Page 81 of Total Ship Show

My brothers both stare at me as my sisters-in-law and my parents finally join us, coffees in hand, the tension thick.

“What’s going on,” Mom asks, looking back and forth between us. “Why do you guys look like you’re arguing?”

Aiden’s shoulders fall and he shakes his head. “Look man, we don’t know where she is. And if you truly feel that way, I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to make her run. We just wanted her to be cautious.”

“Fuck you, Aiden,” I sneer at him and then turn my gaze to Adam. “Fuck you both.”

I turn to my parents and give my mother a quick peck on the cheek. “I’m sorry Mom. Dad. I have to go. I’ll uh…I’ll call you.”

I don’t even give them the opportunity to ask what’s going on. If Aiden and Adam haven’t told them by now, they’ll have an entire flight home to fill them in. I don’t fucking care at this point. All I want to do is find Adrienne and tell her my truth.

I want her.

I need her.

I love her.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

ADRIENNE

“Oh nooooo!”Dove’s body sags against the couch. “I’m so sorry things got all fucked up, Ade. I hate that you ended up getting hurt.”

“Si, I’m sorry, friend.” Joaquin nods from the other end of the couch, his arm folding around my shoulder consoling me. The last twenty-four hours have been a nightmare but I’m so glad to see my best friends again.

I frown. “It’s not like you guys didn’t warn me.”

Dove cringes. “So, you weren’t on the same plane again coming home? ‘Cause that could’ve been hella awkward.”

“No, thank God. I even hung out in a different terminal until it was almost time to board and then high-tailed it to my gate. That way if I ran into him, I could use the excuse that I couldn’t talk or else I would miss my plane.”

“But he’s texted you, right?”

“Oh yeah.” I nod. “Only about fifteen times. He finally stopped with, ‘please talk to me.’.”

“So why not give him a minute to say his piece?” Joaquin rubs my shoulder. “Have you considered that something about this whole thing isn’t right? Maybe all of this is a misunderstanding and he’s like, wildly in love with you and wants you to have all his McFuckme babies and live happily ever after.”

I shake my head, only a slight grin, and roll my eyes at Dove who shrugs in response.

“I mean, it could happen. You’ll never know until you know.”

My head falls back against the couch. “I don’t know guys, I just feel like he was making a fool out of me the whole time.”

Dove sits up tall on the couch and pats my knee. “Okay, let’s talk this out, because to hear you talk about him, he’s quite the catch and something about this whole thing doesn’t make sense.”

I bob my head. “He did seem like a catch. Literally the entire trip from the moment I stepped on to the ship was…perfect. He took everything in stride. I didn’t have to beg him to help me. He was all in from the get-go. He was with me nearly every waking moment and I wasn’t the least bit upset about it. I wanted him there. For the first time in my life, I felt like, had it all been real, I could’ve been the happiest woman in the world on Aris’s arm.”

“And did he seem to reciprocate those feelings?” Joaquin asks me.

Aris’s words from yesterday float through my mind.

“I have feelings for you, Adrienne. I can make a lot of things happen. I can find work just about anywhere. I can take time off. I can take a sabbatical. We could travel. We could spend more time together. We could…you know, see where this could go.”

“Yeah, it seemed that way. He told me he could take a sabbatical and we could travel, or he could find a job anywhere. He listened very sincerely when I was talking about my degree and passion for wildlife verses what I’m doing now. Oh, my God, I forgot to tell you guys, he even paid to take me on a surprise excursion to save baby sea turtles and it was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had! He really inspired me to do some soul searching.”

“And he’s been texting you this whole-time begging you to talk to him?”

I nod silently.

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