Page 20 of Hunter

His comments make me feel hopeful as we follow him up the stairs to the second deck. But when we open the door to ourcabin, my heart drops. It can’t be more than one hundred fifty square feet. It’s tiny. It’s a closet with two twin beds, a minuscule desk, and the promised window.

“This…this is abiggercabin?” I ask. “What do the three cabins below ours look like?”

He shrugs, a smile playing on the corners of his lips. “Smaller.”

I give him a look to show I’m not amused as I pull my suitcase into the room, then hop onto the bed, because with three humans, two rolling suitcases and two backpacks piled into the room, the floor space is suddenly gone.

“Bathroom en suite,” says Yuri, pointing to a door and winking at me.

Huh. Okay. I hadn’t realized it before now, but I think Yuri’s been flirting with me. And while he appears to be at least ten years older than me, he’s not bad looking. I don’t know if I’m interested, but I’m definitely flattered.

Grinning back at him, I nod. “Got it.”

He backs toward the door. “If you need anything, Isabella, just let me know.”

“How do you know my name?” I ask him, hopping off the bed.

“It’s my business to know who’s who on my ship.”

“Are you the captain?”

“First Officer,” he says, tipping his cap to me.

“First Officer,” I say, smiling at him.

“That’s right.” He winks at me again, then turns with military precision and lets himself out of our cabin.

I lean against the door.

A little old, but a lot cute. Hmm.

“Gross, bruh,” grunts Beto from his bed, where he holds his phone over his head, scrolling through TikTok videos. “He’s like, a thousand years old. You can do better, cuz.”

“For the record,” I say, lying down on my bed, “I’m not interested.”

“How do you know my name?”Beto imitates me in a high-pitched voice. “Right. Sure you’re not, bruh.”

“I’m not!” I insist. I mean, that’s the last thing I need with Hunter Stewart on this ship—to get involved with someone else right under his nose. I’m not interested in poking the beast.

But speaking of the beast, I need to warn Beto about Hunter and fill him in on our short and bitter history. “Beto, I have to tell you something.”

“What?”

“Remember when I went to Skagway last summer to see McKenna?”

“Yeah. McKenna’s cool, yo.”

My entire family adores my best friend.

“Yes, she is,” I agree. “So, anyway, you know she got married to that Alaskan guy, Tanner Stewart?”

“Yeah. I heard.”

“Well, Tanner’s brother, Hunter, is working on the production crew for this show.”

“What?” he asks, his eyebrows darting up. “McKenna’s bro-in-law? Awesome! We got an insider on our side, yo! That gives us an advantage!”

I cringe at his enthusiasm, and his face falls.

---