Chapter 27
chapter twenty-seven
I wake up with a pleasant ache between my thighs and neither of us are wearing clothes.
After we cleaned up, both of us fell into bed and immediately slipped into sleep.
It’s tempting to take it easy and have a slow morning, but I know that we’re supposed to be back in Orlando today.
One check of my phone tells me we really need to get up and get packed.
The goal is to get out of bed and pack for both of us, that way Nate can sleep in as long as he can, but the second I try to wriggle out of his grasp, he’s pulling me back into his arms.
“Bad pillow,” he mutters into my hair. I’m not even sure he’s awake.
“Not a pillow. It’s Maisie.”
“The point still stands.”
He nuzzles my head before he goes right back to sleep. I feel like my heart could explode and I let myself enjoy his embrace for longer than I probably should.
“I’m sorry. We have to get off the boat.”
“Let’s just sign up for the next cruise,” he says.
“My job wouldn’t like that very much. Plus, I miss my own cooking. ”
He hums. “I miss your cooking too.” Finally, he lets me go. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“You can stay in bed,” I offer.
“And miss the view?”
“We’re at the dock, and the curtains are closed,” I remind him.
“I don’t mean the one out the window.” He rolls over, eyes following me as I get dressed. My skin grows hot, but I can’t deny that the attention is nice.
I get my belongings together the best I can. Eventually, Nate joins, and I get a similar view to his.
At least this time I can stare at his ass as long as I want.
Soon, we have our two suitcases and we’re double-checking that we have everything before getting off the ship for the final time.
I can’t deny the relief I feel as we step onto the dock. Finally, I’m home. Or at least close to it.
“I’m both sad and excited to never be on a boat again,” I say as I turn to look at the boat one final time. It’s massive, and I can’t believe how much happened there.
He looks over at me and laughs. “Did I not convert you to be a cruise girl?”
“Listen, I didn’t hate it. Which is high praise.”
“I’ll take it,” he replies.
We can leave at any moment, but I still stay and stare at the ship. A feeling of nervousness hits me, something I haven’t felt before when leaving water.
“We need to find a ride to the airport,” Nate mutters as he leads me away. I go willingly, but I can’t help but feel like I’m forgetting something.
That’s when I see her. Blonde hair and a red shirt.
Scarlett is just across the dock. She’s got her suitcase and her hair’s in a messy bun. She looks as overwhelmed as the rest of us.
But it hits me that I haven’t said goodbye .
“Hang on,” I say. “I wanna say bye to Scarlett.”
“That’s fine. I’m trying to find an option that won’t cost an arm and a leg. I’ll hold your suitcase.”
I thank him before I make my way through the crowd.
“Scarlett!” I call as I get close.
She turns to me with a raised eyebrow. When she realizes who I am, her face lights up. “Maisie!” she says. “There you are. I was worried you’d try to sneak away without a goodbye.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I say as I pull her into a tight hug. “It’s been a mad dash this morning.”
“Agreed.” She sighs before eyeing me. “You seem to be in a good mood.”
“I am in a good mood. Someone gave me some great advice and things have changed.”
“Oh, finally.” She laughs. “I didn’t know if you would have enough time to.”
“I made it work. And I have you to thank for it.”
“Some of my best work,” she replies. “Did you like the part where I let you come to your own conclusions?”
“I did. Very therapist of you.”
She laughs again. “You would’ve gotten defensive if I brought it up too early. But you know we all saw it, right?”
“I do. And I wonder how the hell I didn’t.”
“Emotions make us miss things sometimes. And you care about him. A lot.”
“That I do.”
“Then you’ve got the main thing you need.” She pulls me into another hug. “I’m happy for you. Seriously.”
“What about you? I didn’t ruin your vacation with all of my drama, right?”
“Nowhere near it,” she replies. “I think I needed this. Maybe I’ll go through my own life with more hope. Until a man inevitably ruins it. ”
“They always try.”
“Keep in touch, okay? And maybe I’ll make it to Nashville soon so I can see more of you and Nate in action.”
“I would love that.” We say goodbye one last time before I make my way to Nate. He’s still on his phone, but lets me lean on him.
“Okay, finally . Remind me to make plans for rides way sooner.” He looks up. “Wait, where’s Scarlett?”
I look back, but she must have made her way through the crowd. “I already said bye.”
“I wanted to at least say goodbye. She must think I’m such an ass for how little I’ve said to her.”
“She likes you, don’t worry.” I roll my eyes. “She mentioned visiting Nashville so we could all hang out.”
“I look forward to it.”
Leaning my head on his shoulder, I say, “There’s a lot I’m looking forward to. Ready to make it happen?”
“Always, berry.”
The flight back to Nashville is better than the one to Orlando.
Still, the second I sit, I can tell travel has taken its toll on me. Even though I got a full night of sleep, I find myself leaning my head on Nate’s shoulder.
“And this is what we call travel exhaustion,” he says.
“Do you feel it too?”
“Oh yeah. I’m gonna crash when we get back. Hard. ”
“You could crash with me,” I offer. “I promise my bed is more comfortable than the one on the ship.”
“Is it?”
“It’s bigger too. Though, I think we won’t need to worry about that. ”
His hand grabs mine. “I’m sure we won’t.”
I hide my smile in his shoulder and get comfortable. I’m able to drift off for a little while on the flight, but for the majority of it, I read the book for my book club.
This time, the romance doesn’t bug me. I enjoy it, for once.
It’s raining in Nashville when we land, and I can’t wait to get to Nate’s SUV and go home. This feels like the beginning of something incredible.
And I need it to start.
I only let go of Nate in the baggage claim so I can hunt down our suitcases. I’m so focused on getting out of here that I don’t notice my surroundings.
And a hand gets my suitcase before I do.
“Oh, hey, I—” Looking up, I expect to see a stranger who’s made a mistake.
Instead, I see Rob.
“W-what?” I blink at him as if he’s a bad dream.
“Maisie,” he whispers. “My God, you look beautiful.”
My body revolts at his words, but I tamp down the reaction. I still need to be friendly with him. Quinn’s party is tomorrow .
“Rob.” I take him in, seeing that he’s in his finest suit with a bright blue bear tucked under one arm.
Behind him, there’s a sign that says, “I’m bear-y sorry. Will you forgive me?”
No. No. Why is he here?
I look to Nate, who’s still in the spot I left him. His entire body is rigid, his mouth pressed into a thin line. When my eyes meet his, he shakes himself out of his thoughts and strides over to us.
“What are you doing here?” Nate asks. His voice is flat, but it contains a barely there anger that I’ve never heard from him before.
“I wanted to apologize in person,” Rob says to me. Then he looks at Nate. “And thank you for taking care of her while I was an idiot. I owe you one, man.”
My teeth grit. When he was drunk, Rob was saying how much he didn’t want us around each other.
“I—” Nate shakes his head. “Maisie, I need to talk to you.” He pulls me away before I can say anything else. “Fuck your luggage,” he blows out. “You have your purse, which is good enough. We need to go .”
I can see his logic, and I want to say yes.
But I shake my head anyway.
“No, I can’t do that.”
“What, why not? Quinn could get your bag. Hell, we could just replace the shit in there. Let’s just go before he comes and tries to apologize again.”
“Nate, stop.” I rub my forehead. “I need to talk to him.”
“What?” he asks, his voice suddenly deeper.
“I knew it was possible he would try something else. I didn’t think it would be this, but still ...”
“You knew this could happen and you didn’t tell me? When did this happen?”
“Quinn warned me it wasn’t over.”
“Dammit, Maisie.”
Nate huffs out a breath, and dimly, I realize this might be the first time I’ve ever seen him this angry. His jaw is tight, and he glares at Rob with a ferocity I didn’t know he had.
“Nate,” I say. “Don’t?—”
“Don’t what ? Be pissed that you’re saying you’re willing to talk to him after what he said? Maisie, be smart.”
“I am,” I say. “I can’t just turn my back on what he is.”
Nate jerks back like I’ve hit him, but I’m not sure why. “What he is ? Seriously?”
His defensiveness is so unlike him that I take a step back.
And I feel my own flare.
“Nate, I can’t avoid him. I might not want to, but I need to talk to him. I can’t hide from it.”
“You should.”
“What? You, of all people, are telling me to hide? After all that support with swimming?”
“Don’t compare him to that. He’s different.”
I shake my head. “It’s not. I don’t run from what I’m scared of anymore. I’m gonna talk to him, explain things. And you can’t stop me.”
He grabs my hand. “Maisie, please . Don’t do this.”
“No. This isn’t a big deal. He’s just being Rob. I’m gonna walk over there and we’ll just talk. Okay?”
He stares at me and then Rob.“Why?”
“I need to give him a chance to ...” I trail off. Be my friend? No, I don’t think I want that. See if he means his apology and if we can be civil? That’s close enough.
I regret not giving this more thought. If I had, I would have seen this surprise coming. Now I have to deal with trying to figure out my words.
“Of course.” Nate says it slowly. “I knew this would happen.”
“The surprise? Maybe we both should have, but?—”
He steps away, fully putting the distance we used to have back between us. “Just go talk to him.”
“Wait, are you—” I try to reach out, but he moves away even farther.
“Maisie!” Rob calls, and he’s running over to us. I guess our time is up.