David and Julia kick off the embankment first, the current washing them down the river as David uses the paddle just to steer. It’ll be easy floating on the way back.
“Hop in and I’ll push us out,” I tell Amanda, keeping my attention on her and away from Josh — whom I can feel staring at us.
“You sure? I can get in once it’s in the water.”
“It’ll be easier this way.”
She shrugs, situating herself in the front of the kayak. Before I can push us off, Josh lets out a sinister chuckle from where he’s still lounging on the sand.
“Careful there, Greg. Don’t pull a muscle.”
I pause with my hands on the back of the kayak, noting how Amanda tenses up at the insult. He doesn’t have to say it for us to know he means be careful trying to lift that kayak with her in it.
I stand, cracking my neck as I turn to face him.
“Oh, ready to fight now, champ?” Josh teases, standing, too. He wobbles a bit as he does. “Go ahead. Take a swing. I know you want to.”
“Greg,” Amanda warns, reaching out to tug on my shorts. “Let’s just go.”
Josh notes the touch and snarls, shaking his head. “You’re pathetic, Amanda. Fucking our son’s friend, now?”
My nose flares at that. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, don’t I? Because anyone with eyes can see that you two are fucking.”
“We’re not fucking,” Amanda says, standing and crossing the sand to put her finger right in Josh’s chest. “And even if we were, it’s none of your business.”
“Really? Because last I checked, we’re still married.”
“Only because someone is dragging their feet on signing the papers.”
“That’s because someone else is trying to suck me dry — and not in the good way you used to when you were young, my love.”
I nearly crack a tooth with how hard I grit my teeth, but I don’t dare move — not when Amanda isn’t even fazed by the comment.
She smirks. “Trust me, as soon as I get my degree and get a job, I’ll be the first one to go to the judge and tell her I don’t need your money anymore.”
“If you get your degree.”
“I will,” she says instantly. “And you’re just pissed because you can’t stop me. Not anymore.”
She turns on her heels then, getting back in the kayak without waiting for his response. I glare at Josh before shaking my head and reaching down to push her off the shore.
“What? Nothing to say, big guy? Not going to stick up for your girl?”
I let out a sarcastic bite of a laugh, pausing to turn around and face him. “As much as I’d love to show you what little of a man you are, I don’t need to.”
Josh frowns.
“In case you couldn’t tell, she’s beyond capable of handling herself.”
Josh looks a little stunned by my comment, his eyes flicking to Amanda behind me before he clears his throat and takes a swig of his beer.
With him silenced, I easily push Amanda off the shore and jump in the kayak behind her. We’re paddling off down the river when Josh calls out behind us.
“You’re not fooling anyone!”
I just paddle faster.
Amanda doesn’t speak the rest of the paddle back, and she’s quiet when we load up the cars and get ready to say our goodbyes, too. But while Julia and David are getting Tucker situated in their SUV, I pull her aside.
“You okay?”
She laughs, running a hand over her knotty hair with a shrug. “I guess.” Her eyes meet mine. “Thank you. For staying out of it. For letting me handle it myself.”
I shrug. “Like I said to him, I knew I didn’t need to save you. You already saved your damn self the moment you left that piece of shit.” Then, I glance around us to make sure no one’s watching, and hold up our sign, fingers curling into my thumb to make that lowercase b.
Badass.
A smile cracks at the corner of her lips, something sweet and longing in her gaze. She shakes it off though, blowing out a breath as I slip my hands in the pockets of my swim trunks.
“I can’t wait to get home and take a shower,” she says.
“You know, after today, I was thinking… might be the perfect night to check another item off our list.”
Amanda groans. “I don’t have energy for anything else, not right now.”
I look around to make sure David and Julia are still busy, that Josh isn’t in earshot, and then I lean in closer, whispering in her ear.
“Not even getting high?”
I step back with a crooked grin, and Amanda doesn’t have to answer. The mischievous smirk she gives me is reply enough.
“Alright, we’re loaded up and ready,” David announces, and then he pulls me in for a hug, clapping me on the back. “Thanks again for coming, man. It was great to have you here.”