“Or a shady journalist,” Cody offers. “Or simply a hacker.”
“I’m glad that narrows it down.” I groan.
“Is Jude freaking out about this?” Dad studies me. “Tell me if he needs to schedule extra therapy sessions. He has the mostimportant three games of his career next week because they’re his trial. He can’t fuck them up because someone is—”
“Mindfucking him?” I hope that’s all this is.
But what if someone dangerous is fixated on D’Angelo?
Could it be RebelLover22?
If you date anyone but me, D’Angelo, I will kill you…
When the yacht starts a slow turn, Michael becomes greener. He clutches onto the couch with white knuckles.
I dread to think how ill he’d be on a sea cruise.
I struggle not to laugh, when I imagine Michael as a Navy SEAL.
“Where are the life jackets?” Michael demands. “You didn’t tell us earlier. Now, I feel like insisting.”
Dad’s eyes twinkle with amusement. “Life jackets are for pussies.”
“Strange, I thought that they were for people who didn’t want to drown.” Michael’s gaze hardens.
“Can’t you swim?”
“Actually, no,” Michael admits. “Barely.”
Panicked, Cody and I both sit up together in a tangled heap.
What the hell?
Michael is taking a huge risk by being out here with us. Yet he’s still doing this in order to support Cody.
Michael is avoiding his husband’s eye.
“Shit.” Cody reaches to drag Michael’s hand into his. “Why did you come with me today? Plus, how the hell don’t I know this about you? We literally live beside the beach. I’m in and out of the water every day.”
“And I’m not.”
“I thought that was because you’re…”
“A nerd and not a jock?” Michael arches his brow. “Always at work? Too old?”
Cody blushes. “You’re just not passionate about the same things as I am. And that’s fine. You love classical music and playing chess. I compete in surfing and bake. It’d be boring if we were the same. It gives us stuff to talk about.”
Dad pulls a face. “You married a smart, educated doctor. What can you talk about, when you’re messing around like a kid still surfing and baking, as if you’re not even a man?”
Cody pales.
I wince.
A sick, cold feeling seeps through me.
“Take that back,” I hiss.
Michael stands. He looks thunderous.