Page 10 of Break: Vol. 2

He sucked in a breath, closing his eyes and scrubbing a hand down his face. “My family is on the ship.”

“What?” Shock and horror and fear ricocheted through me. In the past two years, I hadn’t even seen a picture of Dex’s family. He didn’t seem overly fond of them, and now, we were expected to spend a week with them—trapped on a boat?

I turned around and picked up two of the bags the guys had dumped just inside the entryway. “Come on,” I said quickly, “let’s get off this ship before it’s too late.”

“Uh…” Darren said, “I think it’s too late.” He raised his hand and pointed out towards the balcony where the buildings behind the docks were slowly moving by. No. The buildings weren’t moving.We were!

“Dex!” I half shrieked, dropping the bags and whirling on him. “This was a bad idea. Make the ship stop!”

He shook his head. “I can’t do that. Once we’ve left the docks, the ship has to stay on schedule.”

“Forget the schedule,” I said, panic clear in my tone. “I’m not ready to meet your mother yet. I’m not ready to meet your father. I didn’t bring any fancy clothes! Also, what are we going to tell them? Do they know about…” I trailed off, but gestured around to the others, knowing he would understand my meaning.

Dex sighed once more and then approached me slowly. “Jamie,” he said, “baby, you’re worrying over nothing. It’s going to be okay. I doubt we'll even run into them. It's a decent sized ship."

Not decent enough by my standards, but I didn't say so. There wasn't enough room on this damn ship for us, Dex's family, and my anxiety. What if they didn't approve of me? What if they hated me on sight? What if they thought I was a gold digger? I mean, I hadn't even known how rich Dex was when we'd originally started dating, but I knew now and it was really more of a don't ask, don't tell kind of policy. I didn't ever want to make him feel awkward and I never asked for expensive things. It just didn't feel right.

I could feel my heart pounding against my ribcage as Dex's hands slid up my bare arms. I stifled the urge to hyperventilate. As if sensing my impending meltdown, Darren and Cody started grabbing bags and booked it into one of the rooms, mumbling something about unpacking. Taylor strode out onto the balcony and let the sliding glass door close behind him.

Cowards,I thought.

“You should have told me,” I stated, glaring up at Dex. It wasn’t like him to not tell me.

“I know,” he said. “But I didn’t find out they were coming until last night.”

I frowned up at him. “How—?”

“I was informed that we’d been moved to a new suite and when I demanded to know why … well, I had to call my mother. She’s not happy that I didn’t go home for the last break.”

“And your dad?” I asked, curious.

He shook his head. “It’s just my mother … and Stephan.”

“Stephan?”

“My brother,” he clarified.

I stepped away from him then. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a brother?” I asked. I stared at Dex, reeling. I didn’t know that his family owned a cruise ship or that he had a brother. What else didn’t I know about him?

“I’m not … close with my family,” Dex said. His eyes settled on a spot behind me and stayed there as if he couldn’t bring himself to look me in the eyes. I’d be a little uncomfortable looking my girlfriend in the eyes too if she found out that I had deceived her.

“I’m closer with you and the guys,” Dex continued. “I just wanted us to have a good spring break. We’re graduating early next December. It’ll be our last one.”

“I just feel really stupid,” I admitted.

Dex’s eyes finally found mine, his mouth dropping open. His hands gripped my arms and pulled me into his chest. “No, baby, you’re not stupid.” His breath tickled the top of my hairline. “I’m just … a fucking idiot. I should have told you, but I was scared if I did then you wouldn’t have wanted to come.”

That was a logical fear, I realized. Iwouldn’thave wanted to come. But now we were here and we were stuck. There was no running away. I couldn’t exactly jump ship and swim back to shore. Even I wasn’t that good of a swimmer.

“Dex.” I stressed his name.

“It will be fine. Like I said before, it’s a decent sized ship; you don’t have to meet them if you don’t want to.”

I paused at that comment. Tipping my head back, I looked at him. “Doyouwant me to?” I asked.

“Do I want you to meet my mom?”

I nodded.

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