Free My Wish for You by Destiny Webb

myself, and extremely glad that Lance was around or I probably would’ve
gone insane. I really liked him. I hoped that we would get together again after
this.
    All my thoughts
were crashed by Sean, roaring drunk, stumbling over to me. I was shocked. I had
never seen him even the slightest bit drunk. He could usually hold his alcohol
well.
    “Sammy, you need
to shot race me,” he slurred.
    “You’re drunk,
Sean. You don’t need any more to drink,” I tried to reason with him. He shook
his head and almost lost his balance.
    “I am not drunk. You are just chicken. I am not going to leave you alone until you race
me.” He tried to stand firmly to make a point, but failed miserably.
    “Who’s this?”
Lance walked up and put his hand on the small of my back. Sean’s eyes narrowed
slightly.
    “This is my
father’s best friend’s son, Sean. He has convinced himself that I am going to
shot race him.”
    “So, do it. It’ll
keep him busy. We won’t be on here much longer.”
    “Why?” I asked.
    “We’re headed
back to shore. Chad and I came to the conclusion that there were too many
drunks on one boat to be good.”
    He glanced at
Sean, who was staggering. I could see Lance visibly sizing him up and being
content with what he saw, probably feeling that he wasn’t much competition. I
felt a pang of guilt…if only he knew our background. I quickly shoved down that
feeling of guilt and put on a look of frustration.
    “Fine, Sean.
Line them up.” I turned to Lance. “After this, don’t let me drink anymore.”
    “Why?”
    “I know when to
quit,” I answered simply. I was already pretty buzzed. These shots were sure to
send me to the edge of getting drunk. I knew that being drunk would not help
anything tonight. Lance wasn’t drinking. He told me that he would make sure I
got home safely. Despite only knowing him for a few hours, I trusted him. So, I
had let go a little, but I wanted to remember anything that might be important.
    We lined up the
glasses and I had Lance pour the weakest drink there was on the boat.
    “I thought you
were the heavyweight,” he joked as he poured the alcohol.
    “It’s not for my
sake. It’s for his,” I muttered darkly. Sean was barely standing as he threw
back his row of shots. I went through mine faster than he did, of course. When
he looked up after his shots were finished, his eyes were filled with scrutiny.
    “You cheated,”
he accused.
    “I did not.” I got defensive.
    “Yes, you did,”
he pointed a wobbly finger at me.
    “How?” I said
incredulously.
    “I don’t know,
but I know you did. I want a rematch,” he pouted.
    I walked around
the table, put my hands on his shoulders, and steered him to an empty space to
sit.
    “I’ll tell you
what,” I reasoned with him like a child. “You sit here and think about the ways
I could have possibly cheated. If you guess right, I’ll give you a rematch.”
    I turned back to
Lance.
    “He’s not gonna
guess right, is he?” he smirked.
    “Nope.”
    “How are you
feeling?”
    “Rather buzzed
and a little tired.”
    We found a place
near Sean to sit and talk. Lance explained to me what surfing was like since I
had never been near a surfboard. In detail, he told me how to get up, and to
watch out for waves that you didn’t want to get hit by. At one point I asked
him if he had ever seen a shark while surfing. Lance laughed and said, “No, and
if I ever did, I would probably never surf again. I’m terrified of sharks.”
    Every now and
then, Sean would burst out with an idea. The ideas ranged from me dumping out
the drinks to me having an evil twin. My personal favorite: I stole Santa’s
elves to do my drinking. Each idea was quickly dismissed with a resounding “no”
and he went back to thinking. He stayed focused on finding a way so I would
have to rematch him. With no interruptions, it made it very easy for Lance and
me to talk.
    The boat pulled
up to the dock and the guests piled off, heading to their