Free Will's Rockie Way by Peggy Hunter

morning.
    “From what I can see, I don’t think Will’s going to bother you. He knows he screwed up big time,” Joanne supplied.
    Roxanne snorted. “Yeah, right. He may know he screwed up but I don’t think he’ll see it as a reason to stay away from me. The second I let my guard down, he’ll be all over me like a dirty shirt.”
    “He won’t if you stick with us,” Joanne said. “As long as you’re among the group we’re chaperoning, what can he do?”
    Roxanne sat on the bed. Joanne made a very good point. There was safety in numbers. As long as she stuck with the kids and other chaperones, there was nothing Will could do. Roxanne’s stomach growled in agreement. At least there was one part of her willing to take a chance.
    “Will you come to my room and go down with me?” she asked her friend. “I don’t want to take the chance of going down to the restaurant alone.”
    “Of course,” Joanne said. “I’ll be right there.”
    * * * *
    Will wasn’t clear on anything. Since Rockie had overheard the conversation he’d had with Blake, she knew he’d had nothing to do with the prank. Still Rockie was angry. Fuck, was she angry!
    Will had long since given up trying to figure out how a woman’s mind worked. His father had offered the best advice he’d ever heard in his life.
    When Will complained that Rockie wouldn’t see him after the prank, his father sat him down on the couch, looked over his shoulder to make sure his mother wasn’t around and said, “Son, you know so little about what men know about women.”
    Will looked at his father with hope. “So tell me.”
    His father’s face fell into what could only be termed as a confused frown. He shook his head and said, “Nothing. Men know absolutely nothing about women. The moment you try to sort it out in your head, you’re screwed. You’re young; you have your whole life ahead of you. Trust me, there will be other women. Best to move on.”
    And so, Will took his father’s advice and left for Calgary without setting things right with Rockie. His father never told him he’d regret it, that he’d be left wondering if there was something he’d missed.
    Will had no idea just how deep his regret ran until he came face to face with Rockie after six years. And then he touched her, pulled her to him and made sweet love to her. He may well know nothing about women, he expected he never would, but he knew he wasn’t about to let Rockie slip out of his grasp again.
    Will cast his gaze over the kids frolicking in the waves. His bare feet dug into the warm sand as he stood on the beach.
    “Heads up, Mr. Sheridan!”
    Will looked up in time to see the volleyball headed directly at his face. His hands shot forward and caught it. He lowered it to his chest as he peered back at the kids.
    “Good catch,” Blake said.
    Will tossed the ball back to the kids and peered down at his friend lying on a beach towel.
    “Thanks,” Will replied as he sank down on the sand beside him. He glanced at Blake, who was shoveling potato chips into his mouth. “Didn’t you have lunch?” Stupid question, he’d witnessed Blake attack his lunch with gusto.
    “Yeah, I had lunch,” Blake said before he pushed another chip into his mouth. He munched on it before he continued. “But we’re midway between lunch and supper. I always get peckish this time of day.”
    Peckish? Was that what he called it? Will shook his head when Blake peered down at his chest, retrieved crumbs and shoved them into this mouth. The man had come by his nickname honestly. He really was a pig. He assumed the constant innuendos Blake made about his sex life were true. He couldn’t imagine what else kept Joanne close to home.
    “Have you seen Rockie yet?”
    “No,” Will replied. His gut wrenched. She’d made damn sure to keep as far away from him as she could.
    “Joanne said she’s going to bring Rockie here to the beach. Said you wouldn’t pull a stunt on her as long as she was around