All that to say — we needed a break, and we were making the most of the one given to us on that beach.
“Well, I’d wish you luck with Cam, but frankly, my dear, I don’t condone boatmances of any kind,” Bernard said when the waiter was gone. His sunglasses slipped down his nose and he pushed them back up on a shrug. “They’re always messy. No way to avoid that. And I don’t think any boatmance can last.”
“Well, so far, I have no evidence to prove you wrong,” Leah said with a longing sigh.
“Hey, it can happen,” Gisella chimed in from the other side of Bernard. “I’ve seen relationships born on boats that lead to marriages. And look at me and Finn.”
“Yeah, but you two didn’tmeeton a boat,” Bernard pointed out.
“So? We’re working together on one.”
“And it’s going so well, isn’t it?” Bernard pursed his lips with a little dance of jest.
“It is,” Gisella said defensively. “Yes, I know I kissed Cameron, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal. We’re both over it.”
Hearing her talk about Finn always made my stomach sour. I wanted to be happy for them, but the truth was I just couldn’t be, especially after what she’d pulled.
And if she thought Finn was fine with it, she didn’t know him at all.
“It was just a kiss, a stupid dare, everyone was drunk.” Gisella huffed and leaned back in her chair. “Besides… it’s not fair of him to hold it over me when he’s been such a prude all season.”
“Prude?” Leah asked.
Gisella chewed her lip, looking around like she was afraid someone might overhear us. But it was just the four of us stretched out on the lounge chairs. Eli, Cameron, Palmer, and Finn were playing a game of beach volleyball down near the water.
“We haven’t slept togetheroncesince we came aboard,” she whispered.
The bottom fell out of my chest.
He… hasn’t slept with her?
I froze, careful not to let my expression shift. But inside, something detonated.
It lit up inside me like a flare, so bright and blinding that it took everything in me not to squint against the glow. I didn’t want to feel it — Ishouldn’tfeel it. But God, I did.
I was giddy.
Because I remembered how he used to be with me. How he could barely keep his hands to himself. How just a glance could unravel both of us.
The idea that he hadn’t touched her that way, not even once in all these weeks…
It rattled me.
I should have been ashamed at that internal reaction.
But some bitter part of me — sharp and shameless — was thrilled.
Bernard slid his sunglasses down so we could all see his wide eyes. “You’re kidding. Gi… it’s been like six weeks!”
“You think I don’t know that?!” Gisella peeked over at where the guys were playing before turning back to us. “Me estávolviendo loca, okay? I mean, I can get him in my bunk for a cuddle but that’s it. He won’t make a move, and he won’t respond when I do. He just keeps saying it’s unprofessional and rude. I even tried to get him to take me to one of the guest cabins, but he refused.”
“Ouch,” Leah said. “That’s brutal. Even Cameron and I have shacked up.”
“Wait,what?!” Bernard and I said at the same time, and then we were laughing and smacking her ass and demanding details.
When the chaos quieted, Gisella cracked her neck and sank back in her chair with a sigh. “I mean, look, we’ve never rushed anything. Took him forever to want to do anything physical with me. He was kind of broken when we got together…” She frowned. “But I don’t know. I feel like I’m missing something, like I’ve got the whole puzzle put together but there are two pieces I can’t find to finish it.”
Her gaze swung my way then as she reached up to grab more tanning oil, the movement slow, deliberate. She uncapped the bottle and poured some into her palm without looking away from me.