Sloan shrugs again, but I can feel the more relaxed slump of her shoulders, and I can hear the smile in her voice when she waves a hand in the air and says, “Let Talon pick, it’s his cruise.”
He doesn’t hesitate. “Water aerobics.”
There’s a collective groan—but no one argues with him.
It’s how we end up in a too-crowded pool with people trying to wrap their heads around the synchronized movements, and a too-loud thump of a bass from a nearby speaker that should hurtmy head but doesn’t because it’s Sloan’s hand in mine, tugging me to the corner of the pool.
Jay takes it too seriously, claiming he hasn’t had a good workout the entire trip.
Tia gives up halfway through and stretches out a nearby deck chair, sun hat pulled low over her face so she doesn’t have to watch the spectacle.
Talon almost gets into a fight with a thirteen-year-old who accidentally knocks him over the head with a pool noodle.
Sloan doesn’t like organized group activities like this because she hates that people might be watching her, so we whisper about our friends and plan out our fictional new apartment. I think of all the ways I can prove to her I’m worthy again, and occasionally pretend to look interested in the instructions when Talon throws a pointed glance over his shoulder.
He abandons the class eventually, making us move to a smaller pool where he swears up and down that he can swim a faster lap than any of us and successfully goads Jay into a race.
They tie, actually, but they each think they won, and they make me join so someone can actually come in first.
“Good luck.” Sloan’s mouth tilts into a soft, quiet smile. “You were always faster on ice than them. Water can’t be very different. I think you’ll win.”
I press my thumb to her bottom lip. “Already did.”
Sloan
“You look beautiful.” Tia squeezes my fingers. “Grey is a great colour for you.”
I glance down, tugging at the silk dress clinging to my thighs. “Oh. Thanks. It seems kind of like a waste to dress up like this. I didn’t realize the five-course dinner to cap off the cruise would be on our balcony.”
She nods thoughtfully, tapping her index finger to her pouted lower lip, somehow avoiding smudging the pink lipstick she spent ten minutes in the mirror expertly painting. “It is a bit odd, Talon usually likes to make a spectacle. But you heard him going on and on today when we were in the shuttle—how this is one of the only ships in the world equipped with a suite like this.”
I give her a look. “It was quite the soliloquy.”
“He really should consider public speaking as a future career now that this cruise is over.” Tia wrinkles her nose before straightening the front of her own dress. When she’s decided it all lies exactly as it should, she peers up at me, all furtive. “Or ...matchmaking. He’s going home with you? That’s not walking away from him tomorrow morning, Sloan.”
Her eyes cut to the glass doors of the balcony, to Talon, Jay, and Bohdan standing out there beside a table set with decorations that border on ostentatious, ornate crystal glasses and gold-rimmed charger plates keeping the white tablecloth from catching on the ocean breeze.
“Because I don’t want to walk away. I don’t want it to end.” I shift back and forth on my feet, and I try to smile at my best friend, but it catches on something.
“Sloan.” She breathes, her fingers feathering in space before they brush across my shoulder. She pauses at the tattoo, like she’s afraid to touch it, before she makes a show of straightening the straps of my dress. “Is that ... is it the best idea for you two to just jump right back into things? I’ve watched you these last few days, and I get it, I do. There’s never been a love for you like his, and there’ll never be a love for him like yours. But—”
I don’t get to hear what she’s going to say next because Talon knocks on the balcony door, eyes wide and expectant. He doesn’t say anything, but he taps an invisible watch on his wrist.
Tia makes a waving motion before she rolls her eyes, muttering, “I have no idea why he’s in such a hurry. It’s not like we’re going to miss a reservation. The whole dinner was already catered!”
“You don’t think it’s a good idea?” I whisper, but she’s wise to my tricks and she knows it’s a sad plea for reassurance.
She exhales, smoothing back imaginary escaped curls from her bun. Her words say one thing, but her eyes say another. “I just wantyouto be happy.”
My lips part, another plea ready, but Talon throws open the door. He leans forward, hands gripping the frame, causing the shoulders of his tux to buckle. “Guys, come on. You only have to play along for one more night.”
He blinks pleading eyes at us, and I force a smile, gathering the skirt of my dress to follow Tia out onto the balcony into the night air.
Tia pats her brother’s chest as she walks past. “We’ve had a blast, don’t worry. Maybe we should make it an annual thing?”
“Really?” Talon perks up, standing taller on the balls of his feet.
“No,” Jay answers, shrugging off his white dinner jacket and tossing it onto the back of one of the chairs before he sits down.
