Chapter 17 Your Dimples Are Gonna Ruin Me #2
“You are not the asshole. Even before we were together, you were never the asshole.”
The bar around us has gone incredibly quiet. My eyes are wide, I’m not sure what happened. Why is everyone suddenly staring over?
“Ahem,” my father clears his throat. “Everyone is watching you two lovebirds kiss. Not sure if you’re into that kind of thing, but people have noticed.” He points around the bar.
I drop my head forward, feeling a bit embarrassed. Sivan lifts my chin with two fingers and kisses me again.
“Oh, stop staring!” he shouts, swiveling in his chair. “You’d kiss him if you could, too!” He turns back toward me and smiles. “Your dimples are going to ruin me.” He pokes them with both pointer fingers, then kisses my forehead.
People around us are whistling at the two of us. Ignoring them, I look down at my phone and shake my head. “Maybe meeting him is a bad idea. I feel kind of nervous now. He’s my brother, Sivan. What if he really does say he’s going to leave the ship?”
“I can’t make the decision for you. But as your co-captain and partner, we made a promise that all decisions would be for each other, or for our crew.
If you need a reason to meet him, you can use me.
Because when I look at my tattoo, I know the right thing for my captain is for you to meet with him.
Because you need to accept whatever he decides, and we have to move forward.
I can’t stand seeing you hurt like this.
You meeting with him is also what’s best for our crew, because you will remain distracted until this is dealt with. ”
“For my captain and our crew…you’re right. I have to do this.”
“It was also your idea,” Sivan says. “So, if you want a reason not to, you could say that your captain also hates the little bastard and doesn’t trust him. Either works,” he jokes.
“Nah, I want our life as co-captains to start off the right way. I can’t move forward until I talk to him. He could lie right to my face, but all I can do is try. If there’s a chance I can stop this, I have to.”
I text him back:
We can meet on our new ship. I want to show you everything.
The message shows as read almost instantly.
I put my phone on the bar and look up to see Muffy standing in front of us, arms crossed.
He wasn’t standing there when we sat down, but he’s giving us the craziest look right now.
He holds his hands out to our fathers. “What the hell is this? You two are my oldest friends.” He gestures to me and Sivan.
“No one told me about this! These are your sons! They’re like my own kids! ”
“They just found out yesterday…or I guess we confirmed it yesterday,” I say.
“Well, it’s about time,” Muffy says to me, slinging his bar towel onto his shoulder.
“I’ve watched you two go through a lot over the years.
I always thought you’d be good together.
There was a look that you’d both get toward the other when girls were hanging on either of you.
I figured that’s why you two went out of the bathroom window together so often.
Anyway, where is Matteo? And what about Harlow? That poor delusional girl.”
Matteo still hasn’t texted me back, despite reading my message eight minutes ago.
“Ah. It’s best we don’t talk about them, now,” my father says. “Can we have our usual? Or are you gonna stand there all night being nosy?”
That was an interesting response from my father. Sivan is probably right. They probably know more than we do.
Muffy grabs four glasses from beneath the counter. “I shouldn’t serve you anything, especially you, Captain Crawford. No one is a bigger gossip than you. Can’t believe you two didn’t tell me about this. But Vincent and Sivan can have their usual.”
We don’t really have a usual, but I’ll just take whatever he gives us. I finally see a text from Matteo.
Is Sivan going to be there?
“He wants to know if you’re going to be there,” I say, showing him the text.
Sivan rolls his eyes. “I am going to be there. No way in hell do I trust him alone with you. Do you have any idea what he could be plotting? I won’t take that chance.”
“Yeah, I know. He probably won’t talk as openly if you’re there, though. But I—shit, this is so hard. I want to just tell him that I know everything. All this pretending is driving me crazy.”
Sivan raises his chin toward our fathers.
“They’re going to hear you. It will be over soon.
You heard him say that whatever is happening will happen tomorrow.
All the pretending will be over then. If you want to head over to our ship, we can see if there’s a place for me to hide while you talk.
I don’t like the idea of hiding on our ship, but if that’s what you need, I can do it, provided I’m close enough to protect you. ”
“You don’t need to protect me from him.”
“That’s exactly why I refuse to leave you alone with him.” He picks up the glass that Muffy placed in front of him and moves my glass closer toward me. “Let’s drink these, then we’ll head for the ship. I won’t tell you to lie to him, so tell him whatever you want.”
Am I stupid for thinking that he wouldn’t hurt me? I don’t think I could hurt him, even though he’s been such a dick. Punching between brothers is one thing, but actually hurting him? I don’t think so.
Sivan will be there, but I want to talk to you alone. I’ll meet you on the deck at 9.
“I told him to meet me on the deck at nine. I’ll bring him down to the meeting room. I saw two closets in there. You can hide in one while we talk.”
I take a sip of my rum and smile at Sivan. He looks really concerned. “It’s gonna be okay. There’s nothing for you to be worried about.”
“You boys want to sing tonight?” Captain Crawford asks us.
“Nooo thank you,” I say. “If I’m not drunk, I’m not singing. We’re gonna head out soon anyway.”
Our fathers are both looking us over. “I hope you two aren’t planning to meet up with Matteo,” my father says.
Oh shit. Was I too loud?
“If so, that’s something you need to back away from.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I instantly realize I shouldn’t have said that. “Sorry, Captain, I misspoke. But I want to meet with my brother. Do you know something that I don’t?’
My father looks at Captain Crawford, then back to me. “He is your brother. So, if you want to meet with him, I can’t stop you. But make sure that Sivan is with you.”
Captain Crawford is shaking his head, avoiding eye contact. He’s just looking straight ahead into the mirror behind the bar.
“I won’t leave him alone with Matteo. One of us is very aware of what he’s capable of.”