“Story of my life,” I whisper, and finally, with enormous effort, manage to pull free of him and flop face-first onto the bed.
He leaves me there, but before he does, I feel the blanket settle over my shoulders and hear his footsteps fade down the hall. If I could move, I’d chase after him. Instead, I close my eyes, let the world rock and spin, and wonder what exactly I’d set in motion by letting him catch me.
“WHY SHOULD SHE GETthe first session just because her daddy paid for this trip?” Rachel snaps, arms folded across her chest as we stand outside the spa room.
The small Thai lady who runs the spa room stares at Rachel, her face laced with confusion. Her eyes dart frantically to mine, no doubt hoping I can get her out of this before it escalates.
“If it matters that much to you, Rachel,” I mutter. “Go first.”
Rachel flicks her long brown hair over her shoulder. “I will.”
“Fantastic,” I say, waving her off with my hand.
She scowls at me, muttering something about being a rich bitch, before disappearing into the room. I feel sorry for the lady, I truly do. Rachel is the last person I would ever want to massage. Tatiana, who is standing beside me, leans in andwhispers, “You know, we could absolutely throw her overboard. Nobody would ever know.”
I laugh. “Tempting, but no. I am going to the top deck to do some mindless scrolling and sunbake.”
“Is Aggie still up there?” asks, tying her hair into a knot on the top of her head.
I nod. “Yep, that girl lives in the sun.”
“I’ll stay and wait for my massage, I can’t be letting anyone else get in before me.”
I grin. “Don’t let them beat you.”
Tatiana chuckles. “Never.”
I leave her there and make my way to the upper deck to find Aggie, already splayed across a striped lounge with her headphones on. Her skin is already golden, as if it is effortless for her to not get burned. I flop onto the chair beside her, and she turns, staring at me as she lifts her sunglasses and stares.
“I thought you were getting a massage?” she asks, removing a single bud.
“Rachel is holding the spa hostage. I wasn’t in the mood to listen to her shit,” I say, squinting at the horizon.
Aggie pulls a bottle of coconut water from her bag and hands it over. “Ironic, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“The only person on this floating palace who could really use a massage is that small, lovely Thai lady.”
Oh, I have no doubt.
I take a sip, swallowing the cold liquid. I’m not the biggest fan of coconut water, but I know how good it is for me so I take one for the team. Aggie frowns at her phone, tapping the screen. “The internet has stopped working.”
I glance at my phone to see mine has dropped out, too. “Maybe we hit a dead zone,” I offer. But it doesn’t sit right—theVirtue is equipped with enough satellite tech to stream porn on Mars.
Aggie frowns. “Didn’t your dad say this thing had, like, military-grade WIFI?”
“Yeah, apparently so. I’ll go see if I can find out what’s going on. Adrian might know, he is a tech guy. Have you met him yet?”
Aggie raises her brows, then nods. “Oh yes. He told me that the sun isn’t dangerous and I can lay out here safely all day, so you heard it here first.”
I laugh. “Gosh, he is odd. I’ll go see what I can find out.”
With a sigh, I push to my feet and head towards the large office on board where the captain spends most of his time. I reach the large wooden door and am about to knock when I hear my father’s assistant, Joel, on speaker. I would recognize that voice anywhere. It’s nasal, smug, and always a little too loud.
He has this weird high-pitched squeak that I swear I hear in my nightmares.
I pause, not sure why, just curiosity, I guess.
