Chapter 14 #2
I glance inside. They haven’t noticed us yet, but it isn’t hard to imagine Nico’s idea working, because I definitely feel uncomfortable spectating them.
‘Okay, so we match their vibe,’ I say. ‘So they don’t want us hanging out with them.’
‘Or, better yet, they want us to leave,’ he replies. ‘So that they can have the place to themselves.’
I try to contain my smile. This is objectively one of the silliest ideas I’ve ever agreed to – which might be why it sounds so much like fun.
‘We’d have to really commit, if this is going to work,’ I say.
‘Absolutely.’
‘No half-measures.’
‘I’m game if you are,’ he replies.
We go silent for a moment, still inches apart, as what probably started out as a joke slowly starts becoming a real plan.
‘There is one issue,’ I say.
‘What’s that?’
‘They’re too wrapped up in each other to notice us out here, pretending to flirt,’ I point out.
‘Hmm, that’s true,’ he replies. ‘But there is one very obvious way to send the message.’
I look at him.
He raises his eyebrows as he glances inside.
‘We join them in there?’ I reply.
‘Not quite,’ he says. ‘We go to my room – together.’
‘Ew,’ I blurt.
‘We go there, that’s all,’ he quickly insists. ‘I guarantee, their imaginations will conjure up far worse images than anything that could actually happen.’
‘For how long?’ I ask.
‘The longer the better,’ he says.
I purse my lips as I try to stifle the thought that pops into my mind.
‘One night of the two of them thinking we’re hooking up and I bet you anything they beg us to leave, it will kill their romantic vibe,’ he says.
‘You know what? I think you might be right,’ I reply.
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
‘Subtle as a flare gun,’ I add. ‘But it just might work.’
‘I’m still taking it as a compliment,’ he replies. ‘So, what do you think? Do you want to take this party to the bedroom?’
I feel a flutter of something travel through my body, almost as though it hasn’t quite got the memo that all of this is fake.
‘Let’s do it,’ I say.
Nico grins too.
‘Imagine their faces,’ he says. ‘It’s a shame we can’t see, but we’re too wrapped up in each other, right?’
‘Right,’ I reply. ‘Because I’m so desperate to get you to your cabin that I don’t even notice they’re there.’
‘I’ll tell them goodnight, but I don’t even care that they’re there,’ he replies. ‘So they’re going to have to live with it…’
It’s strange, because we both know what the plan is, that none of this is real, and yet it feels a lot like flirting.
This isn’t a terrible idea, is it?
I look back through the doors again. Hank says something I can’t hear, but I can tell from his expression that things are kicking up a gear between them. So Nico and I need to get in there first – or seem to, at least.
Nico raises his glass.
‘To psychological warfare.’
I clink my glass against his.
‘To ending this holiday early,’ I reply.
‘Commitment to the bit,’ he says with mock seriousness, offering me his hand. ‘You said no half-measures.’
‘I did indeed,’ I say, taking his hand.
He grabs a bottle of champagne from the outside fridge with his free hand.
‘Let’s do this,’ he says confidently.
It’s funny, because he’s essentially agreeing with me, but my reflex is to find his response cocky and annoying.
The moment we step back inside together, both our parents look up at exactly the same time.
Nico snakes an arm around my waist, pulling me close, so close I can feel his body heat. I drape an arm around his neck, trying to hang off him casually.
Mum’s eyes widen ever so slightly before she hurriedly ushers her expression into something casual. Hank attempts something similar but fails almost instantly. He looks like a man trying to act normal while his leg is on fire.
Nico, meanwhile, doesn’t hesitate for even a second.
‘We think we’re going to have an early night,’ he says smoothly.
‘I’ll be in soon,’ Mum tells me.
She’s either not getting it, or willing things to be different.
‘That’s okay,’ I tell her. ‘I’m going to stay in Nico’s cabin tonight – with Nico.’
I add that to the end, in case it isn’t clear.
Honestly, if this were real, I would never in a million years say anything like that to my mum, no matter how old I got, or how little it mattered. Not a chance. I have that feeling, one left over from my teenage years, like I’m surely going to be grounded for this.
‘Oh,’ she says softly.
‘Right,’ Hank replies.
The silence that follows is nothing short of extraordinary. This is already working.
Nico caresses my side as he guides me towards the corridor, and the tiny gesture catches me so off guard that I nearly trip over absolutely nothing.
Thankfully, I’m safe in his arms, and so is my dignity as we disappear down the narrow corridor together, leaving a trail of stunned silence behind us. We did it!
The moment Nico closes the cabin door, the atmosphere changes completely. Like being in a car that has just plunged into a lake, the doors and windows all closed, only a certain amount of oxygen left, certain danger mere seconds away.
The cabin itself is technically bigger than the one I’m sharing with Mum. There’s more storage, slightly wider walkways, enough floor space that two people can move around freely without accidentally getting intimate if the moving boat hits a bit of chop.
And yet somehow it feels much smaller. Maybe it’s because Nico is much bigger than my mum… or maybe it’s simply because it’s Nico.
He lets go of me immediately and exhales hard theatrically enough to remind me to exactly what extent he was faking what just happened. As though there was any doubt in either of our heads. We’re more likely to physically fight than we are to kiss.
‘Soooo…’ he says eventually. ‘That was deeply embarrassing.’
I drop onto the edge of the bed and look at him.
‘Well, you did a pretty convincing job, for someone who was cringing his way through it,’ I point out.
‘You touched my hand with a lot of confidence for someone who was allegedly panicking.’
He sits down on the bed next to me. The one bed.
The one we’re going to have to share, unless we abandon the plan (or the ship) and I go back to my mum.
We’ve come this far though, and it seems like it’s working, so we can’t back down now…
can we? There’s a voice in my head, the usual one who overthinks, telling me that maybe we should.
I notice that the bed is neatly made. The pillows are plumped. The lighting is soft. The whole room has the atmosphere of somewhere designed for romance rather than two immature adults conducting social experiments on their parents.
Nico rubs the back of his neck with his hand.
‘Right.’
‘Right,’ I echo. ‘This is wild…?’
‘Yeah, the cocktails definitely emboldened us,’ he reasons. ‘But it did work.’
‘It did…’
‘We could actually get an early night,’ he suggests. ‘Not like that – I mean sleep. I’m shattered.’
‘You reckon we can share?’ I ask.
He turns around and eyeballs the bed for size.
‘You’ve never had someone else in here?’ I can’t help but blurt in disbelief.
‘Not side by side,’ he says cheekily.
I’m not blushing, am I?
‘You take that side. I’ll stay over here,’ he suggests.
‘You say that like we’ll be far apart,’ I say with a laugh.
I lie down on my spot. Nico in his. Honestly, I may as well be on top of him for how close together we’re squashed. His broad shoulders fill his space completely.
‘Maybe we need to try different positions?’ I suggest.
He looks at me, unable to hide his grin.
‘Oh, you know what I mean,’ I reply.
Nico rummages around in a drawer and pulls out a clean T-shirt.
‘Here, if you want to sleep in this,’ he says as he hands it to me.
I hold it up in front of me.
‘It’s roomier than the bed,’ I joke. ‘It’s perfect, thank you.’
I head into his bathroom to get as ready for bed as I can – physically and mentally. What am I doing here? I mean, really. Sad as it sounds, I had this silly romantic notion that the next time I shared a bed with a man, it would be someone I really cared about.
I guess I’ve made my bed – pun intended – and now I have to lie in it. Oh, gosh, I have to lie in it. How the hell am I going to do this?
When I come back out, Nico’s stripped down to his boxers, in his place in bed, lying on his side. I suppose that could give us more space, but he is facing me.
I get in, trying to lie on my side, facing away from him, but my weight on the mattress causes his body to tip into mine. We lock together, spooning, for what feels like a lifetime but is only a split second before we repel each other like magnets of the same pole.
Every muscle I have aches from them all tightening at once.
The second I felt his warm, rock-hard body up against mine, that was it.
My body went into shock. It’s been a long time since it’s felt a man’s body against it – and, dare I say it, never a man as hot (on paper only, we do not fancy him) as Nico.
‘I’m better on my back,’ I say.
I don’t look at him, but I just know he’s grinning at my choice of words.
He isn’t as rattled by all of this as I am; he finds it funny. He’s far too relaxed, if you ask me – he should try worrying more. It does bug me, that nothing truly rattles him. Or if it does, he hides it well enough that nobody notices.
I’m beyond spiralling. I’m pirouetting like I’ve been training how to do it for years.
‘Sorry,’ I whisper, now that I’m on my back again.
He is, too. Our arms touching – but that’s easier than what was touching a moment ago.
‘No worries,’ he says.
No worries – ha. I have so many worries that they have to take turns.
Nico shifts beneath the duvet and then settles completely. Five minutes later his breathing evens out. Is he actually sleeping? Just like that. No thinking, no fretting, not fighting the demons. He’s tired, so he’s sleeping. Oh, how I envy him.
This better work – this weird little plan of ours. Because if it doesn’t, I’ve voluntarily trapped myself in a fake relationship on a boat with a man I’m trying very hard to have nothing to do with. And it sounds quite silly, when you think about it like that…