Page 30 of Total Ship Show

This is going to be a long night.

Butterflies do crazy flips and summersaults inside my stomach. “Thank you for the compliment. I hope you’re hungry.”

I swear to God Aris’s pupils darken as he looks me over one last time and whispers, “Very.”

Together we walk hand in hand to the elevators that will take us to deck fifteen to dine at the Pink Agave. Our first restaurant of the evening.

“Adrienne! Aris! You made it!” A voice shouts from a large table to our right when we enter the Mexican restaurant. Grace waves us over and gestures to the two empty chairs on the left side of the table. Aris places his hand on the small of my back, his fingers brushing softly against my skin as we seat ourselves amongst my friends. It’s not lost on me that my stupid-ass ex, James, gives me a once over like an animal hunting its prey.

Totally creepy.

And wrong.

You’re supposed to be in love with Pippa, asshole.

Aris must take notice as well because he pulls out my chair for me and then seats himself, leaning over to kiss me on my temple.

“Don’t worry about that jock strap. I’m right here with you and I’ve got you.” He kisses my temple again and I smile, exhaling away my anxiety. His simple act of kindness gives me goosebumps. Instead of butterflies flying around in my stomach, I’m pretty sure there are jellyfish in there now. Here he is, a man sitting among strangers. A man pretending to be my fiancé. I would’ve thought I would need to be the one to reassure him, but he’s literally as calm as a cucumber. Instead, here he is reassuring me that I have no reason to be nervous.

To let him know I heard him, and appreciate him, I slide my hand over his left leg, wrapping it over his knee under the table. He adjusts his chair so he’s a little closer to me and wraps an arm around me.

“So, what did you all do today?” I ask everyone at the table, grabbing for the glass of water in front of me.

Amanda speaks first. She smiles at her partner and nudges her with her elbow. “Michelle and I spent some time in the casino.”

“Cool! Did you win anything?” I ask.

Michelle nods, beaming back at us. “Five hundred bucks.”

“What? No way!”

“Yes, way! Mandy decided to give the slot machine one more try and it was the winning hit. The bells went off and everything. It was cool. Not as cool as casinos used to be though. You know, when the coins would literally fall out all over the place and you would have to put them all into your buckets. Now it’s just a credit put on the ticket you carry around. Not as fun but five hundred bucks is five hundred bucks.”

“Hell yeah, it is! You could buy a lot of duty-free alcohol with that you know.” I wink at the two of them and they laugh.

“That’s what we were thinking. And maybe we’ll find something nice as a special souvenir at one of our ports.”

“Speaking of ports,” Grace says. “What excursions did you all choose for later in the week?”

Everyone chimes in with what they signed up for and then they look to me. “Um, actually I didn’t sign up for any yet.”

Even Aris looks at me a little surprised before he catches himself and fixes his face. I smile at him and squeeze his leg. “Yeah, we umm…we just weren’t sure what we wanted to do, so we figured if we want to do a certain excursion, we’ll see what’s available last minute. Other than that, we just want to check out the ports, hit the beach, and spend some quality time together. You know, before the wedding planning starts.”

“Eeeek! I’m so excited for your wedding,” Pippa squeals “Have you made any plans yet at all? Have you chosen a date yet?”

Aris answers this time. “Nothing concrete just yet. It’s all going to depend on my surgical schedule and what I can work around at the hospital. We’ll have a better idea of dates in a few weeks. Probably late spring or early summer.”

“So happy for you, girl,” Grace says. She lifts her glass of whatever fruity cocktail she’s drinking. “A toast!”

Everyone follows suit lifting their glasses and watching Grace. Just as our drinks are delivered to the table, Aris and I lift our glasses as well.

“To Adrienne and Aris and the hot as fuck children they’re going to have one day, because well, I mean, look at them.” She winks at me, and I laugh.

But she’s right.

We look hot together. Not gonna lie.

“To engagement bliss and all the happiness in the world as you travel this life together! It is the best experience either of you could ever wish for.”

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