Sailor Proof by Annabeth Albert

Chapter Twenty-Five

Derrick

“Training circus seals might be easier than this.” Arthur clutched a clipboard in one hand as he gestured with the other at the throng of kids milling around the back of the dining hall in the makeshift backstage area for talent night.

“More of our recruits might listen to us in real SEAL training.” Laughing, I clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ve done amazing. The last run-through sounded great and no one fell.”

“Thanks. I want things to go perfectly.” His nerves were kind of cute. And also, something I could help with.

“They will. And luckily for you, I’d make a decent ringmaster for that circus.” I gave a piercing warning whistle, breaking through the kid chaos. “Okay, team, huddle up!”

“I never thought I’d find whistling such a turn-on.” Arthur used a low whisper as the kids made their way back to us.

“What can I say? I’m a guy of many talents,” I joked right before I whistled again to hurry the kids up. “Everyone listen up. We need to form a line from youngest to oldest.”

“That’s going to be our show order,” Arthur added, glancing down at his clipboard. “That way the little kids have to wait the least.”

“I wanted to be first!” Vince was predictably the loudest dissenter.

“No, I should be first,” Taylor countered, shoving his cousin.

“I’m older.” Seth had a self-important air, but Vince made a scoffing noise.

“By thirty seconds, doofus.”

“Still older.” Seth crossed his arms over his bony chest.

“Whatever. If you’re older, I’m going first.” Fist pumping, Vince did a move that was somewhere between martial arts and victory dance.

“Hey, I’m younger than both of you. That makes me first.” Taylor’s triumphant wiggle served to make both twins groan.

“Enough.” I whistled again and added a handclap for good measure. “There will plenty of applause for everyone. And going last is great too. Then you’re like the closing pitcher in baseball.”

“Ha. Dudes, I’m the closer.” Seth seized the opportunity to glare at the other two.

“No, I’m—”

“You stand here. And you here.” I directed them into order for the line. “If you can stay quiet long enough for Arthur’s announcements, I’ll let you look at my car’s engine tomorrow.”

Vince got a speculative look. “Before we leave?”

“Yeah, before then.” Damn it. I didn’t like the reminder of how few hours we had left. I didn’t want to think about tomorrow, driving back with Arthur, planning for our breakup and returning to a real world where Arthur wasn’t in my bed each night. How had we run out of time? My stomach churned.

But there was no time for brooding. We had a show to put on. After we got the kids in a line, I wrote down the order for Arthur so that he’d know who to introduce when, while I handled the music for him.

“I need a better costume,” Seth lamented when I returned to his part of the line. “And Taylor has props.”

“Yeah, but he can’t sing as fast as you. If you do your best, it won’t matter what you’re wearing. Be the best Seth you can be.” I channeled a hefty dose of Arthur in my advice. Be the best you. That was exactly what I’d done all week. It felt like I’d been the best version of myself in a way that maybe I hadn’t been since my early days on the sub. I liked who I was around Arthur and the Euler family. This was who I’d wanted to be with Steve. Maybe Arthur had been right about both of us needing boyfriend practice. Or maybe Steve hadn’t been Arthur.

Across the grass, Arthur straightened Lila’s tutu before showing a different girl how to bow with a flourish. Yup. That was the answer. It wasn’t me. Wasn’t getting boyfriend practice or even this place. It was Arthur. He was magic.

And for his sake, I wanted the show to go as well as he hoped. His family damn well better appreciate all his hard work.

“Everyone ready?” he asked as he retrieved the box of prizes from a nearby stump. “It’s showtime. Don’t forget to smile. And have fun! This is all about having fun.”

“And winning,” Vince added darkly.

“I’m gonna slay you.” Seth bared his teeth at his brother, but Arthur simply gave a patient nod.

“Just by showing up and trying, you’re all winners.” His voice was as reassuring as his demeanor, but the boys rolled their eyes.

“Life’s no fun without a winner,” Vince insisted. He sounded exactly like Calder. How much of my life had I wasted thinking like them? Even now, counting down to my next advancement in rank, my next award or ribbon. My drive to achieve had brought me this far, but had it brought me happiness? I was no longer so sure.

“It’s more fun when you tie.” Arthur shot me a small, secret smile. Hell, I’d lose every bet for the next two years if it meant more smiles like those.

“And when others around you win too,” I added.

“Like your crew.” Taylor nodded sagely, but actually I’d been thinking less of my shipmates and more about how proud I was of Arthur and these kids. In fact, as I helped him lead them into the dining hall, I wasn’t sure I’d ever been this proud or nervous for another person.

“Good luck,” I said as he passed by me on his way to the front of the room, where all the older family members were already waiting.

“Thanks. Tell me I get a reward later that doesn’t involve auto repair.”

“What? I can’t bribe you with a look under my hood?” I joked before touching his hand, voice more serious now. “You get whatever you want.”

I meant it. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t try with him if it made him happy. Him happy meant everything to me.

Thus, it shouldn’t have been that surprising that my stomach kept wobbling and my pulse racing, weirdly nervous for him wanting the event to go off without a hitch.

“Welcome to talent night!” Arthur was cheerful and commanding as he took center stage at the front of the room. He didn’t even need my whistle to get people’s attention. He probably could have wrangled all the kids without me too, but he’d let me help and made me feel necessary. Maybe like me, he simply liked spending time and working together.

That thought made me so warm that I almost missed the cue to start the music for the opening number. It was an upbeat pop number that came from a family movie I’d never seen, but the song was an ode to being oneself. Arthur had ensured that the kids sang loud and clear and his choreography was super cute.

Be yourself. With him I could do exactly that, and watching him be Arthur, dancing and singing with the kids, made my chest expand so far I worried for my ribs. He was exactly who he needed to be, and I wanted him to never change.

He continued to be effervescent as he introduced the little kids who went first. A number of dancers and nervous singers along with some comical animal impressions rounded out the first part of the show.

“Now we have Taylor, who is going to share some impersonations of humans you may recognize.”

Taylor kept to his promise and didn’t do one of his mother, but his ability to mimic Oliver and his grandfather got big laughs. And he slapped on headphones for his “Do you” and “Just have fun” Arthur impression that showed that maybe he’d been listening through all the dance rehearsals.

“And I can do Derrick too.” He grinned big as he replaced the headphones with sunglasses of a similar style to ones I’d worn that week. Giving a stern look, he did a whistle that wasn’t a bad imitation of mine. “Listen to Arthur! Arthur’s the best.”

He finished with a dopey lovesick look that made the audience laugh loud. And made me think. Hard. That wasn’t me, was it? Hanging on Arthur’s every word, following him around, looking at him like he personally had stapled the sun into place. Except maybe that was me, and I wasn’t even sure it was a bad thing. Who wouldn’t be a little lovesick over Arthur?

As the audience applauded for Taylor, I chewed on my lip, brain still churning. Vince was next and took three tries before kicking apart a flimsy board.

“Next, Seth is bringing us his special super-fast singing.”

An extremely twitchy Seth shot me a nervous look as he stepped forward. I gave him a big thumbs-up and mouthed, “You got this.”

My chest pinched hard. All week I’d considered this project as something I was doing for Arthur, a way to help him. But maybe it had been for me too. And I wasn’t sure I was ready for all these deep realizations about myself and life, but at the same time, I wouldn’t trade the small smile Seth gave me. This show had meant something to all of us.

Seth’s fast renditions of several classic songs earned him lots of applause, and he exited with a far bigger grin than he’d started with.

“Way to go,” I called to him as Arthur assembled everyone for the next musical number. This song was all about the importance of trying, with lots of big arm movements and earnest singing. Like with that look from Seth, it felt like the universe was trying to tell me something via the song, a message that maybe I didn’t want to hear right then.

Trying and failing is better than never trying at all. I wasn’t sure where I’d learned that. Possibly Grandma. As Arthur led the kids through their steps, I stopped fighting my own emotions, let the song wash over me, let myself wallow in the pride and admiration I was feeling. In that moment, he was my guy, and it was wonderful, and I couldn’t wait to get him alone, let our bodies do the talking.

Maybe it was time for me to try too.

“Now for our winners!” At the end, Arthur handed out the prizes. Every single kid got an award and a round of applause. Watching their faces light up, I finally understood why Arthur had fought so hard for this. It wasn’t that he didn’t like winning, but rather that he wanted everyone to have that thrill of victory. And he’d done it, given each of the kids a moment to shine. At the end, I applauded harder than anyone else.

“That was so fun! Thank you for all your hard work.” Arthur’s mom came up to him after the show, when the kids had all rushed back to their parents, who were busy taking pictures and admiring costumes. She had a tight hug for Arthur before adding, “I’m not sure we needed quite so many winners, but the kids seem happy.”

“They’re all winners.” Arthur disentangled himself from the hug.

“Yeah, they are. Nice job, bro.” Oliver came over right then, unexpectedly agreeing with Arthur. He had a hearty slap on the back for Arthur and more words of praise for the show before turning to me. “Are we going to see you for cards tonight?”

“Nah. I think... I have plans.” I glanced over at Arthur. We hadn’t said as much, but he had to be all jazzed on adrenaline from the performance, much like a successful mission, and I wanted to be there for him.

“Oh, I see how it is.” Oliver gave a knowing eyebrow waggle.

“How what is?” Calder came loping over, friends following behind him.

“Romeo here is ditching cards again.” Oliver was rather gleeful in delivering that bit of news even as Calder frowned.

“Is he?” Calder had a speculative look for me, one that matched his deceptively casual tone and promised a lengthy inquisition later, but I had run out of fucks to give for bets and card playing. I had better things to do. Also, it was the last night here, and there was nowhere I’d rather be than with Arthur. No way was I ditching Arthur to play cards even if it earned me a lecture from Calder.

“Sorry. Already made plans.”

“I see.” Calder’s mouth pursed. He’d have questions for me later, undoubtedly ones I’d rather not answer, but I’d rather brave that gauntlet than lose my chance with Arthur.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Arthur said a few moments later when we were packing up his speaker and other supplies. “You can go play cards.”

“I don’t want to. I’d rather celebrate your big night.”

“It did go well, didn’t it?” His little smile was more than worth whatever retribution Calder wanted to dish out. I’d do his laundry for a month or sit through a dozen card games if it meant getting to see Arthur like this. Arthur’s pink cheeks and glowing eyes made me feel as light and bouncy as he always managed to be, like I too might sing and dance at a moment’s notice.

“It really did. You did good.” Not caring who might still be milling around, I gave him a tight hug from behind. “And I believe I promised you a reward. I’m not going back on that.”

“Good. I know exactly what I want.”

“I can’t wait.” Whatever he wanted, I was going to try my damnedest to give to him.