Page 50 of Cruel Tides

But if I saw he was jealous, then maybe I’d know if deep down he actually?—

Kai’s sudden gasp interrupted my thoughts. “Oh, hey, man!” He shaded his eyes with a hand while gazing up at the shore. “What about the car?”

That… was a good point. I’d completely forgotten about the car. This was a problem. “It’s a rental, right?” I bit at my lip, contemplating what to do. It was sitting up on the hill, parked next to the house. “I’m pretty sure Gram will notice when we’re gone but the car’s not.”

When I glanced back at Barren, he shrugged, too absorbed in the charts to lift his head. “Someone will be by to collect it within the hour.” He flashed us his phone before sliding it back into his pocket.

“Thank goodness,” I said, relieved. At least that was one less thing to worry about.

When Dad finally looked up from the charts, he clapped a hand over Barren’s shoulder. “Looks good, second mate. Not too far away at all,” he said, laughing lightly. “We’ll be there before y’all know it.”

“Second mate?” Kai shifted his gaze between Barren and me, his smile jumbling. “I–I thought. I thought I was…”

Oh, yikes. Kai was thinking about the wrong kind of mate. “He doesn’t mean?—”

“I guess that makes me the first mate,” Leander cut in, smirking. Not helping the situation at all.

“Hold on, wait a second.” Dad’s brow furrowed as he pointed to himself. “I’m the captain,” —he thumped Barren on the chest— “he’s second mate, and she’s first mate.”

Of course I was first—wait.

I tracked the gesture of Dad’s hand until it reached the deck. Right to… Laverne!

My mouth dropped. “Dad!” I wrung my hands out as I fought for the words. “The sea lion?Really?”

“Oh, oh! So, it’s like a hierarchy,” Kai piped up, suddenly looking less discouraged. “And where am I in this hierarchy?” He paused, a horrified look playing behind his eyes. “Wait, m-maybe I don’t want to know…”

“Deckhand,” Dad offered after a moment’s thought, nodding. Then he nodded to me and Leander as well. He looked way too pleased with himself. “All three of you are deckhands.”

I scoffed. Dad had never had a crew before, and he was clearly having too much fun with this. “At least make me the boatswain so I can boss this guy around.” I threw a thumb at Leander. “It might be nice telling a prince what to do for once,” I teased, and I wasn’t prepared for the way the gold in Leander’s eyes smoldered at those words.

He came up behind me, sliding his arms around me, his voice a low purr in my ear. “Any time, beautiful. Just tell me what you need.”

I leapt away from him, shoving his arms away, giving him a seething glare that said,not in front of my dad, idiot!

“Hmm…” Ignoring our display, Dad came over to the railing to untie the boat from the pier. “Boat ain’t big enough for a boatswain. Plus, a good deck boss would have already had this here rope untied and ready to go.”

He had a point.

“Okay, fine, we’re the deckhands,” I said, taking the rope from him to roll up. “But don’t blame me if anything happens to you and your first mate has to take over.” I looked to where Laverne was pacing the line of railing, her head thrown back like she was already enjoying the breeze. “You think a sea lion is going to know how to steer?”

Dad responded with a low chuckle as he turned away.

“She’s got flippers, remember!” I called out to his back, then sighed when he threw his head back to laugh as he took his place back at the helm. Dad always had a soft spot for sea mammals, so it was no surprise that he was fascinated with Laverne.

The wind picked up as we pulled away from the pier, and I set my eyes on the horizon.

“Is it going to go faster?” Kai asked, coming up beside me.

Leander gave a derisive snort, his arm encircling my waist to draw me against his hip. “Already feeling sick, are we?”

Kai looked out at the water, and his lips tilted like he was recalling something pleasant. “No, the boats in California all go really fast.” He made avroomnoise as he gestured with a broad sweep of his hand, then let out a light laugh. “To be honest, I was kind of nervous about riding in one.”

Leander’s huff told me he was back to being annoyed with Kai for letting his feelings be known. But what he was perceiving as a weakness was actually one of Kai’s strengths.

“Don’t listen to him, Kai.” I playfully elbowed Leander in the ribs. “There’s nothing wrong with being honest about how you’re feeling. Better than keeping everything to yourself until it all builds up and explodes.”

A thunderous boom of lightning rumbled, illuminating the sky, and I felt Leander’s arm drop away from me. His face was inscrutable as his chin tilted to where the bolt came from the sky.

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