Page 70 of Made For Me

“What time do we leave?” I shout from the closet, trying to decide what to pack for the family vacation we do every year. This time we are going for the whole two weeks and apparently Wi-Fi is spotty, so this should be really fun. It’s also the first time we go as a couple, which makes it so much more real. I mean being engaged to him is real but it’s all been like a dream so far.

“Eight,” Chase says, coming to the doorway naked. I get tingles everywhere when I see him naked. I just left him in the shower and we had sex less than two hours before that, yet I crave him. “What are you thinking about?” He pushes his hair back and I walk to him.

“I’m thinking.” I kiss under his chin. “About how I want to—” I’m about to say when we hear the front door open. “Are you expecting anyone?” I look over his shoulder and he just shakes his head.

“Hello?” Chase throws over his shoulder as the front door slams shut.

“It’s me!” Vivienne yells. “Are you decent?”

“No!” Chase shouts and I shake my head when she groans. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m not going on vacation and I am staying here tonight!” she hollers up the stairs and Chase just rolls his eyes.

“I’ll go deal with that.” I kiss under his chin. “And remember the deal, no naked Chase for two weeks.” I smack his ass before walking out of the bedroom.

I can hear the cupboards being slammed as I make my way down the stairs. Her luggage is at the door. “Hi,” I greet when I walk into the kitchen, watching Vivienne find the booze. “It’s in that one.” I point at the one away from the fridge.

“I thought it was a universal rule to have booze on top of the fridge,” Vivienne replies, walking over and grabbing the booze.

“It was until I almost broke my head trying to get to the bottle.” I laugh at the night I thought grabbing a stool was a good idea, but it moved and I almost broke my face. I pull out the same stool, this time sitting on it while I watch Vivienne. “So what’s going on?”

“I’m not talking to my father.” She takes a shot of the vodka and hisses, then coughs. “That’s disgusting.” She points at the empty glass.

“Should I ask why?” I fold my hands in front of me, looking at her. Chase now comes in the room wearing shorts and nothing else.

“Why are you here?” he asks, walking over and sitting next to me.

“Wow, way to make me feel welcome.” She glares at him. “Come over any time you want,” she mimics what Chase told her.

“What did I miss?” Chase asks from beside me.

“Um, she’s not coming on vacation and she’s not talking to your father.” I fill the blanks for him.

“Why?” Chase asks the same thing I asked.

“I bought a boat,” Vivienne states and my mouth opens in shock.

“What do you mean a boat?” I ask her. “Like a rowboat or a canoe?”

“A three-bedroom, two-bathroom small boat,” she shares and I can’t help but laugh.

“That’s called a yacht.” I can’t help but shake my head.

“You don’t even have a license to drive a boat,” Chase says.

“I do, too,” Vivienne argues. “I got it last week after I bought the boat.”

“How?” I put my hand on my head.

“I did the course online,” she states proudly.

“That can’t be safe.” I look over at Chase, wondering if he is thinking the same thing.

“Okay, let’s just backtrack for a bit,” Chase says. “Start at the beginning.”

“Well, I went away for Memorial Day, remember? With my friends to Miami and I loved it.” She shrugs. “So I said, ‘let me buy a boat and spend the summer on it and see how I like it.’”

“So you just bought one?” I ask, and when I think about it, this isn’t even the strangest thing I’ve heard in this family.

---