Page 26 of Faking It at Sea

“I don’t...” I let the rebuttal trail off because we both knew she would just call me out again.

“Is it Sutton? Did he do something? Because there’s still plenty of time to find him and throw his ass overboard.”

It was just like her to drill down right to the heart of the problem. Except he hadn’t done anything wrong. Not really.

“Oh, shit,” Missy whispered. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

“Sutton is a good guy.”

“Even good guys can make mistakes.”

I huffed out a breath. “It was me, not him.”

She eyed me skeptically. “I’m going to need you to show your work on that, because from where I’m sitting, you’re the one who looks miserable.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my heated lounger. Was there any point in keeping up the ruse? If fate was on my side, I would make it through what was left of this trip without running into Sutton again. And if it wasn’t, well, it wouldn’t be that hard to keep my distance. It was a big ship after all. Lots of dark corners to scurry off to.

“Would you be pissed if I told you that the thing between me and Sutton wasn’t real?” I asked.

Missy arched one perfectly sculpted brow. “Pissed? No, but I wouldn’t believe you either. I saw the two of you together. You can’t fake that kind of chemistry.”

Maybe not, but she was missing the point. “Itwasfake. We agreed to pretend to date so you and Brandon could enjoy the cruise without either of you worrying about us.” Saying it out loud left an unpleasant taste in my mouth.

If the sour expression that pinched Missy’s face was any indication, it sounded just as bad to her. “Seriously?” she asked, the hurt shining through on her gorgeous face. When I nodded, she closed her eyes. “You could have just told me you weren’t interested in coming.”

It wasn’t that simple. She’d booked the cruise as a birthday present for me. Plus, I knew she needed to get away. “I did want to come, for you. Your first cruise as a newly single woman is a big deal.”

She scoffed. “I’ve been on a dozen cruises, June Bug.”

“I want to be here with you, but I was worried I would spoil your fun. You said you wanted lots of drinks, gorgeous men, and hot sex. You weren’t going to get that if I was the fuddy duddy who batted away every guy you threw at me.”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “I wasn’t serious about the sex.”

“You weren’t?” Because she’d sounded awfully convincing on that first night.

“Look, I’ve been trying to put myself out there again...” Her words faded, and understanding hit me like a sharp slap to the face.

“But you’re not ready,” I finished for her.

Was I really so oblivious? I’d seen her reaction when her asshole ex messaged her that first night, but I’d still managed to miss the bigger picture.

A shudder ran through her. “Just the idea of letting another guy touch me still makes me all squirmy.”

I replayed the last couple of days in my head. Every time I saw her with a man—or several men, as was usually the case—they hovered around her, and there were a few friendly touches but nothing more than that.

Nothing even close to the way Sutton’s fingertips trailed up my arm that first night in the bar, or the way his hand curved around the back of my neck when he kissed me.

I shook off the memory and did my best to shove down the regret blossoming inside me. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Missy shrugged. “Because this whole trip was my idea. I honestly thought I would be over him by now, and I haven’t wanted to admit, even to myself, that I’m not.”

So, in a way, she was faking it too. What a pair we made. “That settles it. The rest of this cruise is officially a girl’s trip.”

She studied me, but if she saw that at least a sliver of my desire to make this a testosterone-free adventure was so I could avoid Sutton, she didn’t mention it. “Does that mean we’re doing movies and ice cream in the suite tonight? They have this chocolate vodka-infused Rocky Road that I’ve been dying to try.”

“Absolutely, but we should have a real meal first, as in dinner. Do you want to hit one of the restaurants or order in?” I asked.

“Room service, obviously.”

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