Jay tips his head back, cheeks puffing out in exasperation before jogging back towards us, hands shoved firmly in his pockets.
“Hypothetically,” Talon starts, waving a hand between me and Sloan’s retreating figure, “if it would work, would you want it to?”
Jay pinches the bridge of his nose and swipes a hand through his hair. “Would he want what to work? Don’t tell me this was some sort of setup, Talon. Jesus.”
Talon’s lip curls up and he waves his hand at Jay. “Give me some fucking credit, Choi.”
“I don’t know, man, last time I visited you, there were a surprising number of romance books on your shelves. Thought you might have picked up a thing or two and wanted to see if you could put it to the test, help your friend out at the same time.” Jay holds his palms up.
“Men can read romance, Jay. In fact, I think they should. Might learn a thing or two.” Talon clicks his tongue before turning to me. “Big thing the books talk about—communication.” He starts walking backward, pointing. “Maybe you should try it some time.”
“Solid advice, man.” Jay widens his eyes, giving Talon’s retreating back a sarcastic thumbs-up when he turns around.
I dig the heels of my palms into my eyes before tugging on the ends of my hair. My hand grazes the raised edge of my scar, and I feel a bit like recoiling.
“You okay?” Jay asks, quieter now, hands back in his pockets, and he points with one elbow towards the end of the hall, where Aron has them stopped, pointing at the golden crown moulding and the wall sconces with a bit too much enthusiasm. “Head bothering you?”
Talon’s the only one who looks remotely interested.
“My head’s always bothering me,” I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Do you want to, I don’t know, go somewhere else? We can grab a drink. I counted at least eight bars on the way in.” He jerks his head in the opposite direction of Talon.
Of Sloan.
“Nah. It’s fine.” He looks at me like he doesn’t quite believe me, and he shouldn’t, but I start walking down the hall anyway. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a whole pharmacy back in the room if I need it. You ever tried medication in the form of a nasal spray?”
He laughs, I think in spite of himself, but I’ll count it anyway. “Can’t say I have.”
We catch up just in time to hear Aron talking about the passenger capacity of the ship in mind-numbing detail.
One of the things I loved first about Sloan was how herself she is.
She’s always known exactly who she is.
But it was also one of the first things to break my heart, because she might be herself, but she’s always been apologetic about it.
Case in point: Aron won’t shut up about the capacity of the ship, the sheer size of it, how we’ll probably never see the same passengers twice on any given day.
And so quietly—not like she doesn’t want anyone to hear her, but like she’s afraid they might—Sloan taps a finger against her thumb and whispers, “No wonder cruise ships are a central hub for human trafficking activity.”
Tia turns to her just as she’s rounding the corner. “Did you say something?”
“No.” Sloan shakes her head, full lower lip pouting.
They all follow. It’s just us here in the hallway with the stupid golden sconces and the ostentatious crown moulding, and I decide to try and take Talon’s advice.
“Louder. Take up space,” I murmur, pressing a knuckle between her shoulder blades where her tank top hangs loose, giving me a glimpse at the expanse of skin stretching down her back that makes me want to die a bit.
Sloan jerks away, one hand swatting at her back where I sort of hope she can still feel me, and she narrows her eyes before taking a measured swallow. “Don’t. Don’t say things like that, and don’t touch me.”
“Sloan, I just—”
“No,” she says, pressing her palms together to point them at me, and there’s conviction in her voice, but I can see the damageI did strewn all over her. “This whole thing will be much better if you and I just don’t speak.”
“You think we’re going to spend a week together—staying in the same suite—and we’re going to be able to just ... not talk to each other?”
“I’ve had a year and a half worth of practice, Bohdan.”
