Page 16 of Anchored Love
A small smirk played on Mason’s lips telling me he thought it was funny that I had told my mother about him. Yeah. Hilarious.
“Yeah, Mom. This is him.” I shot her a sheepish smile hoping like hell she’d buy what I was selling.
The skeptical look she gave me told me there would be lots of questions. Luckily, our flight was called over the loudspeaker, so the introductions to the rest of the family were short and sweet.
We boarded the plane, and Mason gave me the window seat. I didn’t care where I sat as long as it kept me away from the scrutiny of my family. I could feel my mother’s eyes on us from two rows away. I knew she was dying to ask me why I didn’t mention that my mystery man was Mason. The same Mason who had stayed over at our house numerous times. The same Mason my brother had been good friends with all during high school.
Mason and Drake were friends, but when I made up that stupid lie, I never expected Mason to be my fake boyfriend.
We agreed we would tell my family that we were keeping things quiet because of work and the fact that he was my brother’s friend. I wasn’t sure how Drake would react, but the harsh look on his face when he spotted the two of us at check-in told me he wasn’t exactly thrilled.
He lifted his chin toward Mason but didn’t say anything. I was grateful. I didn’t want to have a fight. Today had already gotten off to a bumpy start thanks to Samantha and the TSA.
Our three-hour flight to Dallas passed quickly, and I was relieved that Mason didn’t bring up the incident of BOB again. Every time he looked at me, I imagined he thought about the most embarrassing moment of my life, because I sure did. How could I forget. I’d probably end up blog fodder somewhere online.
They’d have a close-up of my face or something made into a gif that would pop up at random times and haunt me forever. Then once it made its rounds, people would be like ‘Oh hey, you’re the dildo airport chick.’ My fifteen minutes of fame, folks. Just what every girl wanted and dreamed they’d be known for—not. I decided after I survived the cruise I’d color my hair, change my name, and move to a remote tiny country so small it wasn’t a blip on the map. I would live an obscure life raising alpaca somewhere in the desert. No one would recognize me then.
Jess cornered me in the bathroom at Dallas Fort Worth International, obviously done with waiting to interrogate me. Her hands shot to her hips and rested on the waistband of her black leggings. “Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing Mason freaking Jones?” she accused, poking a finger into my chest.
I swatted her hand away. “Because it wasn’t anyone’s business. We work together, and he’s a superior, so we gotta keep things quiet. We’re seeing how things go this week. It’s new. Why do you care?” Thank goodness this was all honest. I didn’t want to lie to Jess. I knew she’d understand, but I couldn’t risk her ratting me out to our mother on accident.
“Um, because he’s Drake’s friend, and he used to stay overnight at our house. Did you two ever hook up back then? Mom will be hella pissed if the two of you were sneaking around under her roof. Drake too, or did he know? Was he in on your little secret? You could have told me. I’m offended. Why didn’t I know this?”
“What? No. Give me a chance to speak, would ya?” My face heated. “I don’t appreciate the interrogation. Geez.”
“Whatever.” Jess went into a stall, and I made my escape. I didn’t want to argue. I wanted to survive this trip without any more mishaps, but deep down I knew I’d never be quite that lucky.
Our flight to Miami was over two hours, but we’d made it. Sunshine and fun here we come. Except the cosmos didn’t want to align for me. They wanted to slap me while I was down and give me more to deal with. Nothing could go right for Everly. Oh no. That’d be too easy for the universe. I was being punished for being a terrible liar. Karma was a bitch, and she didn’t waste time. She worked fast to tip the scales.
“Where’s your suitcase? It’s silver, right?” Mason stood watching bags pass by, one after the other. Gray, blue, red … no silver. Our heads moved with the conveyor belt like some stupid cartoon until there were none left. I sucked in a breath and tried to remain calm and not lose my shit. My bag had to be there. It was just taking a little detour before coming out to greet me. Tears burned in the back of my throat. This shouldn’t be happening, but it was. Part of me wondered if I shouted the truth if my bag would magically appear by some miracle of divine intervention, but I didn’t want to face the wrath of my mother. I was a complete chicken shit.
Plus, my bag wasn’t going to appear out of thin air, no matter how hard I wished it to be true.
Who was I kidding? It was probably somewhere in Dallas along with a lot of my clothes. I was about to embark on a cruise for seven days, and I only had my carry-on bag, which didn’t have all my necessities. At least I had clean underwear and my vibrator because the latter was something I desperately needed. I’d been doomed from the moment I lied to my mother over Christmas.
Mason took me over to the counter, and I filed a claim hoping beyond reason it would help, but I knew deep down it wouldn’t matter. There was no way my luggage would find me before we set sail. Lord knew they wouldn’t airlift it to the boat. It’d be wishful but foolish thinking to pretend.
“I can loan you something,” my mother suggested, and I wanted to cry thinking about her floral and pastel clothes. I loved my mother, but our tastes in clothing were nowhere near similar. She only wanted to help, but she was doing anything but that.
“She can share with me. It’s no big deal.” Jess smiled at me, and while I was thankful my sister was close to me in size, she also had a chest about two sizes smaller than mine. I didn’t even want to imagine the possible wardrobe malfunctions I would endure on this trip. Boob spillage here I come!
I had two choices. Borrow something from my mother and look like I wanted to go to bingo night at the senior building, or like a hooker ready to walk the Las Vegas strip. Really what were the choices here? Too bad we couldn’t take a day of shopping before hopping on the ship. Maybe the shops would have something? And hopefully it wouldn’t be overly expensive. I had my credit card, and my savings were decent, but still, I hated to overpay. I was a shopaholic and looked for deals when I could. I wondered if they had shoes…
We loaded onto the shuttle bus, and Mason wrapped his arm around my shoulders. It should’ve made me jumpy, but it had been a hell of a day, and I needed a nap or a drink; whichever came first. I welcomed his comfort; hey, we were supposed to sell our relationship. Couples were supposed to be all touchy and feely with one another.
Reaching the port, my breath caught in my throat, not prepared for just how big the boat actually was in real life. Sure, I’d seen them in the movies and television, but to stand here looking up, up, and up, our new home for the next week was massive. Never in my life had I seen anything this big before.
It made me feel very small in a very big world.
After all the paperwork, we finally boarded the boat and met our personal tour guide, Eddie. He was of Latin decent and very attractive. The glint in his eye had me taking a step closer to Mason. Why, I didn’t want to think about; it just happened.
Eddie showed us to our rooms saying he’d give us a tour in two hours before embarkation.
I stood in awe at the door entrance, and it took me a couple of beats before my legs would work. When they got the message to move, I headed straight for the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door that led to a balcony. The breeze hit me as I dropped my bag on the floor and stepped out on to paradise.
That was the only way I could describe it. We were high up, and I could see blue water forever. Even the curve of the earth was visible from here. Arms on the railing, I looked down, and instantly my stomach pulled me from the pleasure of the view.
It was a very long way down. I didn’t have a fear of heights, but this was a bit much. Turning around, I slammed into a hard body.
