Page 10 of Debugging Love

“Intestinal...stuff. I better head to the...” I jab my thumb over my shoulder.

“Okay.” Chance retreats and pockets his hands.

I whip around, working hard to steady myself on the wobbly floor. My body is light and heavy, half floating away, the other half sinking onto the carpet.

After wandering around in a daze for a minute, I find the lady’s room and stumble inside, thrust my hands under the water to cool my lips and the back of my neck.

What. Just. Happened?

One moment I was recoiling from Chance’s ego, and the next I was fantasizing about his lips. There are so, so very many reasons why falling for a guy’s looks despite his personality is not a good idea. It’s aterribleidea. Been there, done that. I amnotkissing Chance no matter how unbelievably irresistible his lips are.

You’re not, Danni,I say to my rosy cheeks.You arenot. You hear me?

A toilet flushes and a middle-aged woman approaches the sink. She eyes me worriedly.

“I’m fine. It’s just...shrimp. Yeah. That’s it. The shrimp.”

Chapter 4

Chance

Danni’s been away for forty-five minutes. I’ve gone around the dining room at least three times studying faces and eavesdropping on conversations. How much longer does she need to resolve her intestinal “stuff?”

I’m starting to wonder if there’s a medical emergency. Danni might be lying face down in a bathroom exhausted, dehydrated with renal failure, but I can’t go peeking into all the ladies’ rooms. I’ll check each deck to see if she’s puking over a railing. If not, I’ll enlist help.

I wad up the drink coaster that I folded into an origami swan and leave a twenty-dollar tip, then I nod to the bass player and head out of the dining room.

Danni isn’t on the first or second decks. I finally find her at the railing on the third deck overlooking the paddlewheel. She doesn’t look pale, emaciated, or dehydrated. On the contrary, her cheeks are light pink, her skin is smooth and flawless, and her hair looks better than it did when we met. Maybe it’s theway the wind is parting her bangs and blowing her hair around, occasionally revealing her soft collarbones.

When we were on the dance floor, time seemed to stop, her breaths felt like my breaths, and her lips became the focus of my existence. That was...

Weird.

I slide up beside her and rest my forearms on the railing. “Feeling better?”

“Oh, hi. Yeah.”

We watch the boat’s paddlewheel churn through water, sharing awkward silence until Danni asks, “What would happen if someone fell?”

“Here?”

“Yeah. On the paddlewheel. Would they get chopped up?”

I squint at Danni’s cheek. Her eyes are fixed on that paddlewheel, imagining a body being sliced to shreds, I guess. “What made you think of that?”

“I don’t know. Intrusive thoughts. I sometimes imagine worst-case scenarios. My mom used to say it keeps me safe.”

“Kind of sounds like a nightmare in your own head.”

Danni grabs the top rail and leans back, supporting her weight with her tight grip. “You get used to it. I just squeeze my eyes shut and make myself think of something else.”

“Think about that bird.” I point to a seagull coasting on air currents next to the boat.

Danni watches the bird for a moment before pulling herself back to standing and squeezing her eyes shut. “Do you like Charleston?”

“I love it.”

“Me too.”

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