Page 10 of Never Been Shipped

“It’s the way Donald talks,” Steve said, before doing an eerily pitch-perfect impression. “He loves it.”

This time when John glanced over to Micah, she was looking right at their group, although she tried to look away fast enough that it wasn’t obvious. Which, of course, only made it that muchmoreobvious. John started to head over there, but Ryder cut him off at the pass.

“I have some things to discuss with Micah before we head out,” he said. “Watch my stuff?”

He was already walking off before John had a chance to answer. Micah looked up as Ryder approached, and John tried to figure out how she felt about seeing him, but her expression stayed neutral as he said something to her and she shrugged one shoulder, saying something in response. This time it was John caught staring as Micah’s gaze shifted over to their group. But unlike her, he didn’t look away, didn’t try to pretend he hadn’t been watching them.

“That should give the fan sites something to overanalyze for the next two years,” Frankie said, and John turned back.

“What do you mean?” he asked. He knew what Frankie meant. He just had a masochistic need to hear them say it.

“Oh, you know. They’ve dredged up every grainy picture of the two of them together they could possibly find. That one of them all cozy backstage at that festival. The one of her feeding him a Cheeto. The ones where they zoomed in and swore she was wearing a ring with his initials on it on her left hand.”

It had been a Cool Ranch Dorito, technically. And the ring had been a twisty kind of design, given to Micah by her younger sister. But yes, John remembered all the analysis when people were trying to figure out if it was confirmed that they were dating. He just assumed all of that had stopped, sometime around when he realized he no longer got the record label’s annual holiday card in the mail anymore.

“You’re really not online, are you?” Frankie asked.

“Not particularly,” John said.

“Bless you,” Frankie said. “You might be the last one left.”

The conversation between Ryder and Micah actually looked like it was getting a little heated, to the point where John wondered if maybe theyshouldintervene. Although they were in a cordoned-off area, they were still visible to part of the line of cruisers that had started snaking around the port, and several had their phones up like Frankie had predicted. But aside from the optics or exposure, it was impossible to ignore that Micah’s body language got increasingly uncomfortable the longer Ryder kept talking at her. She’d already tried to interrupt him several times, a pink color rising to her cheeks, no longer as cool and collected as she’d been when he went over there in the first place.

But then an announcement over the loudspeaker made Micah jump, and a woman’s cheerful voice told everyone they could start moving toward the gangway. Ryder broke away fromMicah with a few last angry words, grabbing his stuff from John’s feet without looking at anyone else in the band. He was already halfway to the ship by the time Frankie let out a huffed laugh.

“Well, okay,” they said. “This should be fun.”

Frankie and Steve started making their own way toward the ship, but John had to try to gather his stuff, shifting his duffel bag to one shoulder so he could sling one of his gig bags over the other. He’d finally gotten it all under control just in time to fall in step behind Micah, who picked up her guitar case and started walking.

She only made it a few feet before the latches on the case seemed to give way, the top buckling out, suspended for a second that seemed to stretch forever as John tried to react in time. He bent down, trying to catch the guitar before it tumbled out of the case and landed on the concrete with the sickeningthunkand buzz of vibrating strings that John had heard too many times.

But instead of a guitar, out poured…bracelets?

There were so many of them. Hundreds, maybe thousands. Little colorful beaded circles that just kept spilling and spilling out of the open guitar case, John already kneeling on the ground to catch them, his own guitar lopsided on his back, but not sure what to do now. They slipped through his fingers like sand, and he snagged one that caught on his palm.

Just Because, it said in beaded letters, surrounded by a pattern of pink, blue, and white, some silver stars bracketing the words.

Micah was crouching down next to John now, shoveling the bracelets back into the case.

“What are—” he started to say, and she snatched the bracelet off his hand. The action caused her fingertips to tickle hispalm, like when they’d done fake readings for each other back when they were kids. They’d always ended with the prediction that your house would have a pool, and then you’d have to snatch your hand away fast, before the other person spit in it. Only once Micah hadn’t been fast enough, and John had straight-up landed a dime-sized pool of spit right in the center of her hand. He’d felt terrible about it, but she’d just laughed, making him shake her hand.Now we’re blood brothers, she’d said.Spit brothers. Whatever.

“I’ve got it,” she said now, and then, when he tried to pick up a few more bracelets to put in the case, “I’vegotit.”

He wasn’t going to leave her to clean them up all by herself, so he continued scooping them up and putting them in the guitar case, figuring if he worked fast and without talking she couldn’t say anything about it. He glanced at her once, trying to see her face, but part of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail and covered her like a curtain.

When they’d finally picked up the last of the bracelets, John closed the case, double-checking that both latches were secure before handing it to Micah.

“Thanks,” she said grudgingly.

Some of that hair was stuck to her cheek, and he had the strongest urge to reach out and brush it away, to tuck it behind her ear. But of course he had no right to do that kind of thing anymore. Instead he just shifted his own stuff back into his hands, trying to get a grip on everything, and gestured for her to go ahead.

“After you,” he said.

Chapter

Six

Micah felt likeshe didn’t fully relax until she was alone in her cabin on the ship, finally done with the early check-in process and the safety briefing and everything else they needed to do before setting sail.

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