Chapter 5 JP – TRUTHDARE?
If Ali flinched one more time, I was getting on a plane back to Michigan just to slug her ex in the face one more time.
It pained me to know that the touchiest girl I knew was now afraid of touch.
Her ex-husband took that from her, among other things, but I was determined to help her get it back.
Even if we only had this week together, I knew we’d be able to help each other.
That’s how it’d always been between us—we jumped in the foxhole together, helped one another heal, then went back out to face the world.
I’d use this vacation to help ease away that lingering fear I could sense lurking beneath the surface in her, and in return, maybe she could release me in a sense.
After this week, I’d know in my mind that I tried my hardest for a relationship with her, and if we couldn’t make it work, then I’d have to finally let go of this goal and move on.
“So, being together…” she trailed off. “What does this entail?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip.
I grinned at the girl I’d been in love with since I was a teen. “Whatever you want it to, Al.”
She squinted at me. “So, like, friends with benefits?”
A laugh flew out of me. “If you want, sure. I just want us to be together.” I shrugged.
She still looked skeptical. “But just for this week?”
“Sure.” And yeah, maybe in the back of my mind I was hoping I'd be able to convince her to be in a real relationship with me by the end of the week, but I’d have to ignore that for now.
“Well, how do we start this? I’m…” Her eyes darted around. “I’m nervous.” She let out a little laugh.
“Why? It’s just me.” I grinned. “I’d be happy just eating together. My waitress made fun of me for being alone tonight.”
She bit out a laugh. “Aw, are you serious?”
“Dead,” I said, taking another sip of beer.
She rolled her lips together to contain a shy grin. “Okay, so, eating together, we can do that.”
“And filling each other in on what we’ve missed, and maybe cuddling at night if I’m lucky,” I tested, wagging my eyebrows.
“Cuddling,” she deadpanned, looking amused. “That’s all you want to do?” She arched an eyebrow.
I laughed. “I mean, I’d love to do more with you, but we don’t have to.” I breathed out a sigh. “What I'm saying is, I just want to be with you in whatever way you want for this week. You’re in charge, Al.”
She chewed her bottom lip. “Okay, so…when do we start?”
Relief flooded my body, but I tried not to show it. “It’s up to you.” I checked my watch to see that it was already 9 p.m. “It’s kind of late.”
Her face lit up with a delighted laugh. “We’re on a cruise ship, JP. We stay up late around here.”
“Yeah?” A thrill of excitement rocked into me.
She gave me a conspiratorial grin. “Oh yeah.”
“Okay.” I grinned. “Let’s play.”
“Play?” Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
I gave her a shocked look. “Have you hit your head lately? You don’t remember our game?”
“Truth or dare?” She laughed, and I was delighted to see the tension easing away her shoulders. “Haven’t we outgrown that?” She brushed her short hair behind her ears, making her look like her younger self.
“Nah, ‘course not, but we’ll make some adjustments since we’re out here.” I looked out to the ocean. “You can pass by taking a shot. What do you think? Seem fair?”
“Hmm, I think I like this.” She gave me that cute upside-down smile of hers, and her brown eyes held that daring spark I always loved. She held out her hand for a thumb war—the way we always decided who would start. I let her win. The little grin on her face told me she knew.
“Truth,” I said.
“Okay.” She turned to face me and folded her legs criss-cross. “I’ll give you an easy one. How is everyone?”
I stared at her strangely. “That’s too easy, Al. Don’t you and the girls have those weekly FaceTime calls? You probably know everything already, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” she said, giving me a soft smile, “but everyone always shares the good parts because they don’t want to worry me, ya know?
Like what can I do about anything out here?
” She gestured around us. “So, give me the truth, how is everyone doing?” She clasped her hands together in her lap, eagerly waiting for my answer.
“Colt and Mer are great, they—”
“The truth,” she reminded me with a stern look.
I smirked. “They’re quite annoying to be around, actually.
Colt’s always feeling her up.” I let out a wry chuckle.
“I’ll be talking to them in the kitchen and notice his hand is under her sweatshirt resting on her stomach.
It’s like, can you not keep your hands to yourselves for, like, two seconds? ”
Ali’s face lit up with laughter, making it hard not to smile.
“And Lucy is thriving. She had a hard time with some bullies at school, but figure skating’s really helping her gain confidence.
Piper’s coaching her now and they’re looking for a skating partner for her.
She’d love to meet you; she watches your skating videos non-stop.
And little Cal’s just a baby, very tiny.
He’s kind of just a blob right now, can’t even hold his own head up, but his smiles are…
Wow.” I let out a breath. “You have to work hard for them, but when you get one, it makes your whole day, I swear. But during the playoffs, Cal wouldn’t sleep, and Colt was losing his mind a little.
” I scratched my jaw. “Mer called me up and said Colt was playing like shit because he couldn’t sleep, so she made him sleepover at my place the night before big games.
He didn’t want to go one night, but she locked him out of the house.
” I laughed at the memory of him banging on my door with his pillow in hand.
“I can totally picture him pouting,” Ali said, biting her lip.
“Oh, he totally was.” I laughed. “And then at my place, I woke up from a dead sleep to see him sleepwalking around my living room, bouncing and stroking a pillow like it was a baby.”
“You’re joking!” she blurted out, totally amused.
“Nope,” I confirmed with an incredulous laugh. “He was losin’ it.”
She shook her head wistfully. “I can’t believe they had a baby. I mean, I guess it was a long time coming for them,” she added with a giggle.
I smirked. “Yeah, I think we were all a little shocked they weren’t teen parents.”
She grinned and took another sip of her drink. “So, what about Piper and Kappy? I loved watching them win the Olympics.”
My eyebrows flew up. “Even though they beat your sister?” Anastasia—Ali’s twin sister—and her partner, Freddie, came in second place to Kappy and Piper at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
“Oh yeah, Annie’s gonna go another four years, Piper wanted to retire. It worked out.” She shrugged. “How’s Kappy doing?”
“It’s been a tough road, finding out he can’t play anymore because of his heart, but I think he was convinced it was a death sentence. Piper’s helping him realize he can live a full life without hockey.”
“He deserves to be happy. They both do. They all do.” A wistful smile danced across her lips.
I paused for a beat, studying her. “But not us?” I asked quietly.
She looked startled. “You’re happy, aren’t you?”
“Are you?” I challenged, holding her golden brown eyes.
She rolled her lips together and squinted into the distance. “Is that your question, Jameson?”
I swallowed hard. I couldn’t push too hard and risk scaring her away.
If nothing else, I wanted her to feel safe.
“Nah.” I took another sip of my beer and gave her a gentle grin.
“I’ll give you an easy one, too. You haven’t injured yourself out here too badly, have you?
Any new bumps or bruises?” While she used to be the touchiest girl I knew, she was also the clumsiest. She was the only person I knew who could trip on air, choke on spit, and manage to break multiple bones in a single year.
“Nope,” she said proudly. “That day I busted my arm remains my worst injury.”
I hated that day. I ran a hand down my face. “All right, get up, off your booty. Go knock on wood, right now, girl.”
“What?” Her lips twitched. “Are you serious?”
“Yes,” I burst out, struggling to tamper down a laugh. “Your next injury cannot be on me,” I said mock-seriously. “C’mon, let’s go.” I nodded at her to get up.
Giggling, she popped off her chair and made a big show of knocking on the ship’s railing. “Happy now?” she asked as she trapezed back to her seat.
“Very,” I said truthfully, hiding my grin behind my beer bottle. I was happy. I was happy now that I was with her.