by Rye Hart
Even as Rhett held me tightly in his arms, I felt more lost and confused than ever.
“Morning, sunshine.”
I smiled at the sleep in Rhett’s voice as he kissed my forehead. I snuggled into him, pressing deep enough to shove all my swirling thoughts from my head. His hands drifted along the curves of my body, heating me up like he had last night. I slid on top of him and spread my legs, straddling him as he opened his eyes.
I placed my lips to his, and he smiled, making my heart beat faster in my chest.
“You hungry?” Rhett asked.
“Starving,” I said.
“Good, because I am too. Some girl wore me out last night.”
“Funny, because some boy gave me a run for my money too.”
We slid out of bed in a fit of giggles and got ready for breakfast. Rhett took the chance of wearing the same outfit from last night, so he wouldn’t have to interrupt Tommy and Ana. He escorted me to the dining hall where we stood in line at the buffet for breakfast, my hands carrying both of our plates. Rhett was making our coffee, dumping tons of sugar into mine. It made me smile, knowing he still remembered how I took it.
Then, the two of us took a seat in the corner.
“Well, good morning, you guys!” Connie said as she took the stage. “Is this thing on?”
“Does she have to ask that every time?” I asked.
Rhett smiled at me as he wrapped his large hand around his mug of coffee.
“As you all know, this is our last brunch together. I know, I know, it’s sad to me as well. But I promise we will get through this with minimal tears,” Connie said.
“Unlike last night,” Rhett said, murmuring.
“Tomorrow, we dock in Miami and go about the rest of our lives. Until our next reunion, of course. So, I wanted to leave everyone with a few words of wisdom. No matter where life takes us and no matter where we go, we will always be connected by high school. The most precious years of our lives,” Connie said.
“Speak for yourself,” I said with a grin.
“We will hear from our valedictorian and salutatorian tonight at dinner, but for now, I bid you all farewell. This is the last time I will stand in front of your beautiful faces and have the pleasure of addressing you,” Connie said.
The dining hall erupted into cheers and applause as Rhett tossed his head back and laughed. Served her right for being a spotlight hog.
“Anyway,” Connie said flatly, “our last dinner is a little later tonight. Eight instead of six thirty. So, make sure to jot that difference down! We will have a very special dinner made by all the wonderful chefs on this ship. So, don’t miss it!”
“Yay,” I said with a sigh. “Does that mean we should go get a pizza at the back of the ship?”
“Depends. Will they have creme brulee at dinner tonight? Because I had that stuff a couple of days ago, and it was amazing,” Rhett said.
“The back of the ship has twenty-four-seven soft-serve ice cream. In eight different flavors.”
“But is one of the flavors creme brulee?” he asked.
I giggled as I started to pick at my breakfast. People were still getting up to give long-winded speeches, but I didn’t care. Rhett and I were talking, living in our own little world. Even though Luke was just levels below us, I wanted to enjoy the last little bit of time I had with Rhett.
Because I didn’t know if I would have any more after we docked tomorrow.
“I can’t believe how quickly this has gone,” Rhett said.
“Despite everything that’s happened, it has been quick,” I said. “Today’s our final full day on the ship.”
“Yeah, and I feel like there’s still so much I haven’t done,” he said.
“Like what? It’s gone by so quickly, maybe we could fit a few things in today before dinner tonight.”
“I haven’t sung any karaoke yet,” he said.
“But we were in the karaoke bar.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t sing. I was too busy gazing into the eyes of a beautiful woman,” he said.
“Well, I’m jealous. I should beat her face in,” I said.
“And I haven’t done anything in the spa.”
“What color did you want your nails?” I asked with a grin. “Don’t worry. There’s stuff I haven’t done either. I haven’t touched that gym yet. Nor have I gone down any of the waterslides.”
“I haven’t done the waterslides, either. We should do that today,” he said.
“Sounds like a plan to me. Anything else you want to try and do?” I asked.
“Honestly? I’m okay with anything as long as I can spend it with the woman I love.”
I felt myself freeze as my eyes slowly panned up to his. I could see his face paling with shock as his eyes widened. I felt a flush creep up my legs and my chest, spilling over onto my neck. Had he just admitted to me that he loved me?
“The woman … you love?” I asked.
Rhett sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He took a big gulp of his coffee as he raked his hands through his hair. I was studying him. The way he was locking up. The way he looked embarrassed. But there was something else, something I couldn’t quite place.
It almost looked like relief.
“Yeah,” he said as he locked his gaze with mine. “The woman I love.”
I swallowed thickly as Rhett reached out for my hand.
“You don’t have to feel the same way, but I do want to know what you’re feeling. You look shocked,” he said.
“That’s one way to put it,” I said. “I mean, some residual feelings have come back, yes.”
“I loved you in high school, and in some ways, I continued loving you even after. But the woman you’ve turned into is strong, compassionate, beautiful, and talented. I loved you then, and I love the woman you’ve grown into. When I said, ‘the woman I love,’ I meant the woman I’m looking at, not the girl the woman I’m looking at reminds me of.”
I felt tears crest my eyes as I turned my gaze out the window.
“There’s just so much that’s happened,” I said. “And I don’t know how much of what I’m feeling is induced by the trip and how much is real.”
“That’s understandable. There are a lot of factors in play.”
“I just need time to think, Rhett. About all this. About what all this means and— and what I want, and how in the world I’m supposed to react to this,” I said.
I felt his eyes hardening on me as I slipped my hand from his. I slid out of my seat and got to my feet, sprinting for the door. My legs carried me as fast as I could across the dining hall, not bothering to see who was watching. My head felt like it was in a vise grip. It was aching and pounding as his words echoed off the corners of my mind.
He loved me.
Rhett Smith loved me. Still.
I was elated. On cloud nine. Filled with joy and ecstasy. But everything was far from over. Luke still had to be turned over to the authorities, and reality was about to set in. Rhett and I were galivanting in a world of pristine beaches and decadent food. It was the stuff of fairy tales. That wasn’t the world I lived in. The world I lived in was cramped and cold. I didn’t quite live paycheck to paycheck, but I wasn’t well off either. And I didn’t even know where Rhett lived. For all I knew, he could live on the other side of the country.
I needed time to think, and I couldn’t do that in his presence.
CHAPTER 30
RHETT
I had been walking around, trying to find Chanel all damn day. I didn’t know what was going on with her, but I knew we needed to talk. I knew my admission from this morning had shocked her, but I also didn’t want to lie to her. It had slipped out in a moment of weakness, and the last thing I wanted to do was backtrack from it. I meant what I had said. I loved her. Every fucking part of her. But I knew that her getting up and walking away wasn’t a good sign. I had overwhelmed her, and I wanted a chance to make things right.
Again.
Walking around the ship, I ducked m
y head into every corner I thought she might be: the piano bar, the pool deck, the spa. I traveled everywhere I thought she might go in hopes of running into her. I wanted to sit and talk to her, take her for a drink to see if we could figure things out. If we had any sort of a chance to make this work after this fucked up cruise, we had to be able to communicate.
I wanted to know how she felt, but I was also ready for these games to be done. I was tired of hearing her say that she needed space, but really just wanted to get away and not think about things. I knew her better than she gave me credit for. I knew she didn’t leave this morning to think. She left so she could get away, so she didn’t have to face things, and to try to distract herself. It was a game she had played in high school, and it was a game she was playing now. It was time for her to talk.
Whether she liked it or not.
I hated that this was the road this cruise had taken. With every room that went without her presence, I grew more and more worried for her safety. I knew the risks of having Luke on this ship with her. Even with him being locked away in the belly of the ship, one well-written check to the right employee would have him freed. And with Chanel roaming this ship without me, I worried about her being alone.
But after wandering around for almost two hours, I headed to the bar in the casino. If Chanel were to come looking for me for any reason, that was the first place she would check. And it would do me no good to try and find her if she was looking for me. At this point, my best bet was to stay put somewhere for an hour or so to see if she came along.
I didn’t expect to run into Evelyn, however.
“Hi,” she said nervously, glancing around before sliding onto the barstool next to mine.
“What do you want, Evelyn? I asked.
“I wanted to fully explain what happened that night. I didn’t get a chance to earlier before Connie pulled me away.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. I knew I should probably let it go, but I did still want some answers as to what the fuck had happened on the worst night of my life.
“Go ahead, explain,” I said.
Evelyn took a deep breath. “I wasn’t exactly popular, like I said earlier. But for some reason, Connie and I had hit it off. I got to go to some of the senior parties and hang around some of the ‘in crowd’. It made me feel important, like I wasn’t just a dork with braces that no one paid any attention to.”
“And you thought pretending to sleep with me and break Chanel’s heart was the way to go about feeling important?” I asked.
At least she had the decency to look ashamed. “When I look back at it now, I see how stupid and destructive it was. I honestly just wanted people to like me.”
“You mentioned earlier that someone paid you to do it. Was it Connie? I know she was always jealous of Chanel,” I said.
“No, it wasn’t Connie. You’re right that she was jealous of Chanel. She never quite understood why someone like you would like someone like her. Someone who wasn’t all that popular. You could have had any girl you wanted,” Evelyn said.
“And I had the girl I wanted. Until you screwed that all up. And as for why I was with her? Because she’s amazing. She’s smart, talented, driven, and sweet. She would have never done anything close to what you did to her, to us. No matter who paid her.”
Evelyn dropped her gaze and looked down. “I know. I see you two together now and I see just how much love there still is between you two, even after all these years.”
Hearing someone else say that they could see the love between Chanel and I made my heart beat just a little bit faster. “So, if it wasn’t Connie that paid you, who was it?”
“Luke Thomas,” she answered, and my blood ran cold.
“I know he had a crush on her.”
“No, no. Not a crush. An obsession.”
She had my attention, especially with the way she began looking around like someone was going to be listening in on our conversation that didn’t need to be. My gut kicked in again, churning with curiosity and telling me to listen.
So, I listened.
“I was Luke’s date that night,” she said.
“Lucky you.”
“But he didn’t ask me to go to prom. He paid me.”
“How much did he pay you to be his date?” I asked.
“Two hundred and fifty dollars. When we got there, he told me he wanted to dance with Chanel, so I needed to pull you from her somehow. I tried flirting a bit. I tried catching your stare, but you were all over Chanel and you barely even noticed me.”
“Because I loved her,” I said.
“Anyway, when the two of you parted ways, Luke told me to go after you and keep you distracted. He wanted me to follow you to see where you went and if I could get you to kiss me, even better.”
“You said you drugged me?” I asked.
“Yes. A few minutes before you left, I slipped a pill that Luke had given me into your punch. I followed you out of the venue and saw you get into your car. So, I went in after you. By that point, the drug had kicked in and you barely knew where you were or what was happening.”
“Was it worth two hundred and fifty dollars to ruin my relationship with her?” I asked.
“Look, at the time I didn’t realize that you two would break up. I thought you would work things out, and even if you didn’t, it was only high school. I see now that it ran much deeper than that, and I am sorry. For whatever that’s worth to you.”
I studied her for a long moment before I responded. “It’s worth my peace of mind to know that I never cheated on Chanel,” I finally said.
Evelyn nodded. “Look, Luke was obsessed with her then, and with Chanel hiding in the shadows and him being hauled onto the ship in handcuffs, something tells me he’s still obsessed with her, but he’s got money now, so you need to be careful.”
“Thanks for the advice, but I’ve got this. That little prick won’t ever get close to Chanel again. Not with me around,” I said.
I pulled out my wallet and threw a twenty-dollar bill down on the table. I threw back the rest of my drink and bid Evelyn farewell. Then I left the casino. I couldn’t believe it. Luke had orchestrated that bullshit in high school. I had to track her down and explain what Evelyn had told me. Chanel needed to know just how dangerous Luke really was, and just how deep his obsession went.
CHAPTER 31
CHANEL
I walked around the ship all morning, playing and replaying the conversation in my mind. He had been so sincere, so unwavering in his gaze. Rhett had taken my hand and gently led me through the peaks and valleys of his emotions that morning, and I had gotten up and walked away. Granted, I needed space and air to breathe. Everything was happening so quickly, and things were turning out exactly the opposite of how I imagined they would in the very beginning of this whole thing. I saw myself chewing him out. I saw myself coming on this cruise, berating him for fucking up the last ten years of my life, and walking off this ship with my head held high. But nothing about this cruise turned out the way it was supposed to.
Including things with Rhett.
Instead, I had fallen right into his arms. I had been sucked in by his brooding brown gaze and his sinewy muscles. I had been taken by his warmth and thrown back into a time when I had been happy and when I hadn’t had a care in the world. I’d been open to its possibilities. Rhett had made me feel alive in high school, beautiful and wanted and cherished. There wasn’t anything he had pressured me to do, and even from a young age, he knew how to articulate himself. Even though he didn’t know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, I didn’t care. I didn’t care where he was going. All I knew was I wanted to be with him.
Knowing that he hadn’t actually cheated on me that night helped make it all a little better. But even so, knowing that he probably would have broken up with me soon after that anyway still hurt. It hurt to know that he had thought so little of himself back then that he had convinced himself that he had cheated on me for my own good. He had always seemed s
o sure of himself. To know that he had been just a scared teenage boy, made my heart ache.
Maybe Ana had been right, that we had both needed time and space away from one another to become who we were going to be. I still couldn’t help but think it shouldn’t have been that painful to experience though.
And Rhett had been in just as much pain as I’d been.
I wanted to see where we could take this thing after we got back on solid ground. I wanted to see what would become of us. Night after night, I had dreamed of Rhett, of where he was and what he might’ve looked like. I thought about what he was doing, if he was happy and if he thought about me as much as I thought about him. I’d spent hours dreaming about the way he used to make me feel, about how his body would writhe against mine and how his high school hands were so gentle, even though he wanted to be so rough.
And now I had my answer.
He had been thinking of me too.
I didn’t know what was going to happen with anything else, but I wanted to tell him the truth – that his initial declaration scared me, but not in the way he thought. It scared me not because I didn’t feel the same way, but because it had taken me years to finally admit to myself that I, too, had never stopped caring about him. The daydreaming was harmless. I could get by on those without having my heart broken again but confronting him and opening myself up to being vulnerable again meant taking a chance on him.
He needed to know I was willing to do that.
I ran around the ship, my legs carrying me as fast as they could. I took the elevator up to the gym and walked around the pool deck. I knocked furiously on his room door and even poked my head into my own to see if he was there. I went back to the piano bar to see if he was having a drink and backtracked to the dining hall to see if he was still sitting there.