Chapter 8
chapter eight
Nate opens the door to the room as I’m reading a page of a romance book on my Kindle that I want to throw off the balcony.
Usually, romance doesn’t bother me, and I like the book club I’m a part of.
It’s run primarily by Levi’s wife, Amy, along with her other friends.
I’ve gotten Quinn to join a few times and we usually swoon over the books together.
But now, I just feel bitter.
I know better than to ever compare a real relationship to a book, but Rob and I didn’t even come close. I don’t need someone to bend over backward for me, but they should at least do something.
Or even care .
“There you are,” Nate says. “Did you not hook your phone up to the ship’s Wi-Fi?”
“Not yet. Sorry.” I turn to him. “Why?”
“I texted you to check in.”
I wince. “I’ll set that up. But I was just here. Reading this lovely book.”
“That bad, huh? ”
“Let’s just say romance is dead to me.” I sigh and lock my Kindle.
I finally take him in. He’s wearing a damp shirt, and his wavy hair is wet.
“You’re dripping everywhere.” I throw a towel at him. “Shower, you weirdo.”
“Fine,” he says. “You better not take a peek!”
“That’s the last thing I want to do.”
It actually wouldn’t be the worst thing. At least Nate isn’t ugly. But I’m pretty sure there’s a line with friends and getting naked.
Or at least there will be where Nate’s involved.
With a sigh, I sit on the bed and work on getting the ship’s Wi-Fi set up so he can reach me in the future.
In the middle of the ocean, there’s absolutely no service, and I didn’t even think about being able to talk to anyone.
I’m not sure I even want to. Nate’s always the exception.
I can talk to him whenever I want, but even things between us feel odd on this boat.
Maybe I’m the one who’s off.
The shower turns on and I hear him step in. I’m tempted to walk out to the balcony to make sure he has whatever privacy he can get here.
Instead, I look up at the wall in front me … and directly into the mirror hanging from it.
I nearly scream when I realize it’s pointed right at the shower.
It’s not that Nate looks bad. He doesn’t. He’s lithe and tall with a form that could swallow me if I let him. And his ass? Well, it’s just unfair. I could bounce a quarter off that thing.
But I should not be staring at my best friend’s ass.
A squeak escapes me as I tumble off the bed. I cover my eyes and dart for the balcony, knowing I should never see that sight again.
When I’m alone, I realize my chest is heaving.
Okay, that was weird. But it was an accident. One that I’ll never think of again. I close my eyes and try to think of anything else.
The first thing I see is his round ass.
“Fuck,” I mutter out at the water.
My entire body is hot as I sit on one of the chairs.
The breeze does nothing to help the fire spreading through my face, and I briefly consider jumping off the balcony.
I hate water and heights, but I’m desperate.
It’s amazing how the sight of Nate being naked overrides my fear of water. Honestly, that should be studied.
Pressing my palms to my eyes, I try to breathe away the panic I’m feeling. I’m off today, in all of the ways. This is why I don’t vacation. Because somehow it leads to seeing my best friend naked, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it.
I’m nowhere near calm when the balcony door slides open.
“Maisie?” Nate asks. “What are you doing out here?”
I should turn to look him in the eye, like I usually would. But I can’t manage it. I can’t manage much of anything.
“Just ... chilling,” I say. My voice is barely a croak.
“You’re chilling while staring at the ocean?” His voice drips with doubt. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” I say it way too quickly.
“Yeah, right. Did Rob text you again?”
“No.”
“Was the book that bad?”
“No.”
“Then, what’s going on? Come on. You can tell me anything.” His voice now has an edge to it, one that’s similar to how he sounded when he showed me the video of Rob. He’s worried. There’s a scrape of a chair on the balcony floor and he’s taken a seat beside me.
And that breaks through my mortification.
“The mirror in the suite. The one right outside of the bathroom. ”
“Yeah?”
“It has a view right into the shower.”
For a second, there’s only silence. Then Nate finally says, “Oh.”
I know he’s realizing what I saw.
Now I really can’t look at him.
We always try to say that we’re like any other friends, but there are still some topics we don’t talk about. Naked bodies is one of them.
Silence settles over us, thick and uncomfortable. I’m not sure why he hasn’t cracked a joke about this. It’s what he would usually do.
Maybe he hates the idea of anyone seeing him like that.
“Just give me a few to forget.” It’s a lie. I’m not going to ever forget it.
“Yep. No worries.”
The silence lingers.
I can’t fucking take it.
“Distract me. Please. ” Finally, I look over at him. The tips of his ears are red, but at least he’s clothed. He’s leaned back, looking like he’s relaxed. Almost. His arms are crossed.
Tightly.
“Distract you?”
“Yeah. Tell me anything. How was the pool?”
I’m determined for things to feel normal, and when Nate looks at me warily, I wonder if they ever will be.
But he must have the same goal as me, because he huffs out a breath and shakes his head.
Just like that, my best friend is back.
“I ran into Aaron and chatted with him for a while.”
“Really? How are our ... friends?”
I’m not sure I would consider Trixie one, but she is nice enough. It’s not her fault she doesn’t know that my life blew up in the last week.
“There’s apparently a group of people getting drinks and food tonight. They invited us.”
I blink. I still don’t understand how groups of people decide to hang out. I have my few people and that’s all I need.
“And what did you say?”
“I said that it’s not your kind of thing. I get the idea you don’t like Trixie all that much.”
“It’s not that I don’t like her. She just talked about her wedding. A lot. ”
Nate nods. “I knew I should’ve stayed with you. Aaron wanted guy time, whatever that means, but next time?—”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know, but you don’t have to. Not when I’m here.”
The words are casual, though they feel anything but. The memory of seeing him with nothing on combines with the warm feeling at the way he cares about me, creating something I can’t name. But it’s familiar somehow.
“Thanks,” I whisper. “But she didn’t do anything wrong. And you seem to like Aaron.”
“He’s okay,” Nate replies. “Not as fun as you, though. I seriously would’ve gone to the spa with you, you know.”
“We would’ve been separated by gender anyway. And you like swimming.” I shrug. “You might as well enjoy it. Besides, it sounds like you found some plans.”
“Aaron wanted us both to go.”
“I’m sure you’ll find some way to convince me.”
Nate smirks. “The bar has burgers. Good ones, apparently.”
“I can usually be swayed by a good burger.”
“Oh, I’m not done. Apparently, they’re playing games.” He leans in. “And there’s a winner.”
Now he has my attention. Neither Quinn nor Rob will ever play anything with Nate and me simply because we’re always in it to win. When we aren’t teamed up, it’s messy.
But when we are? Everyone else is in danger.
“Is there a prize?” I ask .
“To be determined,” he replies. “But we can take the pride if there isn’t. None of these people know what we can do.”
“All right, you’ve got me.” I put my hands up. “I’ll go to this game night. But one mention of weddings and we’re out. I’m so done with romance talk right now.”
“Done.” He stands and goes for the sliding door, but pauses before heading inside. “Sorry about the shower thing. Is it forgotten?”
I can still see the round curve of his backside, but I nod anyway. “So forgotten that I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
He laughs. “Good. The last thing we want is for things to get awkward, berry.”
When he’s gone, I stare at the place he just occupied and tell myself that I won’t let anything else awkward happen for the rest of the night. I don’t want anything else to be weird between us.
Because I can’t deal with the consequences.
The very moment we walk into the room, Aaron stands. “There’s our last married couple!” he calls when he sees us.
Nate and I freeze as we both process what he’s said. “Did he just call us married ?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Give me a second,” he says before going to Aaron. I should stay behind. After all, I don’t want anything to do with the M-word. But I also need to know what the hell is going on.
“Hey, man.” Anyone else would think Nate is being his usual, friendly self, but I can see the tense line of his shoulders. “Uh, I don’t know how to say this?—”
“Don’t tell me you and your better half got into a fight. I know you weren’t together earlier, but I didn’t want to assume. ”
Nate only grows more tense. “Listen, I didn’t know ... We’re not—I don’t think we should be here.”
“Why not? Do you have something against a classic game?” Aaron laughs. “I bet you guys will do fine. Maybe not as good as Trixie and me, but you’ll try.”
I haven’t talked to Aaron much, but the second he says I won’t be as good as his wife, something flares to life inside of me.
Suddenly, being called married to Nate is the smallest of my problems.
“But we’re?—”
“Where do we sit?” I ask kindly.
Nate’s eyes snap to me so quickly I’m surprised he doesn’t get whiplash. “What are you doing?”
“That’s the spirit!” Aaron replies. “You can sit at the table next to us. Good luck. The competition is fierce.”
I give him a fake smile before sitting.
“Maisie,” Nate says immediately. “We need to correct them. And you said?—”
“I don’t care what I said. Not as good as him and Trixie? Yeah, I’m proving them wrong.”
“You’re willing to let them think we’re married to win a game?”
“You aren’t?”
Nate’s mouth presses together and he slowly sits. “You know I am. But you said no wedding talk.”