ruthless; jj m.

3

Sarah and I had come back from the beach last night and crashed on her family's boat: My Druthers. We had a couple of drinks while her sister Wheezie kept trying to sneak some for herself. I'm sure she did after we fell asleep.

I woke up to the sounds of clanking on the boat and when I open my eyes, I see John B carrying a couple of tanks onto the boat, which also woke up Sarah. "Wheezie, shut up," Sarah said. Before I could even correct her, she opened her eyes and saw John B. "You're not Wheezie." She said.

"Clearly," I stated. "Correct. Yeah, I'm sorry." He said and he put the oxygen tanks down. "What are you doing?" I asked him. "Uh... I'm just dropping off some scuba gear." He explained himself. Sarah sat up and saw everything he was holding.

It was obvious he had borrowed gear from the ship. JJ did it all the time at my place, but it didn't bother me. He always brings things back in good condition so I don't bother him about it. JJ also has a tendency to go into the shed and smoke, but I didn't mind. I'm pretty sure he thinks I have no idea.

"What are-- what're you guys doing... here?" John B asked us. "It's her boat..." I answered crankily. "It's also the only place with air conditioning," Sarah added. John B nodded but still stood in place.

"Did you, um... top up the tanks?" Sarah asked him as she sat up. "Uh... no. No. The power's down, so the compressors were off." He said as he cleared his throat. I looked at him with a confused look. He was a terrible liar.

Sarah saw this as well. "So, you're sneaking onto our boat at 5:00 a.m. with empty tanks?" She asked, very clearly annoyed. "I'll make sure to tell Ward." Sarah threatened him by mentioning her father. "Okay, cool. I'll just drop these off." John B said as he placed all of the equipment on the floor.

"Yeah, yeah. The middle of the room is fine." She said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at her annoyance, I didn't understand what the big deal was. "Yeah, this is pretty much what he told me to do." He said as he began to leave.

"Bye," Sarah said rudely. "Actually, you know, what-- what exactly were you gonna tell your dad?" John B asked her. "Nothing much. Just that you poached our scuba gear." She said. I gave her a what the fuck look that she didn't react to.

"Okay, fuck. I borrowed it for a few hours. Okay? And then I brought it back intact and unharmed." John B stated. "Yeah, Sarah... just let it go," I told her. John B gave me a surprised look because for once Sarah was being the bitch and I was being the sweetheart.

"Minus air." She retorted. "Look, please don't tell him. Okay? He'll fire me." John B begged. "What're you gonna do? Pull a gun on me?" Sarah asked him. "Dude, that wasn't even him." I found myself confused about defending him, but she was being rude for no reason.

"Thank you, Scarlett." John B said. "And I didn't know JJ would do that." He said. "That's convenient to believe. Maybe you should get better friends." She said to him. One thing I know for sure about Pogues is that they treat their friends like family, and you never speak ill about someone's family.

"Well, maybe you should get a better boyfriend." John B fired back. I looked at him wide-eyed with a shocked smile. I completely agreed with him... but I couldn't say that. "Like one who doesn't poach?" Sarah asked.

"Look, please, just don't tell him." John B begged once more. "Relax, she's not gonna tell him anything," I stated as I looked over at her. "Right?" I asked her firmly. She giggled, "Obviously."

"Your secret's safe with me, John B." She said in a flirtatious tone which threw me off guard for a moment. "Okay. You can leave now." I told him. "Right. I'll leave all of that right there." He said with a couple of stutters. "Bye," Sarah said as she wrapped herself up in a blanket and attempted to go back to sleep.