Page 34 of Why Cruise

“Yeah, I didn’t know that part either.”

Theo threw up his hands like he was done with our nonsense, then aggressively pulled out his phone from the beach bag. He dramatically flipped through the cruise app and tapped a few times.

“Fine, I guess I have to wear the pants in this relationship. We’re going to the museum today.” He said, handing his phone to Justice.

As Justice bowed his head to read, I pointed to Theo and Justice, made little walking gestures with my fingers, and then kissy faces.

Theo just looked at me like I had gone insane.

“This actually sounds great. I haven’t been to a museum in years. But we’re going to have to go if we want to make the bus.” He handed the phone back to Theo.

I snapped my fingers. “Shoot. There was that workshop on nesting that I really wanted to go to today. You guys go to the museum. I’ll take all the beach stuff back to the ship and we’ll meet up for dinner.”

Justice stood and brushed sand off his pants.

Theo mouthed “what the fuck” at me. There was a workshop on nesting, but we had already discussed it and crossed it off Theo’s list. I mouthed “ALPHA” back at him with a head nod toward the alpha in question. Theo’s eyes went wide and his mouth made that perfect “O” shape when he finally clued in.

Theo dug in his beach bag for his shorts and the short sleeve button-up shirt. I wasn’t the only one appreciating Theo’s form as he got changed.

Justice held out a hand to me to pull me to my feet. I held on to the brim as I looked all the way up. Justice was probably a foot taller than me, and being this close to him, his aura melted me.

“Should I get you cream for your nose?” he traced a delicate finger down my nose and across my cheek. I didn’t have enough breath to answer, so I just nodded. Like an idiot. I had a wholepharmacy worth of Korean skin care, not to mention my own products. Being this close to an alpha, an alpha’s aura, to Justice, was disorienting. His eyes lit up, and he took in my face like he was finding treasure there. I cleared my throat and stepped back, pulling the hat lower on my forehead.

Justice shook sand off the towel I was sitting on and carefully folded it. I held my tote bag open for him to place it inside. Packing up was an excellent distraction.

“I’ll take that, and that,” I said, taking Theo’s beach bag and towel.

“Are you sure?” Theo asked, his eyes saying so much more than his words.

“Yes.” I gave him a little wave as I turned to leave, and said “Have fun, boys,” over my shoulder. My voice came out steadier than I expected, considering how my heart was racing.

I kept my pace even as I walked away, clutching the beach bags to my chest. The thought of Theo and Justice together made my skin tingle. I wanted this for Theo so badly it hurt. And Justice… the way he’d looked at me, touched my face. No one had ever looked at me like that, not even Daryl.

Daryl. My throat tightened. Ten years, and he’d never once…

I pushed the thought away and adjusted my new sunhat, grateful for the shade that hid my face.

I hurried through the winding corridors of the ship. The bags weren’t heavy, but they were bulky and awkward. The tote bag just wouldn’t stay on my shoulder. I looked up, realizing I had no idea where I was. What had Theo said about the room numbers again? Did they get bigger or smaller towards the front of the ship?

I turned a corner, and two alphas were taking up the whole hallway. That scary female alpha again. She was in the exact same dress as yesterday, but this one was red, not teal. She’d probably bought one in every color. I snorted and slapped ahand over my mouth. I ducked back around the corner, out of sight, my heart pounding in my chest.

Why are you hiding, Mackenzie? They don’t own the hallway.But my feet remained rooted to the spot, my breath shallow.This is ridiculous, I scolded myself.Not every alpha is out to get you.Still, I couldn’t bring myself to move.

“And what if Nolan’s body shows up with 15 stab wounds and not one?” I heard the female alpha hiss. “He’ll know he didn’t do it, and thenthiswill be worthless.”

“That’s not going to happen,” the male alpha replied, sounding bored.

I definitely should not be hearing this. I chewed on my lip, trying to remember if there was another way to get to our room.

“Venom’s guy is already on the islands,” the female continued. “It might be more profitable to set that up instead. There are plenty of omegas we can pick from here.”

“Tommy’s idea…”

The female alpha cut him off. “Or we could just solve all our problems and give him to Venom.”

“No,” the man snapped. “I want him in the pack.”

“We should rethink this,” she argued.

---