“Not sure this will make for entertaining television,” I said to the cameraman and the woman at his side who was managing the audio equipment. All the camera operators worked in pairs like that, and I knew after this first charter that the couple with me now were named Luke and Lexi.
They both just smiled, silent, their lens pointed right at me. Luke shrugged as if to sayjust doing my job.They looked spent, and I knew they likely couldn’t wait until our crew called it quits for the night so they could go get some sleep at the hotel where the production crew was set up. Their counterparts would be the ones reporting early in the morning.
I found a tall, empty barstool and slid onto it, my feet tingling from the relief of not bearing my weight in heels for a moment. I leaned my arms on the railing that stretched the back of the patio next, taking reprieve in the quiet time. Not that it was quiet outside — between the club patrons on the patio with me and the people walking or driving by on the street, it was anything but.Still, it was nice to not have music blasting in my ears or anyone screaming over it.
I allowed myself ten minutes of solo bliss before I decided I should probably get back inside. But before I moved an inch, someone slid up beside me, their forearms coming to rest on the railing next to mine.
“Sick of us already, are ya, Firefly?”
Finn’s voice was low and gravelly, evidence of a long day and a rough charter evident in every syllable that rolled off his tongue. I turned to look at him, and he appeared as tired as he sounded. Unfortunately for me, the man was somehow even hotter when he was exhausted — something about that scruff on his jaw, the lines at the edges of his eyes, the curl of his sleepy smile.
“Just needed a little air,” I said. “Quite loud in there.”
“The Ember I know thrives in that kind of environment,” he said. “There’s nothing you love more than a night out, throwing shapes and getting into a bit of mischief.”
There was a smile on my face that I didn’t give permission to be there, and I bit against it as my gaze lowered to my arms on the railing. I blinked, and a flash of that night on the beach two years ago struck me like a car.
I instantly frowned.
“Yes, well. That was two years ago,” I said pointedly, lifting my gaze to his. “You don’t know me at all now.”
“Maybe we should change that.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t.”
Finn sighed, running a hand back through his hair as he let his gaze sweep over the dark water in front of us. “I’m sorry, Ember.”
“If this is another shit apology that isn’t actually an apology, you can save it.”
“No, really,” he said, turning back to me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you during that dinner service. It was our first one together and webothmade mistakes — me more than you, I’d wager.”
I swallowed, the fact that he was offering a genuine apology shocking enough to have me silent.
“And then in the crew mess that night, and the whole thing with Max the next day…” Finn shook his head. “I’m not trying to make excuses because that was bang out of order. I just… I’m a bit thrown from all of this, aren’t you?”
Fuck.
I’d been perfectly content to not call attention to the facts of this situation I knew neither of us could ignore, but when I looked into Finn’s glazed eyes, I knew he was just drunk enough to cross that line and call all our ghosts into the light.
“There’s nothing to be thrown from,” I muttered.
“Don’t do that.”
I cracked at the tone of his voice, chest splintering as I closed my eyes and let my head drop.
“Don’t act like we don’t have a past, like things didn’t end well, like we weren’t sure we’d ever see each other again, and now we’re working on the same boat.”
“And that you have a girlfriend,” I shot at him, neck snapping as I lifted my gaze. “Yes, Finn. I’m well aware of the situation. I’d just prefer not to torture myself, if that’s alright with you.”
Finn frowned, opening his mouth but then just letting it hang there.
I sighed. “Thank you for the apology. I’m sorry, too. Let’s just… let’s try not to kill each other these next couple months, yeah?”
“That’s exactly what I came out here to say,” he said. I noticed he conveniently didn’t comment on the girlfriend thing. “I thought maybe we could shelve all this… be friends?”
I tried not to laugh.
Truly, I tried.