Page 15 of Stranded

The first—andmost important—thing about Sunrise’s floating restaurant/bar is the temperature.

Ahhhh. Nice and toasty.

Even with the windows open, the building seems to be clinging to the heat of a long August afternoon. It’s almost enough to make me forget about freezing my ass off just minutes ago.

I pause just inside in the door, my eyebrows rising with surprise as I look around.

It’s clean and bright in here, painted pastel yellow and blue—a far cry from the dingy dive bar I expected. In between the bar and restaurant is a glassed-in section, open to the sky and the water.

I think it makes us the main attraction for curious fish. But it’s pretty damn cool.

“See? I know a good place, right?” Alph asks with a grin.

“You do. Even if it’s the only place you know.”

He laughs and leads me to the bar, nodding and smiling to everyone who greets him while avoiding getting sucked into conversations.

I’m expecting to raise a few eyebrows, dressed like I am. But all I get are curious glances and welcoming smiles.

This is nothing like the Italian restaurant where we always go for our family dinners. It’s the very definition of boring: for as long as I can remember, the same red candle has been in the same place on the same white tablecloth.

But this is a charming, pleasant chaos that makes me feel grounded. I can see why Alph wanted to bring me here. I can already tell a lot about the atmosphere on Sunrise Island, and it makes me wish I’d visited sooner.

“Kieran—” Alph breaks off, looking around for him. “Ah. Oh dear. The committee has him.”

The bartender is a five-foot-something twink with a mop of pink hair and a bright smile on his face. He’s surrounded by a gaggle of white-haired ladies, and he has a good-natured grin on his face.

“He’s going to get flirted to death,” Alph says with a laugh. Then he holds a finger to his lips.

What secrets am I about to learn? I lean in eagerly, and it’s all I can do to focus on his words and not his warm breath against the side of my neck.

“My brother’s on the committee. He hangs out with them a lot. Apparently they have this game of asking him the most in-depth questions just to listen to him talk.” He straightens up and nods toward the bartender again, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Look.”

Kieran is wildly gesturing his hands as he explains something earnestly. The ladies are nodding along sweetly, but clearly not paying the slightest bit of attention to his words.

“Oh, my god. You’re right.” I cover my mouth to hide my laugh. “Should we throw him a life ring?”

“A life ring?” Alph gives me an amused look. “Look at you with the nautical metaphors. I’m rubbing off on you.”

Rubbing off on me, huh?I don’t even need to say it. All I do is widen my eyes innocently, then smirk at him.

Alph makes a little choking noise and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Oh, Ronan. At this rate,you’regoing to rub off on—” he realizes his mistake a little too late and trails off.

“Good. That means it’s working,” I tell him, batting my lashes as Alph gives me a pleasingly flabbergasted look. “Just… let me know if it’s too much.”

Alph scratches his neck, staring into the distance for a moment before he shakes his head. “That’s not it. I’m just not used to having anyone run rings around me.”

“Maybe it’s good for you,” I shrug.

Alph nods. “It is,” he says without hesitation.

Whoa. I didn’t expect him to take me seriously. I squint at him, but he’s not sarcastic or joking around. He looks thoughtful, in fact, in a way that catches me off-guard.

I don’t know what to say—and luckily, I don’t have to say anything.

“Ah, you’re back!” Kieran greets Alph, who tosses him the ferry keys. He catches them one-handed and hangs them on the wall, then folds his arms to look me over. “Andyou’rethe poor stranded laddie he went out to save.”

He’s a few inches shorter than me, with a strong Irish accent and a feisty grin. I relax and grin back at him.

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