AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’ve joined the guys out on the tender for a day of fishing which apparently was just a guise for us all to get obnoxiously drunk in the middle of the ocean. I’m definitely the odd man out. Everyone else is a sportsman. You’ve got Theo, of course, and then his teammates, Will and Franklin who look like they could each pull a freight train. And then his friend Simon who is a player for Manchester United. He’s much more my type of guy framewise, but he’s all soccer up in the head.
Surprisingly, Gregory also joined us. In fact, he’s the only one fishing. I guess I shouldn’t have assumed the gay guy would want to hang back with the girls. Turns out, he grew up in the Pacific Northwest and spent lots of time on his father’s boat pulling in halibut the size of a sow. He tried to show me his technique earlier, but I ended up snapping my line trying to pull in a piece of driftwood.
I gave up after that. Might as well drink my problems away.
“Your neck is lookin’ better today, Flynn,” Theo says, pointing to his own vascular neck, before throwing me a beer.
I nearly lose it over the edge of the tender, the metal slipping through my fingers and into my lap. “Thanks,” I grumble.
“For a man sharing a bed with a beautiful woman, you sure are a grumpy Gus, aren’t you?” Simon says in his spry British accent.
I glare at him.
“Uh-oh, trouble in paradise, huh?” Theo says, thwapping one of his bros on the chest.
I sigh. “Something like that.” Since leaving the cabin yesterday morning, Stella and I haven’t said more than a few words to each other. Even at dinner last night we barely shared a glance. I spent most of yesterday on the deck, hurling my guts out over the side of the boat as we plowed through the beautiful Med waters. So, this morning, when Adelaide suggested that once we anchored the boys and girls should split for the day, I jumped at the chance. Who cares if they’re all meatheads? Better than having to avoid Stella all day.
“Growing pains, eh?” Simon asks with a jolly grin.
“How do you mean?”
Simon shrugs. “You know. The plateaus of a relationship.”
I open my beer and take a thoughtful sip. I would say that Stella and I are in the exact opposite of a plateau. It’s more like a volcano is heating up, feels close to exploding. “I guess things are feeling a little stilted.”
“Well, how long have you been together?”
Get the facts straight, don’t blow your cover. “Five months, plus a little extra.”
“But you’ve known each other a while, right? Adelaide says you work with her brother,” Theo says, kicking his feet up on one of the seats.
“Yes, I’ve known her for…” Here goes the mental math. “Gosh fourteen years, I guess?”
The guys all exchange looks.
“What’s that look for?”
“Have things moved fast?” Will continues the questioning.
You could say that. “Yeah, I guess.”
“And you’re just now putting a label on things? Yeesh, brother,” Franklin says which receives laughter from the other guys.
“What’s wrong with that?” I don’t know why I’m indulging in this. It’s not even a real relationship. I guess I’m just interested to hear how it looks from the outside. Let me know if we’re doing a good job of faking it.
“Well, when you have a history, girls expect you to move faster,” Franklin continues.
“She’s a woman, not a girl,” Gregory shouts out from his place at the back of the boat. He looks like a real fisherman with his rod and bucket hat.
“Womenexpect you to move faster. Because you don’t have to get through all the bullshit of getting to know each other.”
I chuckle. “I guess, although Stella and I didn’t much like each other before…”
“Ooo enemies to lovers,” Simon says, twiddling his fingers.
I give him a look.
“Simon loves romance novels,” Theo answers my confusion. “Listen, I’m sure there’s like a huge microscope on you guys right now. Celebrating an engagement, making your public debut. That’s a lot of pressure.”
