“What are you doing?” I demanded as he grabbed me by the waist and rotated me around, too.
“There’s no shade out here,” he said, steering me back toward the interior hallway.
Even mid-fight, he was protecting my sunburn.
But he wasn’t softening. As soon as we were back inside, he was striding ahead again, and I was trotting after him.
“I’m trying to talk to you, Cooper,” I said, in a tone likeSlow down.
“I don’t feel like talking.”
“What is your problem?”
“Maybe it’s ’cause I didn’t sleep last night. At all. Even for one minute.”
Didn’t sleep at all—withBridesmaid Two? My body clamped down at the thought.
“And it’s your fault,” Cooper added.
“Pretty sure that was all you, dude,” I said. How dare he?
But Cooper just kept walking.
“I don’t get what we’re fighting about,” I said.
“We’re not fighting about anything,” Cooper declared.
We reached our cabin door.
“I also don’t get why you’re so mad about seeing me with Finn just now”—I gestured at the knob where the sock had been—“when you clearly had quite an evening yourself!”
For the first time all morning, Cooper met my eyes.
But he wasn’tlookingat me. He was glaring.
Not fair. “How,” I demanded, “can you possibly be mad at me for anything right now, when you clearly spent the night in our cabin with the shallowest, ickiest bridesmaid on this ship?”
But Cooper didn’t respond. Just unlocked the door and pushed his way into the cabin.
I followed.
“No response to that, huh?” I prodded. “Too embarrassed to reply?”
“I’m not embarrassed about anything,” he said, charging toward the balcony doors—like now that he’d entered our cabin he wanted nothing more than to get back out.
“I’mnot embarrassed about anything,” I countered.
But again—no response. Now Cooper was working the latch on the sliding doors—which shouldn’t have been that challenging—flipping it up and down, pushing and pulling, throwing every single shoulder muscle into it, all to no avail.
“If anyone should be embarrassed,” I went on, pressing my advantage,“it’s the person who spent all night desecrating our beloved cabin with Sock Girl!”
“Don’t call herSock Girl,” Cooper said as the latch gave way and the door slid open. “Hernameis Bridesmaid Two!”
We both paused at that as the wind rushed in.
“Whatisher name?” I asked then.
But Cooper just growled like I was driving him insane and escaped out onto the balcony.
