7. Amy
CHAPTER 7
AMY
W hen Amy had heard that they would be going on a yacht, she’d thought of a yacht like a kid would draw. A boat with a triangular sail sticking up to the sky and enough room to maybe stand up on deck if they were careful. She hadn’t really been able to picture how they were all going to sleep on a boat for over a week. But it all made a lot more sense when they arrived at the wharf and were greeted with what was essentially a mini cruise ship. It was an enormous vessel, the morning sun glinting off of the spotless surface, rising three levels high and she didn’t even know how many feet long, with no cartoonish sail to propel them forward but a powerful engine instead.
“This makes a lot more sense,” Amy said, squinting through her sunglasses at the behemoth before them.
“What did you think we were going to be on?” Kai asked, sounding confused, bless him. Amy had to remember that this ridiculous sort of luxury was normal for him now.
“Like a boat,” she said, already embarrassed at herself for what she had imagined. “But normal-sized.”
Kai grinned and shrugged, taking Amy’s duffel bag from her shoulder before she could protest. “It’s Jason’s pride and joy. I’ve probably seen more pictures of this boat than I have when most people show off their kids.”
“To be fair, I guess a lot of kids don’t cost as much as that boat.”
“Amy…” Kai said, giving her a look while also trying not to laugh.
“What? They don’t.”
“Hi!”
Their discussion of what was appropriate to say out loud was promptly over, both of them looking up to see a woman, maybe in her late twenties, walking down the gangplank to meet them. She was, quite frankly, one of the most beautiful women that Amy had ever seen outside of a magazine. She had a delicate tan across her skin and waist-length golden waves of hair. She was wearing a flowing, sheer white dress thrown artfully over a bikini and sandals on her feet as she smiled and waved to them both.
“Hi, Jess,” Kai said with a smile. “Nice to see you again.”
“Oh, my God,” Jess said with what seemed like genuine enthusiasm. “It’s so great to see you! It’s going to be so much fun having you two hang out with us.” She hugged Kai and then turned her attention to Amy, her bright smile nearly blinding her.
Amy felt herself cowering in front of this literal goddess of a woman, trying to think of something to say. Luckily, Jess was the proactive sort and took the decision-making out of Amy’s hands. She swept forward and gave her a hug just like she had given to Kai, as if they’d known each other for years.
“It’s so good to meet you. Kai’s been so rude and not told us a thing about you or the engagement or anything . So we’re going to have so much to talk about. Jason is just talking with the captain and the chef, so why don’t you come on board.”
Without further ado, she spun around and started gracefully ascending the ramp back onto the boat deck, Kai and Amy tagging along behind.
“There’s an actual captain?” Amy asked Kai, voice low so that she didn’t sound like a literal peasant. “ And a chef?”
“Well, yeah,” Kai said, looking very amused. “Someone has to actually drive the boat. There’s a chef and waitstaff as well. I’m sure they’d give you a full tour of the galley, if you wanted, and show off all the fancy chef knives I know you like. Tell you about the menu for the week?”
That actually did sound pretty cool, Amy had to admit, but the rest of that train of thought escaped her when they made it on deck and she got to look around properly, leaving her wondering what exactly she had signed up for. There was a pool… on a boat. And a jacuzzi… on a boat. There were deckchairs and a dining table as well, all of it spotless and shining in the sun.
A tanned young man with the build of a lifeguard from an eighties movie welcomed them on board and took their luggage, disappearing faster than Amy thought possible for someone with that many muscles.
“Stop ogling the staff,” Kai teased, poking her in the ribs.
Amy gave him a dry look and said with no inflection whatsoever, “You know I’ve only got eyes for you, babe.”
“See, that’s the spirit,” Kai said, slinging an arm over her shoulders and squeezing her tight. “But honestly, though, I need to know what that guy’s gym routine is.”
“Maybe he could give you a rundown while I’m pestering the poor chef?” Amy said with a smirk.
“See, I knew you would have fun here.”
Amy was still on the fence about that. She’d never begrudged Kai’s success, but the reason she’d banned him from spending any money on her was because it all made her uncomfortable . Right now she felt out of place, like being abducted by very stylish, polite aliens. Then a man appeared from the interior of the yacht, his teeth almost as white as Jess’s.
“Jess said you’d arrived!”
Well, that just had to be Jason. He was wearing cargo shorts and a white linen top, sunglasses perched on his nose, looking just as much like he was from a magazine as Jess did, in an effortless, magical sort of way.
“Welcome aboard, man!” he said, pulling Kai in for one of those handshake-turned-back-slapping hugs guys did to each other before turning to Amy.
“And this must be Amy,” he said, and Amy braced herself for a bone-crushing hug. What she got was a polite, firm handshake and a warm smile.
“Hi,” Amy said.
“Kai’s been something else not introducing you to us sooner, man,” he said, shaking his head in exaggerated movements. Amy realized that he must call everyone “man,” regardless of whether they actually were one or not. She also realized that if they were going to get through this week and actually pull off the engagement thing to smooth out Kai’s career hiccup, she was going to have to stick to the truth as much as possible and keep any storytelling to a minimum.
“I just get overwhelmed by all the glitz and glamor, you know?” she said, which was definitely true. “I’m not really used to this sort of thing.”
“Oh, but you’re here to relax!” said Jess, who appeared out of nowhere, bouncing into the conversation. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“In fact, let me give you a tour,” Jason announced. “We’ll get you acquainted with your new home away from home.”
“Enormous” was an understatement, and frankly, it really was all too much for Amy to absorb as Jason showed them through the boat that was probably three times the size of Amy’s apartment. There were indoor and outdoor dining areas and lounge areas with flat-screen TVs that would rise up out of hidden cabinets at the press of a button. There was a hot tub and a pool on deck, but don’t worry, Jason had assured them, there would be opportunities to swim in the ocean as well. The engine room and galley were breezed past, and Amy wondered where all of the staff slept while they were on board. But she would have to ask later because the tour concluded with Jason showing them to their room for the week to let them settle in before scurrying off to give the captain the go-ahead to set sail.
Inside their quarters it still felt surreal. It looked more like a five-star hotel room rather than a bedroom on a boat. There was room enough for a giant couch as well as an ensuite bathroom with a shower and a tub so deep it qualified as a small pool.
Right in the center of it all there was a big bed overflowing with crisp white sheets and fluffy pillows. But it was the only bed. Because of course there was only one bed, they were “engaged,” after all. They both stared at it for a second, facing their first hurdle at the same exact moment.
“No offense,” Kai said, almost too casually. “But I’m going to take the couch. Last time I slept next to you, you kicked bruises into my shins that lasted days.”
Amy was grateful that he’d addressed the problem that quickly, that decisively, and tried very hard to ignore the stinging feeling of Kai not wanting to share a bed with her. She was being ridiculous. She didn’t want to share a bed with him for a week. Absolutely not.
“We were like twelve,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed while he plonked down on the couch. “And you had bruises because it was a tent we shared, not a bed, and there were rocks on the ground, not because I kicked you.”
“Whatever you want to tell yourself, Lowe,” he said, stretching out on the sofa with a contented sigh. Amy felt kind of bad for taking the bed, but she knew there was no use arguing with him now. And honestly, the couch looked luxuriously comfortable anyway. They’d both slept in worse places in their lifetimes, which made their current situation even more wild to comprehend.
“This place is crazy,” Amy said, voice self-consciously soft, not wanting to be overheard. Though the walls here were probably thicker than the walls of her apartment.
“It’s nice, huh? But seriously…” He sat back up with a sober expression. “Thanks for doing this.”
Amy shrugged. “It’s fine, Kai. You know it’s fine.”
“Yeah, I just…” He sighed and rubbed his neck, shaking his head. “I put my foot in it, and now you’re here helping clean up the mess.”
“Let me help you for once. No more sulking,” Amy said. Under different circumstances she would have thrown a pillow from the bed at him, but the whole arrangement looked too perfect to disturb.
“Jess said they’re serving brunch as soon as we head back up,” said Kai. “So I suppose we should get going.”
“Should we act all lovey-dovey? I mean, if we’re going to commit to the bit and all?”
It was just a question about strategy, about selling the illusion of being engaged, so why did the thought of pretending make her feel warm? Kai, thankfully, didn’t seem flustered in the slightest.
“We did a pretty good job at the reunion. Everyone bought it hook, line and sinker, and that was when we were acting like we were in a low-budget soap opera. I think we just stick to that, and we’ll be fine.”
“Maybe, I don’t know, a slightly more subtle version of that?”
Kai gave her a wry look as he made his way to the door. “You’ve met Jess and Jason now. Subtle isn’t in their vocabulary.”
“Yeah, fair.”
“Subtle” definitely wasn’t a word Amy would use to describe Jason and Jess Torres or their idea of a vacation. They’d all been seated at the outdoor dining table, looking out over the water as a slight breeze ruffled Amy’s hair and the napkin on her lap. Brunch was served and it had courses , just for brunch. The awkward part of Amy didn’t really know how to process what was going on, so she focused on the food-obsessed part of her brain, which was delighted .
There were mini crostinis with olives and some sort of fancy salsa, salad with sweet mustard vinaigrette and apples sliced over the top in thin ribbons, and then individual charcuterie boards with various cuts of prosciutto and cheeses, sprinkled with edible flowers. Any doubts Amy had developed about being able to pull this off vanished into the sea mist. For this sort of food, she could do anything.
“I’m so excited,” Jess said, clapping her hands together as the wait staff retreated and left them to their brunch. “This is going to be so fun.”
“The food is amazing,” Amy said, in awe over it all, not even having taken a bite yet.
“Do you like to cook?”
“I run a catering business,” she said, feeling the words fall flat on her tongue, especially with the luxury of the mega yacht surrounding her. But Jess looked delighted by the answer.
“Oh, fun!” she said. “Like for parties and stuff?”
“Uh, yeah, and stuff.”
“That’s always seemed so mysterious to me, how people actually organize those events, you know? It must be so much work. I just turn up and enjoy, and meanwhile there are all these people behind the scenes for months . ”
It seemed to Amy that she and Jess had very different ideas about the sorts of parties Amy was catering for.
“And what do you do?” Amy asked politely, wanting to steer away from her own life as much as possible.
“Social media,” Jess said brightly and… that made perfect sense.
“She works her butt off for it, too,” Jason said, nodding vehemently while digging into more of the food. Jess slapped his arm playfully as if bashful. Amy wasn’t entirely certain how hard someone ever really worked if their job was “social media,” but she kept her mouth firmly shut. Because Jess actually seemed really nice, so Amy slapped herself internally and swallowed any snippy thoughts back down.
Don’t be on the defensive already. This isn’t high school anymore.
“You’ll have to show me your accounts,” Amy said. “And I’ll follow you.”
“Oh, my God, that’s so nice,” Jess said with a crinkly eyed smile. “And I’ll follow you back, obviously.”
Here was something that only struck Amy right that second, as solid as a punch to the chest. Bluffing their way through the high school reunion had been easy, so they’d just assumed this whole thing would be easy as well. But the reunion had been easy because they hadn’t cared if the words coming out of their mouths were lies, the truth, or something in between. They’d been loud and overdramatic, being obnoxious and rubbing “their lifestyle” in people’s faces. They hadn’t even kept any lies consistent between one listener and the next. That wasn’t going to be even a remote possibility over the course of the next week. She’d joked about being more subtle when she and Kai had been in their cabin, but they really were going to have to play it all a lot more believably than they’d anticipated.
It seemed Kai must have been on a similar train of thought because he’d barely said two words so far, silence being the safest option available.
“Kai you’ve been quiet, man,” Jason said. Jeez, this guy was more observant than Amy gave him credit for.
“Just enjoying the food,” Kai said smoothly. “Though Amy’s cooking will always be my favorite.”
Then he nudged Amy under the table with his knee. She needed to play along.
“I love the food here,” she said. “For this week I can come in second place. That’s just fine.”
“You’ll never be in second place.”
The temptation was strong to make fun of him, to tease and fall into their usual banter, to say gross or something and move on. She swallowed the impulse with a bite of food.
“So,” Jason said. “Do you still have the penthouse, Kai? Or are you living somewhere else now?”
They’d been doing well so far, but Kai looked confused for a second too long and apparently Jason felt the need to explain.
“You’re living together, I assume? You know, since you’re getting married. So are you in the penthouse?”
“Uh…”
Oh God, this was going to be over before they’d even sailed ten miles.
“We go back and forth,” Amy jumped in with a shrug, which again wasn’t entirely a lie. They definitely visited each other’s places. Sometimes. “With the catering business, it’s a good way to have bases in different parts of the city. You know, keeping his apartment and mine.”
Kai nudged her knee under the table again. Good save.
“Do you have a specialty?” Jess asked. “With your cooking? Like French cuisine, or… something else? I don’t really know much about food.”
She giggled self-consciously, but her attention was on Amy like she was the most important person in the world, like her answer was going to be the most interesting thing ever said. It left Amy feeling like a deer in the headlights, not used to such focused attention.
“Uh, it’s Mexican fusion, actually,” she said, fiddling with her napkin. “I’m half Mexican, so that’s a big inspiration.”
“Oh, cool!” Jess said. “I took Spanish in high school, you know.”
“That’s… that’s cool. Yeah, it’s a great language.”
She could tell that Kai was trying desperately not to laugh, so Amy ignored him and kept her face perfectly polite, digging a heel into his toes under the table. Jess seemed… enthusiastic, but also genuine, like she really did think Mexican fusion was cool. And no one else had ever said it was cool before.
Jason slung his arm around the back of Jess’s chair, looking like the dictionary definition of relaxation. Kai copied him, the warm skin of his arm brushing Amy’s shoulders. More silent communication passed between them when Amy realized what he was doing.
We’re still acting like we’re just friends. We need to be a loving engaged couple. That’s the whole point of being here.
Amy leaned back into Kai’s arm, ignoring how the contact made her want to shiver. She looked over at him and smiled, and taking his cue, Kai did the same. Then he reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind Amy’s ear. It was a flawless performance.
Pretend. This is pretend . She repeated the phrase to herself like a silent mantra.
When Jason got up to use the bathroom and Jess disappeared to request some more of the vinaigrette, Amy and Kai sighed in unison, shoulders slumping. Amy didn’t want to say anything, not out in the open where the others might come back any second and hear them, so she just gave Kai a look. He looked as relieved as she did that they hadn’t messed this up so soon into the trip. But they were definitely going to have to get better at pretending.
Kai’s arm was still draped around the back of her shoulders and he pulled her to his side for a quick, thankful hug.
“For putting up with all of this, you’re definitely my favorite,” he whispered into her ear with an overwhelmed shake of his head. Amy just smiled.
“I know,” she said.
Pretend. This was all just pretend.