Page 37 of Love on Deck

His mouth flickered in a halfhearted smile. His green eyes were sad, tugging at my heartstrings. “No, it’s not that.”

Jack was quiet. Brooding. The male embodiment of a tiny little sloth you just wanted to lift into your arms and cuddle. “Is it all that hometown stuff?” I lowered my voice, leaning close so Levi didn’t overhear. “I don’t think anyone really cares about how little you’ve told me. We haven’t given ourselves up.”

“No, it’s my brother’s party.” He looked down at the Bingo board, his dauber marking an X over the finished game card. “He didn’t invite me.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

JACK

My swim trunks were on, and I sat on the edge of my bed—no, our bed—waiting for Lauren to finish getting into her swimsuit for the hot tub. I flipped through the movies available on the TV, but without HGTV nothing really caught my eye, so I powered it off and tossed the remote onto the desk. I’d spent the afternoon with Kevin and Lucas losing too much money at blackjack, and dinner had been overly loud. Lauren had been watching me all night with the glint of pity, and I didn’t want that from anyone, let alone her. She had no family except for Amelia, and I was over here crying because my brother didn’t invite me to his party.

Yes, I was ashamed of myself, thanks for asking.

I leaned back on the huge bed until my head hit the towel-pig our room cleaner had folded for us and closed my eyes to rest. Lauren had been in the bathroom for twenty minutes already, but if I knew women, I predicted it would be at least that long again until she was ready to hit the hot tub.

I, on the other hand, was wisely using this time away from Lauren’s watchful eye to wallow in my own sadness without an audience. Why hadn’t Tucker invited me to his journeyman party? And the same with Wyatt’s birthday party last week. My phone number hadn’t changed. My email address was the same. They all knew where I lived.

Did no one want me there? Had I offended them all with my city preferences?

Or, worse... was it an oversight and everyone was starting to forget about me?

The door to the bathroom opened, but I still stared at the ceiling. Impressive. Lauren was much faster than I’d expected.

She cleared her throat. “Um, Jack?”

I sat up. That tone didn’t sound good. “Yeah?”

“You can go on without me. I’ll meet you there.”

I peered at her as she poked her head out of the bathroom but kept her body hidden. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

“I just need a minute.”

“I can wait.”

“Jack.”

“Yeah?”

She made a frustrated sound. “My suit is torn.”

“Torn?” I covered a laugh with a cough. Judging by her wry expression, I wasn’t very successful. “How so?”

“In the seam—actually does it matter? I can’t go out like this. I need you to leave so I can get my other suit.”

“You brought two?” It was no surprise the woman had a backup. She probably had a backup for that backup too.

“It’s a cruise. That’s not weird.”

My lips curled in amusement. “And now you’re stranded.”

Lauren narrowed her eyes. “Don’t ruin this, Jack. I was just starting to warm up to you.”

I crossed the room to the closet. “Where’s your other suit? I can grab it for you.”

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