Summer Romance #wattys2017

Chapter XII

They reached the raft and John grabbed her under the arms lifting her out of the water. Tommy pulled himself up onto the raft.

"Now, do you trust me, John?" he asked.

"For now." John said.

"I trust him." she said.

Thay all looked at her and laughed. She had this horrible feeling sweep over her. She couldn't believe that they laughed at her. She hadn't drowned. Tommy got her there safely. What more did they want?

"You just met him and you let him swim you out to a raft you couldn't swim to yourself." John said.

"Yeah." she said.

"What would you do if we left you out here by yourself?" John asked.

"You wouldn't do that, would you?" she asked.

"Maybe." John said.

"Why?" she asked.

"To prove to you that you're too trusting." John said.

"Man, that's mean." Tommy said.

"She's got to learn some time." John said. "Why not now?" John asked.

She stood there looking at them. She couldn't tell whether John was kidding or not. She didn't want to find out. She walked over to the other side of the raft and sat down.

Tommy started to get up and John grabbed his arm stopping him.

"Let her be." John said.

"Why do you have to be such an ass?" Tommy asked.

"Why do you have to keep finding a way to touch her?" John asked.

"Whatever John." Tommy said. "Is that what you think I've been doing?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do. I think you can't keep your hands off her. I believe you've got it in your head that she's going to be yours. You just met her and you've held her hand, put your arm around her and tried to kiss her. Think about it, Tommy." John said. "How do you think it looks?" he asked.

"I don't know but I've got a feeling you're going to tell me." Tommy said.

"It looks bad. I know you're lonely but that doesn't mean you grab the first girl you see especially when it's my baby sister. She doesn't know what she doing and you don't need to teach her anything new." John said.

"What do you mean by that?" Tommy asked.

"She's only 16. What you want from her, she's too young to give." John said.

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah. That's what I think you're doing." John said.

"I thought you knew me better than that. That's not what I"m up to at all. I just thought it would be a good idea to have some fun for a change. You're always telling me I need to have some fun. I thought it would be ok to have some fun with Shelby." Tommy said.

"Well, it's not. Someone's going to get hurt and I don't want it to be her." John said.

"Why do you think I would hurt her?" Tommy asked.

"That's what you do, Tommy. That's all you do. You've hurt so many others that finally someone's hurt you." John said.

"Don't give me that fucking bullshit. You know that's not true." Tommy said.

"Yeah it is." John said.

"No it's not. You're just pissed at me because you can't even get a girl." Tommy said.