36
K nox sat on the bed while Aiva checked the bathroom. They’d boarded the ship an hour ago and had just gotten to their room. He could admit that at least half of that time was spent with people stopping him and asking for autographs and pictures. He was sure it would happen more while they were there, and while he knew Aiva didn’t mind, he would be sure to make it up to her.
The introduction with her siblings at the airport had gone well. He hadn’t needed her to point out Marreigh. She made it clear that she was a fan before they even spoke to one another. He’d introduced Ezra to everyone, and things had gone well so far. However, he was sure, at some point, he’d have the “don’t hurt my sister” conversation with either Meila or EJ.
When Aiva exited the bathroom, she stood between his legs, and Knox pulled her onto his lap.
“Seven days of relaxation and you in swim trunks. I’m ready for it,” she said with a smile, and he chuckled.
“That’s also six nights I get to have you naked under me,” he responded.
“You want to start on that now?” Aiva leaned in and kissed him.
She didn’t need to ask him twice. He rearranged them, laying her on the bed and hovering over her, the kiss unbroken. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, his hand ghosting over her waist as he trailed it down to her hip. Her shorts made it easy to slip his hand into them, and he’d just brushed the top of her panties when there was a knock at the door.
“Hey, the welcoming has started. We’re all heading that way.”
Knox wasn’t sure which of her sisters it was, but he knew it wasn’t Meila.
“Okay!” Aiva called, breaking the kiss. “We don’t have to go,” she told him softer, while her sister responded they’d wait for them by the elevator.
They didn’t. He knew that, but he also knew Ezra would go, and while his friend got along fine with others, it would be shitty of him to invite him and then ditch him because he wanted to slide between his girlfriend’s thighs. Something he was fully capable of doing that night when they’d all turned in. He’d wait because it would only heighten the tension.
He pulled his hand from her shorts, giving her another kiss before standing and helping her up. Knox adjusted himself in his shorts, thinking of the one thing that now always seemed to make his dick soften quickly.
“Are you good to go?” he asked.
“I just need a minute,” she responded, entering the bathroom.
They met everyone at the elevator a few minutes later and headed to the welcome event, which was people mingling and drinking. They had nothing planned for the first day other than dinner, and he’d learned on the plane that Eva and Riquie wanted to go to the casino even though the younger man couldn’t play. Knox was sure they wouldn’t let him through the doors.
When the event was over, Marreigh suggested they all unpack, settle in, and meet for lunch in an hour. Knox was okay with that, and he’d learned on their trip to Disneyland that Aiva was not a fan of living out of a suitcase for any period of time.
Once their belongings were put away, Knox laid Aiva on the bed, removed her shoes,and pulled her shorts and panties off.
“We’re supposed to meet everyone for lunch in less than an hour,” she reminded him.
“I know. I only want a snack until then.”
Before she could respond, Knox took her clit between his lips. Intent on tasting her until they needed to get ready to leave.
T hey were late to lunch, and Knox wasn’t sure which of their faults it was. His dick had been impossibly hard after tasting her, and before he could focus on willing it to go down, she’d taken him into her mouth and sucked his soul from his body. It took them a while to get cleaned up, and there they were, twenty minutes late meeting everyone.
“I think Knox was trying to have something besides food for lunch,” Meila stated with a knowing grin.
He smirked at her. “I might have been.”
“ Anyway ,” Riquie started. “Can we go eat now? I’m starving, and I’m not trying to hear about my sister getting devoured.” Riquie pulled a face while the rest of them chuckled.
They found a table that would fit all of them, and he and Aiva volunteered to stay and hold their spots since they were the reason they were running late, while the others went off in different directions to get food.
“I’m going to buy Meila a filter for Christmas,” Aiva stated.
Knox chuckled. “Let me know where you get it from so I can order one for Wolfe.”
“I know most of them want to go to the casino tonight, but I looked at a few things happening this evening while we were on the plane, and there’s a comedy show tonight.”
“We can check it out,” Knox responded. “Losing money for the hell of it has never appealed to me.”
“That makes two of us,” she replied as Ezra and Lila returned, having gotten something from one of the closer stations.
They left the table together, soon separating. Aiva wanted sushi, and he wanted barbecue. He got his food and went to wait with her on her sushi. When they made it back to the table, everyone else was seated. Knox watched Ezra say something to Lila that caused her to laugh as he sat across from them.
“Careful, Ezra,” Aiva stated, seeing what he’d seen. “That one is a handful.”
His friend smiled at Aiva. “It’s a good thing I have two hands.”
Ali snorted from the other side of Lila. “You’ll need them.”
Knox chuckled at the offended look Lila gave her twin, who just shrugged as he stole one of her fries.
“Y ou and my sister are pretty serious,” EJ stated on day two of their cruise as the men sat at a high-top table in a sports bar on the ship. The women were currently at the spa, and it seemed EJ was choosing then to have the big brother conversation, though he was Aiva’s younger brother.
“We are,” Knox responded. He didn’t see a reason to beat around the bush, and he didn’t have to think about it. He knew going into his pursuit of Aiva that he wasn’t doing it to pass the time or to have a bit of rebound fun. It was to build something, even if he knew it was something he needed to take slowly.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but didn’t you just get out of a marriage? Are you sure you’re ready for another commitment?” Riquie asked.
Knox chuckled. “Officially, I’ve been divorced for five months, but my marriage ended almost two years ago. I’m not jumping straight from one commitment to another. At least, I don’t see it that way. Besides, I made it very clear to your sister what I wanted, even before my divorce was finalized. She made me wait until it was.”
Ali laughed. “That sounds like Aiva. She won’t do anything that could cause her client’s issues. I’m not surprised she made you wait.”
“He didn’t wait long,” Ezra stated. “As soon as he got the news the judge signed off on his divorce; he asked her out.”
Knox took a drink of his bourbon. “Asked her out and took her out within forty-eight hours of it being official.”
“Poor man. He’s already whipped,” Riquie stated.
“Just because you’re too young to want to be in a committed relationship doesn’t mean he’s whipped,” EJ responded.
“No, I can confirm. He’s whipped,” Ezra teased.
“Mind your business,” Knox instructed, before the five of them laughed.
The conversation shifted, and Ezra asked EJ questions about his business and if he had room for new clients since there were some athletes he represented he’d like to send his way. Knox went to the bar to order another drink, and as he waited, a group of women walked in.
They weren’t dressed for the atmosphere, and they’d obviously ventured there to look for potential men. He’d seen it before. Women migrating to predominantly male-visited establishments to pick one up. There were rare occasions when they’d visited to watch the game or enjoy a drink, but he could tell this wasn’t one of those times.
He supposed they had the right idea. Single men on a cruise ship would frequent the sports bars, cigar bars, or casino.
Knox thanked the bartender for the drink, tipped him, and returned to the table. The conversation had turned to who the table thought had the most potential of becoming MVP for the season. Their discussion was soon interrupted by one of the women approaching their table.
“Hi,” she greeted with a smile. “My friends and I were wondering if you’d like to join tables and get a round of drinks?”
“Why would we want to do either of those things?” Ali asked.
The smile on the woman’s face dropped, and she looked at him, confused. “I’m sorry?”
“For which part? Assuming that we’d want to join tables because you’re half-dressed and you thought your body was nice enough to be a weapon, or assuming you were attractive enough for us to waste money and buy you drinks?” Ali inquired.
Riquie snorted out a laugh as Ezra damn near choked on his drink. Knox turned his attention to Ali to find him with a raised brow at the woman, and from his peripheral, he could see EJ shaking his head.
“I—”
“Let’s say it was for both,” Ali cut her off. “Apology accepted.” He returned his attention to the table. “Anyway, I think Jalen is definitely in the running.”
The dismissal was greeted with the woman’s quick retreat from the table, and Riquie’s laugh cut in over the conversation.
“It’s a wonder you ever manage to date,” he stated.
Ali shrugged. “If she won’t respect me by approaching differently, or herself, why should I? Besides, why waste our time when it’s not worth it?”
“You and our friend Wolfe would get along great,” Knox stated.
“Yes, he doesn’t have a filter either,” Ezra added.
“Honesty is best received with no filter. Besides, if my sisters walked in here and saw a half-naked woman at the table, the two of you would be in trouble.” Ali pointed at Knox and Ezra.
“Your sister knows she’s the only woman I want. Did Riquie not just tell you I was whipped?” Knox joked. While the first part was true. The second may have had some validity.
“And your sister and I aren’t dating,” Ezra spoke like the table didn’t know.
“Yet,” Riquie countered. “Unfortunately for you, if Lila decides she wants to, you won’t have much choice. She’s a brat like that.”
Ezra smirked. “I don’t mind brats.”
“I rest my case,” Riquie responded, and they chuckled.
Knox’s phone vibrated, and he pulled it out to find a message from Aiva. He responded before putting his phone away.
“They’re finished at the spa,” he told the table before downing the rest of his drink.
“I guess that means we’re headed to that damn magic show,” EJ stated. “How did we get roped into that again?”
“We were outvoted,” Ezra responded, and four sets of eyes glared at Knox since he’d abstained from voting, not caring either way.
They exited the bar, heading towards their rooms to meet the women. The magic show was set to start in an hour, and Marreigh had demanded they arrive early to get good seats.
T hey were sitting in a lounge later that evening after dinner. Aiva and her sisters had enjoyed their spa treatment, and the magic show Marreigh had been excited to see afterward was better than any of them probably thought it would be. Even EJ, who’d been adamant that he wouldn’t like it, seemed to enjoy it. Afterward, they separated for a while before meeting for dinner and going to the lounge.
Soft music played, and Aiva monitored Riquie, whom Marreigh had already slipped two drinks. She was probably the only one he’d be able to convince to give him one easily. Lila would also probably fold if he pestered her enough, while the rest of them would give him a definitive no and not order him one; they also wouldn’t rain on his parade while he got them.
Knox’s hand rested on her thigh, his middle finger rubbing circles into it as he and Ali talked. Her little brother worked at a rehab facility and was finishing his master’s in exercise science. She knew he wanted to open his own facility once he had, and was likely roping her boyfriend into client referrals for when he did.
Aiva turned her attention to the dance floor, where Lila had dragged Ezra minutes prior. She wasn’t sure what Ezra was always whispering in her sister’s ear, but it never failed to make Lila laugh or smile. So, if she liked it, Aiva loved it. She also got the sense that Ezra was a good guy. She was protective of her siblings, and while she always let them make their own mistakes and kept her input to herself unless asked for, she was not above getting someone together over them.
Meila and Eva returned from the bar, and a minute later, Ezra and Lila rejoined the group. They’d settled in a corner with couches and chairs around a coffee table.
The boat was docking at their first destination tomorrow, and they were talking about the excursion they were doing when a woman approached their table.
“Yeah, hi,” she interrupted. “You were rude to my friend earlier,” she said, pointing at Ali.
Ali shrugged. “I’m rude to many people. Be more specific.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Earlier today in the sports bar,” she clarified.
“Ah, I should have known. You look like you’d be friends.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“What it sounds like, and I wasn’t rude to her. I told her the truth; if she found it rude, that’s her problem.”
“Who do you think you are? Where do you get off—”
“It could have been on her face were I interested in what she was offering, but as it stands, none of us are,” Ali responded, bored.
Aiva pressed her lips together as many of the others chuckled, but Lila found the situation hilarious. She wasn’t surprised that her brother offended someone earlier in the day. It honestly wasn’t a vacation if he didn’t a few times. He was blunt and straightforward, and while most people used that as an excuse to say something mean, Ali was always honest in his responses or questions. His twin finding it funny was always a result.
“I’m glad you’re amused,” the woman stated, pointing at the women in attendance, and Aiva raised a brow. “So much for women supporting women.”
“I’m all for the girls, but I do not support all women. Some of you are dumb,” Eva responded. “You are a prime example. You didn’t have to come over here at all. You brought this embarrassment on yourself, and I can assure you while my brother probably said something your friend found rude, it likely wasn’t unprovoked.”
“What he said to you,” Marreigh began. “Was provoked. You came over here looking for a reaction, and you got one. It wasn’t the one you expected, but it damn sure was the one you deserved.”
“Now go away before you embarrass yourself even more,” Lila instructed.
“Or if you’re feeling froggy, you can meet me outside,” Meila added. “It’s been a while since I had a good fight.”
Aiva sighed. “If that’s what you choose, you can bring your friends. I don’t enjoy fighting as much as some of my sisters, but I will, and I’ll be more prone to throw someone overboard.”
The woman looked between them momentarily before doing an about-face and returning to where she came from. Aiva turned her attention to Ali.
“So what happened?”
Her brother gave them the rundown of his encounter with the woman at the bar, and Aiva couldn’t help but shake her head. Maybe the women had wanted someone to spend the cruise with. It wasn’t unheard of, but that was what singles cruises were for. His rejection might make them think twice about their approach next time. After all, they say you attract what you give off.
One of Aiva’s favorite slow songs came on, and she grabbed Knox’s hand from her thigh. “Dance with me,” she requested.
She led the way to the dance floor, and they began a slow sway. Knox’s hand was low on her back as he held her close.
“Since we aren’t meeting everyone until the boat docks tomorrow afternoon. We could spend the morning in bed,” he stated.
“I like the sound of that. I’m sure I’ll need to recuperate after tonight, but we have to make sure you call Yas in the morning, too.”
“I will, baby, and what makes you think you’ll need to recuperate? You’re talking like I plan on giving you some tonight,” he teased with a smile.
“You do plan on it.” She rose on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. “Because I’m telling you that you are.”
Knox nipped her lower lip. “Yes, ma’am.”
When the song ended, they were returning to the others when a fan stopped them. The man apologized as he asked for a picture. Aiva volunteered to take it for them; Knox signed a hat the man had, and then they rejoined the group. He leaned over, and she knew what he would say, so she stopped him.
“If you apologize for taking a picture, I’m going to bite you,” she told him.
Knox chuckled. “Please do, baby.”
Aiva couldn’t help but shake her head, and she’d remember he asked her to later when they were behind closed doors.