24. Dawn Watch
Chapter 24
Dawn Watch
Dante
I throw up, but there’s nothing there. My stomach convulses. And my head feels like garbage. I’m not going to be able to make dinner, let alone breakfast. I have no idea what time it is. “Where the fuck am I?” The boat is really rocking and my cabin stinks like fish. “Why does it smell so bad?” My throat is sore. Like I’ve swallowed battery acid or cheap Russian vodka. Which are basically the same thing.
I open my eyes. The deck awning has a pink glow to it. It’s not an awning.
Haley’s here, a weird purple bandana over her head. Like a babushka, or a crunchy girl. I wouldn’t think of her as a crunchy girl. Not when she’s going around making out with the captain.
That’s when I remember. I got up to make the dough for my morning cinnamon rolls, and the ship listed hard. Hard enough that I had to lunge for the pan.
I push up onto my arms. “What the hell happened?”
“We—” Haley tries to tell me something, but the primary’s son stops her. Why is he here?
“For fuck’s sake, Sassy, just tell me.” The gagging is back, and Zane hands me a bucket. A bucket that on a normal day would make me want to lose my shit anyway. It’s like the inside of a clogged sink incinerator. I pull what’s left in my body up from my toenails, hurl it into the bucket, and collapse onto a soggy pile of towels.
Whooshing echoes in my ears when I go down. Everything hurts. I grit my molars together and wait for the next bout of nausea.
And it comes. “Fucking hell.” The only good thing is Haley’s fingers running through my hair. My cock doesn’t care what’s going on in my stomach or my head. Little asshole.
I hold Haley’s eyes as I go in for another round, then clench them closed. Everything clenches.
“I’m glad you’re awake. I was really worried.” The bucket is gone. She puts her knee under my head.
I’m using her for a pillow, and I smell like the bottom of a seafood restaurant dumpster. But she doesn’t. I’d bury my nose all the way into her if I could. She’s stroking my hair, and I almost relax. My groggy head has figured it out: we’re in a fucking life raft. “I’m guessing there’s a lot to worry about?”
“You’ve got a big bump on your head,” says the owner’s son as he leans over me from the side opposite Haley. Zane is washing out the bucket, and the engineer is leaning against the side wall. I close my eyes. “We’re going to have to wake you with concussion protocols. Do you want some water? Just a few sips to start. I’d like to take a look at the injury. Can you lie flat?”
I want to growl “no” at him. But instead, I move onto a small cushion, one from the Rock Candy ’s back deck. It’s covered in a blue and white striped towel. I lie down and let my head rest on the soggy thing.
“What’s your name again?” I squint up at the owner’s son. Haley and Zane are hovering over me, too.
“Easton. What month is it?”
“June.”
“Good, and where are we?” Easton’s eyebrows rise.
“Fuck if I know. But you don’t either, so I’ve got my memory.”
“He’s fine,” the engineer huffs from the other side.
“Calvin! Let Easton do his tests,” Haley scolds.
“Who’s the president?”
“Sunak, Trudeau, Albanese—which one? Except they’re all prime ministers.” I know the fucker wants me to say the American president, but I refuse, not because I care about American politics, but just on the principle of Americans thinking the damn world revolves around their axis. Even though I’m from Pennsylvania, I’ve spent enough time outside of America.
Easton scowls at me. “What’s your full name?” He’s not giving up.
“Dante Saffron Jones.” I close my eyes.
“Your middle name is Saffron?” Haley asks.
“His middle name isn’t Saffron—it’s a damn joke. He’s fine.” Calvin’s not giving up either.
“I think Calvin’s right. You’ll be good. But we still have to move into concussion protocol now that you’re not unconscious anymore.” Easton gives my shoulder a light tap.
“Here, have some water, Dante.” Haley holds a small cup to my mouth, and I drink. It’s warm and tastes like it’s been tossed around under my car seat in a dented water bottle for two years, but I’ll take it.
“Where’s everyone else?” I hold her gaze because Haley can’t lie for shit. I asked her last night—or was it the night before? Whenever. When we were still on a mega yacht, not a kid’s blow-up pool. I asked her what the owner’s wife said about the lobster bisque I made for lunch, and Haley told me she liked it. Her eye twitched, and her voice rose as if she was asking a question.
“Most are on the other raft. We got separated sometime yesterday. Are you warm enough?” Haley straightens a towel on my legs. Light skips low across the way, but my head can’t figure out if the sun is setting or rising.
“How long?”
“Going on the second day.” Calvin shifts in his seat.
I grunt back but close my eyes. It hurts like shit, but I’ve had worse hangovers. Too bad there’s no tequila here. A few shots and I wouldn’t feel anything. Instead, I give my grandma’s meditation nonsense a try.
Next thing I know, the owner’s son shakes me again.
“I’m sleeping. Leave me alone. Fuck me, my head hurts.” And that’s an understatement.
“You haven’t thrown up in a while. We voted, and you can have some of the pain killers.”
“Voted? Is this Animal Farm?”
A soft giggle makes me smile. At least someone thinks I’m funny. And I have a pretty good idea who the aspirin police is. The engineer. It’s always the grunters. I take the pills from Haley and swallow them down. The water sloshes in my stomach, but I’m not hungry. I’m asleep again.
This time when I wake up, it still hurts, but I’m better. I’d be even better if the buzzing would stop. Haley’s in a pile between the engineer and the owner’s son. I watch them for a while. She’s facing Calvin, her head on his life vest, and Easton is spooning her. Both guys have hands on her sides.
I smack at a bug and end its life. Hopefully, it’s the only death for the day. I ease myself upright. Zane’s awake. “Are there any rations?” I ask Zane, who is staring out the side window. He tosses me a bar.
The crackling of the wrapper echoes.
Haley
C aptain Sam is standing behind me, pulling me to him. We’re dancing, swaying to the music. The bulge in his pants grinds on my backside. But then he’s in front of me, pulling me to him. The music is beating in my ears.
But the dream lifts, and I’m back on the raft. A wave of grief floats over me. I knew him for less than a week. How am I going to tell Charlie? He talked about his big brother so much last season I feel like I’ve known Sam forever.
Last night the temperature dropped. We’re all wet. It’s impossible to get dry wearing a life vest. But I won’t take it off. I can swim, but I don’t trust a rogue wave not to hit the second I remove it. I’m warm and, as crazy as it sounds, cozy. My left hand is sandwiched between my stomach and someone else’s. When my fingers twitch, I realize I’m touching skin. Skin that is covering some rock-hard abs. Calvin—he tugged me to his side when I couldn’t stop shivering. My face rests on his vest. His nose is in my hair. My back is equally toasty. And a large cock is nestled between my butt cheeks. Easton’s fallen asleep behind me. Lots of hands are on my side.
Calvin pulls me toward him. His head is far above mine, and my bare toes are resting on his calf. I don’t want to open my eyes. I’m just going to pretend I’m back in colonial times and I’m sharing a room with strangers in some inn bed. One that doesn’t have bedbugs. Because in my imaginary world, I let myself have a little more money than I have now, but of course, not enough to be some sort of fair maiden, like a duchess or a lady. No, I’m a middle-class girl who has to share a bed with people she doesn’t know in a room that smells like dead fish.
But when I take another breath, I can smell the sea over it. It’s different—something’s changed.
I lean back, and Easton pulls me hard against his morning hardness. He’s asleep, or at least I think he is. Because he wouldn’t pull me against him if he wasn’t, would he? Not that he has a lot of other options in a life raft. I pull forward, and Calvin’s large hand pins me to him, straightening my legs so my crotch is lined up with his. Well, crap, he’s hard too. Easton is pushing me into him.
I should get up, move out from between the two of them. But the friction is so good. Too good. I need to move before I start to grind against Calvin. This is ridiculous with my large vest on. I give a little push into Calvin’s chest and a push back against Easton and roll onto my back.
“Why did you smack yourself?” Zane’s voice is deep and inches me more awake.
“A bug,” Dante says, his voice smooth. I could listen to it every day. I open my eyes.
“A bug? We’re too far out to sea to have flies,” Zane says.
That’s when I push onto my elbows. Easton’s emerald eyes are on me. I suck in my lips and turn to Calvin. He’s adjusting his crotch.
“Hot damn!” Dante points out the window.
I sit up all the way. “Wow.”