Chapter 14
Growing Up – Jack
“ E verything okay?” Bryant asks as he sips his coffee and watches me prepare breakfast the next morning. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. I thought you’ve been getting better sleep.”
All because of Kayla. Her name echoes in my brain.
I’m cutting onions, and it always makes my eyes tear up. So, I pat at them with the back of my wrist.
“I’m fine,” I respond, sniffling. “It’s just these damn onions.”
“No, it isn’t.” He chuckles and shakes his head.
I stop what I’m doing and lean on the counter. “What do you mean?”
“There’s been something on your mind ever since we took off. Well, even before that.”
“I’m just excited to finally get my hands on Yannis.” That isn’t a lie. I can only be so persuasive over the phone. But in person, I have the ability to be even more convincing.
“Mhm,” he mutters skeptically.
“What?”
He isn’t wearing his uniform, instead he’s just in gray sweatpants. I’m also in casual wear—a gray t-shirt and basketball shorts.
After wiping at his brow, he says, “I just don’t buy it, Jack.”
“Buy what?” My arms form a “w.”
“That there isn’t something else on your mind. I haven’t seen you act so in your head since… oh, my god.”
I put my hand on my hip. Now what?
“There’s a woman.”
“Pssshh. There is not.”
He stands up and gets close to my face. “Say it.”
I sigh and turn to him. “There is no girl.”
“Ah ha!” He backs away and points. “Your left eye twitches when you lie to me.”
I rub at it. “No, it doesn’t.”
He cocks his head to the side. “Oh, really?” He then takes me by the shoulders and leads me over to the reflective door of the microwave. “Say it again.”
I take a deep breath before repeating, “There is no girl.” Fuck. Even I saw it that time.
Chuckling, he says, “Told you.”
Dammit.
Bryant sits back down and takes another swig of the caffeinated beverage. “So, who is she?”
I also resume chopping up vegetables.
“Just a girl I met in Fort Lauderdale.” I hope Kayla talked to Callie and convinced her not to say anything about what she saw the other night. I don’t think either one of us need the headache and trouble that could come with the spread of that gossip.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yes. I just happened to run into her, and I don’t know. She’s just been on my mind ever since.”
He reaches his cup out, and I fill it. “The sex was that good, huh?”
I’m immediately insulted for Kayla’s sake. “Things didn’t go that far. In fact, we didn’t even kiss.” Well, not that night.
Bryant almost spits out the liquid in his mouth. “You’re kidding me.”
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“Wow. Jack Shelley, as I live and breathe. Being heartbroken over a girl he hasn’t even touched.”
My forehead wrinkles. “What is that supposed to mean?”
One of his shoulders shrugs up and down before he shuffles in the wooden seat. “Was it, or was it not, you who told me that you only know the quality of the woman after you’ve seen what she’s capable of in the bedroom?”
Ugh. That gives me the “ick” about myself. “I was a child when I said that.”
“No, you weren’t.”
I’ve moved on to cracking eggs. “Maybe not in age. But certainly, in mentality and stupidity.”
“Okay.”
“I’m serious, Wesley.” Whatever happens with Kayla, if anything, I want to go about it from a more chivalrous and respectful way. I may have loved Harper, but I didn’t always treat her the best. In fact, I often wonder if my immaturity was one of the things that caused her to look elsewhere. “The childish, grumpy billionaire persona has played itself out, don’t you think?”
“But that’s just who you are, man.”
My eyes narrow. “Not anymore.” Or at least, I don’t want it to be.
“Alright. If all of that is true, then I applaud you.”
“Thank you.”
We don’t talk the rest of the time that I cook. But he does help me bring all the dishes out.
After both changing into more professional attire, I inform Denver that breakfast is ready.
“I’ll tell everyone, sir.”
“Thank you.”
As he walks away, I notice he has a particular pep in his step, and I figure things must’ve gone well with the woman Kayla mentioned he met and hooked up with.
I imagine myself holding my mug up and saying, “Good on you, lad.”
But that only proves my point that all this messing around is a young man’s game. From here on out, I want to be more serious and focused—no more of this playboy attitude. Harper had done a number on me, but it was time to move on.
Then, when I reach for the tongs to get a piece of toast, my hand collides with someone else’s.
When I look up, I see Kayla’s sparkling face looking at me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
Once again, her hair is up in a ponytail and accentuated with a white bow.
She smiles shyly. “It’s okay.”
“Please, you first.”
We haven’t talked since the kiss.
I stand up straight and make sure we don’t look suspicious. “How are you doing?”
Her eyes meet mine again. “I—I’m fine. How are you?”
There are so much more than the words we’re exchanging being said.
“I’m very well. I’ve been sleeping great.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
Callie soon comes up and bumps into her back. She’s laughing, but her face falls flat when she realizes I’m standing right there.
“Good morning, sir.”
“Good morning, Callie.”
I then feel so uncomfortable that I excuse myself—having only a few orange slices and a croissant on my plate.
“That’s all you’re going to eat?” Bryant comments after I sit down next to him.
“Um, yeah. My stomach doesn’t feel great.”
He raises his burly eyebrow. “I’ve never known you to be one to fall victim to sea sickness.”
I wave my hand in the air. “No, it’s something else. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a bug going through the crew.”
Pursing his lips, he says, “Could be. Oh!” He dabs the cloth napkin around his mouth before returning it to his lap. “Speaking of the crew, some of my guys wanted me to ask you if still wanted to take a quick break in Morocco on the way. Around the time we’ll reach it, the ship and employees could use a little rest and refueling. What do you think?”
“Oh.” My whole focus, other than this Kayla distraction, has been on getting to Greece. “Do many staff members have the right visas for that?” There’s no point in going somewhere that nobody can get off the boat and explore.
He shakes his head. “You don’t need one unless you’re staying more than ninety days.”
“Oh. Well, okay. I don’t see any reason why not then.”
Bryant claps his hands together. “That’s great. I’ll let them know. We’re still weeks away from that, of course. But it’ll be awesome.”
Awesome. He continues to rant and rave, but I start looking around the room, and when my eyes lock with Kayla’s, it’s hard to look away again.
“Jack?” I eventually feel my shoulder shaking.
“What?”
“Are you listening to me?”
Finally, my pupils peel away from her. “Um, yeah. Totally.”
“What’d I just say?”
“Uh…”
“Exactly.