Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1) (2 page)

1 Bianca Ferrari

“What the fuck are you doing?” I hear someone call from our dock.
When I look over I see Skyler standing on the edge with his hands on his bare
hips above his swim trunks. Even as a fifteen year old he has a nice body,
minus his farmer
’
s tan from playing baseball. But I kind
of love it. It
’
s evidence that he
’
s a
baseball junkie. His backwards baseball hat he
’
s wearing
is also a clue; I swear the thing is glued to his head. Not that I
’
m complaining. He
’
s easily a twelve on the
ten point scale while wearing his hat.

            We just arrived at our two story cabin on Lake Beulah
in Wisconsin, about two hours from our houses in Hinsdale, Illinois. It looks
more like a ritzy lake house a celebrity would own, but my parents went in on
it with the Swansons, so it
’
s our home away from home.

            Skyler’s chest and abs tighten when he yells, “
Buzz!
”
to get my attention
for a second
time. “We
’
re eating lunch first before we do anything.”

            Not that I need to be an official teenager to be
validated as boy crazy, but I have been thirteen for almost a full year while
on this trip and my hormones are going insane. It
’
s been a
month since the first time Skyler called me sweetheart at his coach
’
s house. To try to avoid this feeling with him in such close
proximity, as soon as my mom
’
s van stop
ped
in the driveway I bolted out and down the giant backyard hill to the lake where
I jumped in and swam out to the floating trampoline. I’ve been practicing
back-handsprings, back tucks, and other crazy tricks as boats filled with
families drinking and tubing pass me and wave, cheering for me. Skyler likes to
check up on me sometimes when I run off from the group, but I’m not used to the
crashing wave feeling that his presence is creating inside my stomach and
chest. I try to play it off, but I hope he can’t hear the nerves creeping into
my throat as I answer him.

            “Then what are
you
doing out here?” I yell as
I continue to jump up and down. If he
’
s so worried about
eating lunch first then he should be up there with the rest of the crew. It doesn
’
t phase anyone else that I’ve already bolted to do my own thing
away from everyone.

            “Seeing what you want to eat,” Skyler answers. “They
’
re making subs.”

            I give him my order and he turns around so I can
watch his ass and back muscles constrict and release as he walks back up the
hill. He walks into the cabin through the walk-out basement that’s below two
screened in porches. Inside, the two master bedrooms are for our parents, and
the two smaller rooms have bunkbeds that sleep four people each. Ever since we
were little Rex, Skyler, and Sam have shared one room while Baylee, Skyler
’
s little sister Savannah, and I have shared the other one.
However, this trip contains more of our troops than just our families. We also
brought along Tiffany and Benny Locket and their parents since it
’
s
the Fourth of July weekend. Because of this, we gladly give up our beds to the
adults so the kids can all camp out in the basement living room. As I
appreciate the calm environment around me on the lake, I smile to myself as I
think of what this holiday weekend has in store for us.
Jet-skiing, tubing,
wake-boarding, jumping off the high dive, fireworks, and our annual 4th of July
Sandlot game. Oh what fun!

            Skyler and I have always been the rule breakers among
the kids. The one we vowed to never follow is waiting thirty minutes after
eating to go swimming.
Yeah right,
we say whenever our moms try pushing
it on us, and then we jump in the pool or lake and go on with our adventures
while everyone else watches. This time, however, we are alone down by the lake
while everyone is still putzing in the house.

            “You ready?” Skyler asks as he turns on the jet-ski.
I reach around his waist as I sit behind him. Luckily he has on a life jacket
so I can
’
t be teased by touching his abs. I nod and then
he adds, “You know they
’
re going to kill us, right?”

            “Right, and you care?” I tease, peering over his
shoulder.

            “No. Have we ever?” he laughs as he presses the gas
slowly and we head out onto the lake. Feeling the hot summer sun and cool mist
from our wake, I am in a delirious state of mind that makes me so high on life.
I am carefree and with my crush on my favorite weekend of the year; even if we
do get in trouble for taking the jet-ski without asking, it honestly won
’
t bother me. And I know it won
’
t be the
only thing we get in trouble for this weekend.

            We glide across the lake and slow once we approach
the sandbar. The beach is crowded with families and groups of friends who are
all throwing back beers and screaming, and I loosen my hold around Skyler to
lean back and stare at one guy for an extended amount of time.

             “Damn,” I ogle at the tall, muscular, probably
college-aged guy with a backwards baseball hat on as he throws a football to
one of his buddies. His smile is as blinding as the sun. Catching me in the
act, the hottie winks at me and gives me a head nod before Skyler notices and
elbows me in the side. Thankfully the lifejacket protects me a little, but it
still surprises me. “Damn,” I repeat with more force towards Skyler.

             “Hold on tighter. We
’
re
leaving,”
he demands angrily.
What is his problem?

            He leads us directly back to our dock where he ties
up the jet-
ski. We weren
’
t gone for
very long, so no one even noticed our absence. I am slightly disappointed
because part of the rush of disobeying rules is actually getting caught.

            “Sky, you
’
re not mad at me, are
you?” I wonder as he refuses to look at me once we are walking on the dock. No
answer. Guess he isn
’
t talking to me either. “Sky!”

            “What?” he shouts, turning around and towering over
me. He is fuming in the intense July heat, and we are no longer eye level to
each other like we were as kids. “Yeah I
’
m fucking mad at
you, Buzz. Don
’
t think for a second that you
’
re
going to take a jet-ski out alone anytime this weekend. I
’
m
going to be watching you.”

            “Sky, what the hell did I do?” I question him even
though he is trying to be intimidating with his hard eyes. I don
’
t
think I did anything wrong so I
’
m not sorry, but I want to
know what upset him. It’ll be no fun having my partner in crime be mad at me
all weekend.

            “You
’
re way too boy crazy. That
guy was easily in college. You
’
re thirteen,” he reminds
me. He
’
s currently fifteen, but he might as well be my dad
with the way he
’
s lecturing me. He acts so old and wise,
but I saw him checking out the girls at the sandbar; he
’
s
just as guilty as me. But his jealous side is feisty.

            “Oh, I am? I had no idea. Thank you for telling me,” I
snap after realizing maybe it
’
s not jealousy and that he
’
s playing the big brother card. It
’
s
moments like this when my crush on him dissolves, but that feeling never lasts
long. I always convince myself he has an ulterior motive to shielding me from
other guys.

             “Imagine if Alex would
’
ve seen
that,” Skyler threatens, which makes me shudder.

             “Rex wouldn
’
t have cared,” I
lie. He totally would; I just don
’
t want to admit it.

             “How old are you, five? I think you can pronounce
your L
’
s now,” he teases me, knowing that when we were
really little I couldn
’
t say my brother
’
s
name correctly. I used to try so hard but it only came out as Ah-rex, which
eventually I shortened to Rex.

             “And I think you know that my name is Bianca, not
Buzz,” I snicker. I actually love that I have a nickname that only Skyler uses.
Usually when someone uses my full name it’s to yell at me. Being identified as
Buzz makes me feel tough, but he was teasing me and I wanted to give it right
back to him.

             “Stay away from the fucking lake,” Skyler adds,
piercing his eyes into me so I understand that nothing has changed from my antagonizing.
He
’
s sexy when he
’
s
mad.

            Obviously this just makes me want to go out on the
lake even more, and I thought he was smart enough to know that. It
’
s in my nature. So after everyone goes to bed that first night,
I sneak out the backdoor and down to the dock. I look up at the house to make
sure no one
’
s watching me before I start up the jet-ski
and head towards the high dive on the other side of the lake. There
’
s no wake allowed after sunset, so I slowly glide across the
water until I arrive and throw the anchor down. I swim the short distance
between my jet-ski and the diving block in the darkness and climb up the tall
ladder that
’
s probably three stories high.

            All I
’
ve
wanted to do all summer is jump off this high dive in the middle of the night.
No one would ever let me do it, so I have always planned on sneaking out and
doing it alone. It
’
s a rush I can
’
t
explain to anyone. I just want to feel something, and jumping off this high
dive during the day with my family and a bunch of strangers around just doesn
’
t do it for me.

            As my toes curl over the edge of the board with my
eyes closed, I hear someone yell, “What the fuck do you think you
’re
doing?
”

            I look out into the water and see Skyler standing on
another one of our jet-skis close to mine. Of course it
’
s
Skyler. He
’
s the only fifteen year old I know that swears
that much.
“None of your business,” I snarl from above. He might be
standing up, but I have the higher ground.

            “If you wanted to come out here, why didn
’
t you just ask me?” he questions half nicely. I think he
’
s more upset that I didn
’
t ask him to go
on this adventure with me than me actually disobeying his earlier order.

            “Because you were mad at me,” I call down to him.

            “
Buzz
…
I just don’
t
want you getting any ideas. I know you
’
re crazy enough
without being with guys like that,” he explains. Shaking his head, he motions
his hand towards the water below me. “You gonna jump or what?”

            “Maybe? What
’
s the rush?” I
tease. I
’
ve jumped off this high dive dozens of times -
all during daylight with people surrounding me. The rush is going to be doing
it totally alone in the darkness. I
’
m not trying to
impress anyone; I just want to do it for myself. Even at thirteen I don
’
t care what anyone thinks about me, even Skyler.

            “I kind of wanted to go to bed, sweetheart,” he
chuckles.
Sweetheart.

            “
I don’
t need a babysitter. Go
to bed then,” I suggest.

            “And miss this plunge? No way,” he taunts. “C
’
mon, B. Do I have to come up there and join you?”

            “No. I wanted to do this alone,” I snap. His head falls
to release the playful eye contact we just had, and I kind of feel guilty but
only for a second. After all, he horned in on my solo adventure without my
permission.

            “Fine. I
’
ll leave you to drown,”
Skyler threatens, sitting back on his jet-ski.

            “Hey… now that you
’
re here you
might as well,” I suggest, hoping it makes up for my sass I just threw at him.
Okay so maybe I do care what he thinks… but only a little.

            “I
’
ll just watch.
I don
’
t want to get all wet. I
’
m
in my clothes,” he tells me with half of a smirk. His expression kind of
resembles Flynn Ryder
’
s smolder, but I don
’
t
have time to contemplate that at the moment without being obvious.

            Attempting to punish him for intruding on my
excursion, I announce my departure and without a doubt in my mind, I plunge
into the water as near to his jet-ski as I can without actually hitting it. I
swim in the darkness of the lake until I reach the surface and pop my head out
of the cool water. Looking over at Skyler, I giggle as he wipes his face from
the water I splashed on him.

            “Oh, you think that
’
s funny?” he
antagonizes me. Before I can even answer back with a smart-ass comment, Skyler
jumps in the water and starts splashing me with the tidal wave he creates with
his arm. I turn away as I try to splash back, and we continue our water fight
until I feel his arm grab me around my waist and pull me so close to him that I
’
m sure he can feel my heart beating like a drum at a rock
concert. His eyes devour into mine as the splashing stops and I
’
m
pretty sure we both hold our breath as the tension builds as high as the diving
board that I just conquered. The grip his arm has on my body is so secure that
I don
’
t even bother treading water. I can
’
t.
He
’
s so close to me. He
’
s holding me
so close to him. It
’
s unreal. His free arm grips onto the
diving block so we are totally still as he leans down to near me.
Oh my God!
He
’
s going to kiss me?
It
’
s
like we are living in slow motion, and our noses touch as our lips approach
each others
’
and he tightens his hold on me. And then he
winces back as a bright light shines in our faces.
Busted.