Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 2.1 - On Deck by Kate Sherwood

On Deck | Kate Sherwood
shows him that the other man is genuinely worried, and Dan smiles reassuringly. "I'll be extra careful. I'll duck, for sure."
    Evan looks like he still has doubts, but he lets Dan shift down towards the stern of the boat. At first, they divide the jobs, with Evan handling the sail while Dan gets the hang of using the rudder, and then switching to let Dan get a feel for the sail while Evan steers. When Evan finally decides that Dan's ready to try both, he feels like a kid being handed the keys to his first car. Of course, Dan's first car was the truck he's still driving, and he'd bought it himself, when he was well into his twenties, but… he can imagine how it would have felt if someone had handed him keys as a kid.
    Sailing is fun, and Dan gets the hang of it pretty quickly, which makes him proud. Evan sees that, and takes pains to point out that he's in the middle of a huge bay with nothing to run into or go around, but he's smiling as he says it, and it's not long before he moves up and takes Dan's old seat in the bow, trusting Dan with a little independence. That doesn't mean that he doesn't still tense and look like he's ready to pounce every time they come about, but Dan is careful to duck away from the boom as far in advance as he reasonably can, and eventually Evan calms down a little. It's not long until he moves back next to Dan and shows him how to get the boat going faster, taking full advantage of the wind, and teaches him to hook his feet under the hull and lean out over the ocean to balance the boat. It's a little nerve-wracking the first time, but once he gets used to it, Dan loves it.
    After an hour or so, Evan shows Dan how to tie the sail so it's loose and won't pull the boat anywhere, and they both take a break, shifting onto the wide, low bench in the middle of the boat. They're still really exposed, and the bay is pretty busy, so there's no real privacy, but there is the illusion of it, and they make out a little, nothing too heavy, just warm and rhythmic, like the afternoon sun and the movement of the boat on the

On Deck | Kate Sherwood
small swells of the ocean.
    Evan burrows into his magical backpack and pulls out a couple sandwiches, thick slices of chicken and bacon on crusty rolls, and Dan takes a moment to bless Tia, because the food is clearly homemade and Dan can tell that Evan had nothing to do with it. Well, that's not true, he guesses. Evan had gone to the trouble of asking for them. There are a couple of beers, too, kept cool with an ice pack, and Evan hands one to him almost furtively. "Technically, not allowed," he confesses, but then shrugs. "I don't think one beer will be a problem."
    So they eat, and make out a little more, and then it's back to the sailing, with Evan setting tasks for Dan, giving pointers, and only teasing a little when Dan messes up. Dan's lost track of the time when Evan sighs and looks at his watch. "We should probably head in pretty soon. There's usually a bit of a traffic jam at the dock, people trying to get home in time for dinner— we should either go now to miss it or be prepared to stay out here another few hours, and I'm not sure the weather's going to hold." He smiles shyly. "And I want your first day of sailing to be perfect, not ruined by getting caught in a rainstorm."
Dan nods. "Aye aye, Captain."
     
Evan grins. "That's what I like to hear. I should handle it when we get closer to the dock, but do you want to take her for a while longer?" Dan thinks about it, then shakes his head. "Nah, I'm good. It's fun, but I kinda like watching you do it, to be honest."
    Evan doesn't seem inclined to argue, and they head back to the yacht club, not really talking much, just enjoying what's left of the afternoon. Evan guides the boat into its slip expertly, just the right angle and velocity, and Dan can see why he was the one in charge of that job. Dan had enjoyed messing around out on the Bay, but it hadn't really mattered where he went,