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I turn back around and smile at the sight of Stella cradling Brandy’s head in her lap, making a small braid in the side of her hair.
“Sounded intense, Madden,” Cash adds, picking at her nails.
“Oh, it was nothing. He’s just freaking out over our presentation and –”
“I should call him and talk him down,” Stella says.
“No!” I reply, all too intensely. “I mean… it’s not that serious. I talked him down.”
My eyes land on Stella’s. How can her eyes feel so safe and dangerous at the same time? Simultaneously the thing I crave and also a warning that what I want, I can never fully have.
Stella inclines her head to my towel. “Sit, baby.”
I sit down and join the group, their conversation idle and trivial. My head is swimming. I can’t concentrate.
But then Stella leans over and kisses my temple tenderly. An all-important reminder: I have to enjoy this time with her. Before it’s too late.
And I can never have her again.
Chapter 14
Stella
“Moreshots!Pronto,perfavore!” Adelaide yells, a limp Italian accent tainting her words.
I grimace at Flynn. I know if I have anything more to drink, I’m going to be sick as a dog tomorrow morning. Especially since we will be traveling through the day tomorrow to get to Venice for the final evening of the trip.
Flynn touches my back sympathetically. “You want to go to bed?”
I don’t want to take him away from the party because, surprisingly, he’s having a pretty nice time with his new buddies. They’re an unlikely group, but they enjoy themselves immensely when they’re together. Flynn is anything but a bro and sticks out like a sore thumb with his black-rimmed glasses, and yet it somehow works entirely. “No, I think I just need some fresh –”
“Dance!” Cash shouts, grabbing me by the hand and yanking me into a tripping dance to the loud pop music playing through the speakers.
“Cash!” I shout, laughing. She always has a way of pulling me onto the dance floor. If nothing else comes out of this trip, my friendship with Cash will have been worth this whole mess.
“You’re just standing there with your boyfriend talking about the next time you’re going to fuck! We get it! Youlove each other!”
Though I’m bouncing to the music, my mind is anywhere but here. Love. Do I love Flynn? Surely no more than friends love one another, right?
Right??
I look back at Flynn. He’s already shooting the shit with Simon. His cheeks are pinched red from liquor, and his mouth is caught in permanent laughter.
I don’t know if he’s changed over the past thirteen days or if a part of him he’s kept under wraps has just been released. But I adore this side of him. I thought I’d be tending to his unending infatuation with Adelaide, talking him down from that ledge of desperation.
Instead, I’ve… seen a new, beautiful side of him. A side I very well might love.
After spinning in circles, I’m hit with a wave of nausea. Too much tequila. Luckily, Cash doesn’t seem to notice I’ve let go of her hand and is playfully grinding up against Gregory, who is yelling, “Nope! Don’t feel anything!”
Everyone’s distracted. If I slip away, no one will notice right away.
I just need five minutes to myself. To clear my head and settle my stomach.
I hurry away and clamor up the stern deck, the highest deck of the ship. When I emerge from the stairs, the expanse of the sky opens up above me. Generous amounts of stars make up constellations, and the moon looks swollen and nearly full.
I take a deep breath and sink down onto the cushions of the bunny pad. The air is suddenly fresh and salty again, not tainted with the scents of luxury perfumes and the sick tinge of alcohol. I tune my ears to the sound of the ocean; the thumping music starts to feel much further away than just the deck below me.
I miss home. Miss my dogs. And I feel guilty for missing home. Because home means I’m leaving Flynn behind.
