Page 74 of Falling Overboard

“Are you okay?” Her voice wobbled, as if worried that she had permanently damaged me.

I wished I could kiss her frown away. I settled for teasing her. “I’m fine. I just didn’t know you were this clumsy in the morning.”

If I stayed in this bunk any longer, I worried that I was going to do something I’d regret. She had the prettiest, pinkest lips and it felt like a crime that I didn’t get to kiss them. I went into the bathroom and wondered if there was enough cold water on this ship to calm my raging heartbeat.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I felt like a coward.I should just talk to her.

If she said she wasn’t interested, that was fine. I was a big boy. I could handle it.

But if she said she wanted something more ...

All my thoughts about taking things slow went away and I came back into the cabin. She was still lying in bed and the only thing I wanted to do was climb back in there with her. She looked so uncertain and worried and I wanted to make things better.

Thomas’s voice came through on the walkie-talkie, calling my name.

He had the worst timing. I grabbed it and responded. He said he needed me on the aft deck. I said that I’d be there soon, watching her the whole time.

“Lucky, I—”

“You should go,” she said, pulling the blanket up to her chest. “It might be important.”

I doubted it but I heard what she wasn’t saying. She needed some space. She wanted to think about what had almost happened last night.

She was concerned about breaking Captain Carl’s rule.

I got ready and left with her still in her bunk. I had some thinking to do, too. Mostly about how everything might change once she knew who I really was.

Would she be understanding? Or would she freak out?

I knew I should tell her everything.

But there was a part of me that held back, not wanting to lose her.

The mindless physical labor didn’t help my situation. If I’d been doing something that engaged my brain, maybe I would have been able to keep thoughts of her at bay.

That wasn’t happening now.

While I scrubbed the teak deck, I took a picture of it and sent it to her.

She responded so quickly that it made me smile.

What is this?

I texted back:

I’m sending you unsolicited deck pics. Signed, Your Favorite Buoy

I could imagine her laughing, the way her whole face would light up and my heart would swell that I was the one responsible for it.

There was a twinge in my chest and I rubbed it. I realized that I could very easily spend the rest of my life making Lucky happy.

The bachelorette party from hell finally left and screwed us on the tip. Everybody wanted to go out and celebrate that they had gone but the captain put a stop to that.

He told us to meet him in the main salon. When I arrived, Lucky was already there. And I grinned at her like I was coming home from war.

I told myself that someone was going to notice, but I didn’t care.

Especially not when she lit up the way that she did.

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