts but never really saw them - I tried to avoid the deep water except for when collecting samples for my study or photographing wildlife.

Sam continues to steer and maneuver between the different landmarks he sees. The front of the ship bounced with the waves, leading us to bounce too. There was a gentle sea spray that drifted over the windshield and onto my cheeks.

On the shore it was steamingly hot, but this deep out into the ocean it was freezing.

Sam slowed the boat a bit and clicked a couple buttons until it began to cruise on its own. Sam hopped down and went underneath for a few minutes before resurfacing with something in his hands.

"Here," he said, tossing a crew neck sweatshirt to me. "My mom would kill me if you caught a cold."

"Thanks," I said as I put it on. The inside was soft and the material was thick. Needless to say, I immediately felt warmer. There was the faint scent of his collagen. He must have worn it recently. Looking down at it, I saw that it was for a college football team in Alabama.