Title: Affection Multiplier App: The Boyfriend
By: BreaktheBar
Chapter 7
Becca gave her speech, welcoming everyone and then running into her announcements. A lot of it was just repeated information from the email blasts she’d been sending out for weeks ahead of time—things like reminders to check all photos before posting to social media and getting permission from others if they were in the picture, and making sure to make any content sharing deals in writing. A few girls had apparently not been invited back from the previous year because they flaked on deals. There were also more housekeeping rules; we were all going to be roommates living in two floating apartments, so clean up after yourselves, be respectful. Remember that there are two men on the trip.
At that last one several of the girls, though I didn’t notice who, let out little ‘woo’s!’ and Becca rolled her eyes. “They are both in relationships, so keep your cooters in the Off position, ladies!”
This brought chuckles from most of the group. Cassidy, however, slipped her hand into mine and squeezed my fingers, and I looked down and she gave me that ‘I told you so’ look.
Becca went on with her announcements. “Alright, last two things. First, we have a more diverse crowd than last year in terms of what kind of content we all make. There will be no shaming of people for any kind of content they do, or don’t make. Or for what sites they use! If I catch a whiff of that, not only will you not be back next year, but we will literally drop you back off here at the dock and go back out without you.
“Second, the rental company needs to do a crash safety course with at least four pilots for the houseboats. I’ll be one of the drivers for the Single’s Boat, so I need three volunteers. Please come and see me! Everyone else, you can start loading the luggage onto the boats. Just follow Ted over there in the red shirt.”
A bearded guy who looked like he was sun-beaten leather held together by dirt and shoelaces waved from the near side of one of the docks.
As the crowd of models began to move, I squeezed Cassidy’s hand and pulled her back to me. “I’m going to go get the pilot course,” I said.
She nodded, slipped her arms around my waist and went up onto her tiptoes to peck my lips. “OK, Tiger. Has anyone, y’know… interested you?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that emotionally yet,” I said. “Physically, sure. But not in here or here.” I pointed to my head and my heart.
She nodded again. “Just keep an open mind.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I will. For you, I will.”
It was strange, telling my fiance I would be open to flirting from other women for her sake.
I headed over to Becca near one of the warehouse walls, while Cassidy went to start joining the crowd moving luggage. I noticed JC talking with his girl Terra, then heading over as well.
“Hey, I’ll volunteer for piloting,” I said to Becca.
“Me too,” JC said.
“And I’ll help on the singles boat,” a woman said. She was of Asian descent but spoke with a slightly bewildering midwest accent. She was gorgeous; tall and slender, with full bowed lips and a striking face. She was wearing a denim jumper with short legs and an overall front on top, along with a heavy-duty green athletic bra. “I’m Ami, nice to meet both of y’all.”
JC and I introduced ourselves.
“Great,” Becca said. “Follow me, the faster we get this done, the faster we get out on the water.”
We followed our blonde leader around the warehouse and down the side of the dock. From here I could feel the slightly cooler breeze coming off of the water, and I took a long moment to just take in the majestic blue of Lake Powell against the warm mountains of the desert around us.
The docks, and the warehouses, looked like they might have been a couple of decades old or older, but the houseboats and speedboats tied up along their lengths and in the storage warehouses were well kept. As we walked I noticed Ami, despite her rougher clothing, walked with this elegance and grace to her that made me wonder if she’d been a dancer, or maybe even an actual runway model.
Becca eventually found a guy named Bruce, or ‘Just call me Brucy Boy’, the kind of good old boy who was all smiles and factoids and little nuggets of wisdom. He ran us through the controls of the houseboats on a dummy mockup and made sure we knew how to use them, along with the emergency equipment (other than the radio and the flare gun, most of it was self-explanatory). Then he showed us the map of Lake Powell they had on every boat, and pointed to a couple of places we shouldn’t go—mostly down at the south end near the dam—and where the boat-up gas bars were.
“Last thing, just a warnin’,” Brucy Boy said. “If y’all see the PoPo, don’tchu worry none as long as y’all aren’t bein’ too wild. Just let them come alongside. They’s’ll ask some questions, just show them the rental ‘greements with us and yous won’t have no problems. All our houseboats are metered for low speeds, and got them bumpers so y’all would have to try real hard to run into anything and cause real damage. S’not a challenge, by the way, please don’t do that.”
Then Brucy brought us over to a small area beside the docks where an old, rundown Houseboat looked like it was ready to collapse in on itself, and had us show him we knew how to turn over the engine, and each of us took a turn driving it in a couple of circles.
While JC was taking his turn, Brucy Boy monitoring over his shoulder, I leaned back against the railing and took in the lake air.
“It’s just as beautiful as I hoped it would be,” Becca said, coming to stand next to me. She was wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses a lot like my own and had a sincere smile.
“You did a great job putting this all together,” I said. “Make sure you get to enjoy it, too.”
“Oh, I will,” she chuckled. “Probably tomorrow morning once I know everything is actually working as intended.”
“Well, like I said, if you need any extra hands just let me know,” I said.
“I do appreciate the offer,” Becca said. “I’m sure something will come up so that you can be the dashing knight in shining armour. Maybe a clogged toilet?”
That made me laugh, and she joined me.
“I’m not entirely joking, some of these girls are bound to be disgusting—put enough of us together and someone always ends up trying to flush something they shouldn’t. I think we had to call the B n B owners six times last year.”
“Well, I guess I’ll do what I can,” I said. Then the houseboat rocked as Brucy had Ami purposefully drive it into the dockside, showing how the bumpers along the sides would absorb the impact. Becca and I hadn’t been ready for it though, since we hadn’t been paying attention to them, and she stumbled into me and I caught her quickly, holding her by her bare upper arms. “Whoa, I got you,” I said.
She chuckled and shook her head. “Whoa, nice hands,” she said. “Maybe you really are a little bit of a hero.” She touched my arm and grinned. “Just a little bit, though.” She turned away and leaned back against the railing with me, mimicking my own posture, as we kept talking.
It wasn’t until we were back on land and walking up to the dock that I realized she may have been flirting with me.
No, she wouldn’t, I thought. She was a no-nonsense, on-the-job kind of personality. Beautiful, sure. But flirting with me?
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