Christ, I need to get a life.
“Helloo… Earth to Garrett.”
A waving hand appeared in front of his face. Blinking at its back-and-forth motion, Garrett realized Colt had been talking to him.
“Sorry. What?” His focus shifted from the woman he’d been admiring to his brother.
“I asked what you wanted to do first. You know, once we’re on board.”
“Check out our rooms.” They each had their own. “Make sure all of our luggage makes it back to us like it’s supposed to.”
“Bro.” Colt’s face went deadpan. “You seriously need to relax.”
Garrett frowned. “Iamrelaxed.” Or…he was starting to be, at least.
“Right. Well, we have a limited amount of fun-in-the-sun time, and I for one am not wasting a second of it waiting for bags I know will be coming.”
The man had a point. “Fine. We’ll find our rooms so I can put this inside, and then we’ll head up to the main deck for the welcome party. Happy?”
Colt slid his Ray-Bans over his blue eyes and smiled. “Very.”
Forty minutes later, they’d finally made it through security and onto the ship without incident. The cruise line didn’t fuck around when it came to the safety of its passengers. Something he could appreciate.
As the pair made their way up to their ocean-level staterooms, Garrett found himself searching for the woman in the sundress. Which was ridiculous since he’d only seen her once, not to mention she was probably here with someone.
A husband. Fiancé. Boyfriend. Someone who could give a woman like that the life she deserved.
Jesus, man. You know nothing about her, and you’re making assumptions as to what she does or doesn’t deserve? The woman could be a hoity toity bitch for all you know.
But his gut said she wasn’t, which was yet another ridiculous assumption. Again, he’d seen her once. From behind.
Garrett gave the strap on his shoulder a tight squeeze then forced the muscles in his hand to relax. Damn it, Colt was right. He needed to let shit go and start enjoying their current situation.
Starting with the woman in the hat. She was just one of over four thousand passengers aboard the giant ship, and chances were he’d probably go the entire rest of the trip without ever seeing her again.
After finding their rooms—each next to the other’s—the two men headed up to the main deck for the welcome party. Once there, Garrett planned to grab one of those fruity drinks with an umbrella in it then spend the next six days chilling the fuck out.
Ten minutes later, he’d implemented the first part of the plan.
“This.” Colt stood with his elbows leaning on the tiki-style bar behind them. “This right here is what I’m talking about.”
With his flamingo shorts and brightly flowered shirt, the man looked like the stereotypical Caribbean cruise passenger.
From behind his dark lenses, Garrett bit his tongue to keep from razzing Colt about his attire and looked out over the crowd. For the first time since stepping foot on the ship, he drew in a deep breath and soaked in the scenery.
Songs he could only describe as tropical island music blared through the speakers. People dressed in everything from bikinis to Bermuda shorts—and everything in between—were spread out over the expansive wooden deck.
Some were talking. Several had already begun drinking. One group had even come together in the center, dancing to the uplifting beat of the steel drums.
A cooling breeze blew in from the Atlantic, making the humid Florida air more bearable. Still taking everything in, Garrett noted that everywhere he looked, he found smiles.
Not the small, polite kind. No, these were toothy grins accompanied by loud, boisterous laughs.
An odd feeling settled in his gut. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed like that.
“Yeah, okay.” He took a sip of his frozen strawberry and rum concoction. Something the bartender had called a Miami Vice.
“Okay, what?”