“Thanks. It means a lot to me.”
Noah looked over at Milly, who was beaming. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her smile that big.
He turned back to Gannon. “Welcome to the family.”
Before he could turn around and go back into the room, Milly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You don’t know how much this means to him. And to me.”
Hugging her back, Noah smiled. “It really is an honor, Mill.”
With that, Milly released him, then took Gannon’s hand and led him back into the room. Noah followed behind them, made his way back to his table, and took his seat next to Dare.
“Everything okay?” Dare whispered, leaning toward him.
“All good.”
“Okay, so I hope everyone’s having a good time so far.” Noah looked up to see Milly standing behind Cam and Gannon, holding a microphone in one hand and her trusty clipboard in the other.
“As you know, this is day one of this seven-night cruise. We’ve got a lot happening over the next week, the most important, obviously, being these two guys getting hitched.”
Applause erupted, causing Milly to pause.
“Yes, I know. We’re all waiting for that to happen. But, in the meantime, you get to enjoy your time on the boat.”
“It’s a ship!” someone yelled from the back of the room.
“What was that?” Milly asked, looking around to find the source of the outburst.
“It’s a ship,” Teague explained. “You called it a boat. I was just correcting you.”
“What’s the difference?” Milly asked with a chuckle.
As though it had been pre-planned, several people spoke up in unison. “A ship can carry a boat, but a boat can’t carry a ship.”
More laughter ensued.
Milly grinned. “Well, there you have it. I’ve been schooled.” She glanced down at her clipboard. “Tomorrow will be the first stop, which will be CocoCay, Bahamas. We’ll be there around seven in the morning. Up to you on whether you enjoy the day on the island. I’ve made sure that each morning you’ll have breakfast available to you right here if you want it. The rest of the time, you’re on your own, but you know the meals are included, so stuff yourselves stupid.”
Noah laughed along with the others.
Milly glanced at her clipboard once more. “Okay. Then on day three—which will be Tuesday—we’ll be cruising all day. No stops. Then on Wednesday, we’re gonna be in St. Thomas. The ship arrives at eleven in the morning and departs at seven. The rehearsal dinner is scheduled for eight. Please be there. It’s important. We don’t want any mishaps.” She looked down again, and then Milly’s smile widened as she lifted her head. “And then on Thursday, we’ll be stopping in St. Maarten, which you’re welcome to enjoy as long as your butt is back on this”—Milly looked at Teague—“ship in time for the wedding. We arrive at eight and depart at five, so that’s more than enough time to get your beach on. The wedding is at seven. Like I said, be here on time.” She glanced from one person to the next. “Do not make me hunt you down.”
More laughter.
“After that, on day six and seven, we’ll be cruising the entire time until we return to port on Sunday morning.” Milly looked up again. “With that said, I hope you have a blast. This boat is so freaking big you may have to hunt these two down if you want to hang out with them, but they’ll be here somewhere. And like I said … Thursday. Wedding. Do not be late.” Milly glanced at Gannon. “You want to say anything?”
Gannon shook his head. Noah looked closer and realized he was still extremely pale, and based on his plate, he hadn’t eaten anything. Definitely not a good sign.
Cam took the microphone and got to his feet.
“I just want to thank everyone for coming. We want you to enjoy the cruise. It’s your vacation as much as it is ours, so don’t worry about us. Do your thing, have fun. Like Milly said, we’ll be around. Can’t promise that we’ll emerge from our cabin much”—Cam glanced at Gannon and Noah noticed the blush that tinged Gannon’s cheeks—“but we’ll definitely be around. Again, thank you all for being here. It means more to us than you know.”
There was more applause and Noah joined in. When the noise level settled, he looked around, noticing that Dare had disappeared from the table. He searched the room, finding Dare on the far side talking to someone. A guy. A good-looking guy Noah hadn’t been introduced to.
Noah watched the two of them closely, and when Dare leaned in and whispered something in the man’s ear, he felt his heart slam into his chest. He swallowed hard and got to his feet.
Although he was having an irrational reaction to what he was seeing, Noah did not want to watch Dare flirt with some guy. If he was going to survive this trip, he needed to remember that Dare was from his past, not his present or his future. So whatever Dare Davis did was of no concern to him.
Didn’t mean he was going to sit back and let it play out in front of him.
Seven
Refraining from going after Noah wasn’t easy, but Dare managed to keep his feet rooted to the floor as he watched the man dart out of the room as though his ass were on fire. After sneaking over to get dessert, Dare had found himself having a conversation with Hudson’s brother, AJ. They’d been talking about how strange it was that Dare had never met the guy, then laughing because they’d witnessed Hudson and Teague glaring at one another, again. Because he’d been so caught up, Dare hadn’t seen the reason for Noah’s quick exit, but now he had to wonder.
Although he was curious—and yes, maybe a little worried—he fought the urge to chase after him. He told himself not to because he didn’t want to arouse suspicion from his friends. Why he’d wanted to go in the first place didn’t even matter because he knew he shouldn’t. Fifteen years had passed since he’d broken up with Noah. What bothered the guy now was of no concern to him.
Only he did care, damn it.
For whatever stupid reason.
And now, he couldn’t fight his curiosity any longer.
“Where’re you going?” Milly called out to him when he was inches from the door. “I was serious when I said you better go back to your cabin if you’re gonna get naked.”
Dare stopped mid-stride, spun around to face Milly, and grinned. “Trust me, I’m not gonna be gettin’ my freak on.”
“Darn. Someone should.” She looked sincerely disappointed.
Dare came to stand directly in front of her, then glanced back through the doorway where Noah had exited a short time ago. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to her. “Is Noah all right?” he asked.
Milly’s gaze followed his past the door and into the open area outside the banquet room. “Why? What did he do?”
Dare shrugged. “He bolted earlier. Looked like something was bothering him.”
Milly seemed to consider that, but her eyes didn’t clear. She still appeared confused.
Appeared Milly didn’t know Noah as well as Dare had thought she did. Whether that was a good thing or not was yet to be seen.
“I’m gonna go check on him,” Dare told her. It was probably the worst idea he’d had since the night he’d tried to out-drink Hudson. Never mind the fact that Hudson outweighed Dare by probably twenty pounds and Dare had absolutely no tolerance for tequila. Still.
“Let me know.” Dare heard the concern in her voice.
“I will. Keep the party alive in here,” he told her with a smile, then turned and headed out of the room.
It took twenty minutes to find Noah. He wasn’t at the casino—though Dare hadn’t really expected him to be for some reason. He hadn’t been on the basketball court, either. Or at any of the outdoor bars. Nope, after wandering around aimlessly, Dare finally found Noah on the rock wall. Noah had shed his socks and shoes, rolled up the sleeves on his navy blue shirt, and was now halfway up to the top, beside him a couple of kids who were struggling but transfixed by Noah’s speed and dexterity.
Dare sweet
-talked his way to the front of the line, then strapped into a harness after kicking off his flip-flops. Once he was nice and secure, he started up the wall. It didn’t take him long to catch up to Noah, who was nearing the top.
“What’s up?” Dare asked casually, stopping beside him.
Noah’s head snapped around, but he didn’t smile.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Dare added.
“What do you want?” Noah repositioned his grip on one of the handholds.
He wanted a lot of things. Like to know why the hell he hadn’t been good enough for Noah back then. But he knew that wasn’t what Noah meant, so he ignored the question.
Dare glanced up, then dropped his gaze to Noah’s face once again. “You up for making this interesting?”
Noah looked up. “What’d you have in mind?”
“Well, first, we start over on the ground. First one to the top…” Hell, he hadn’t thought this one all the way through yet. Then it hit him. “Has to buy drinks tonight and gets to decide what we do next.”
“We?” Noah sounded skeptical.
“Yeah. You. Me. The mouse in your fucking pocket.”
That earned him a smile. “You’re on.”
“Just remember, I’m not that skinny guy you used to know.”
“And you should remember, I’m a firefighter.”
Remember? Hell, that was something Dare would never forget. Not in a million years. If he had to guess, he’d be having a few erotic dreams about it in the very near future.
A couple of minutes later, they were back at the bottom, convincing the attendant to let them go once more. Because the kids in line seemed to be getting a little frustrated, Dare turned back to the group.
“Okay, y’all, my buddy here—his name’s Noah. You know, like ‘No, uh, I can’t beat you.’ And my name’s Dare. You know, like ‘I dare you to say I won’t beat you.” Some of the kids moved closer, grins forming. “So here’s the deal. Noah thinks he can beat me to the top.” Dare shook his head. “It’s not true, but he doesn’t know that yet. And I need for y’all to root for who you think’ll win.” Dare stabbed his chest with his thumb, and he noticed Noah was shaking his head. “Wha’d’ya think?”
“I think he’ll beat you,” a big kid in the front said, his beefy arms crossed over his chest.
“Do you now?” Dare asked. “We’ll see. But I need you to get excited.” He focused on the other kids. “Can you do that?”
A chorus of agreement exploded in the air and Dare turned to face Noah.
Wiping his hands on his pants, Dare offered Noah a smile, then turned to the wall and placed his hands on the first holds. According to the kid manning the attraction, the front side of the wall was the hardest to scale.
They’d see about that.
Glancing over his shoulder, Dare met the gaze of a little girl. “You say go,” he told her.
“Ready,” she hollered, her cheeks puffing up. “Get set… Go!”
They both started up the wall, hands gripping the holds, bare feet easing into the spaces that would push them higher. Dare set his focus on the wall, refusing to let Noah beat him. He knew better than to underestimate anyone, but he damn sure wasn’t in this to lose.
Noah moved quickly, faster than Dare had initially thought he would. The man was all ripped muscle, moving with a speed that shocked even those on the ground, based on the sound of their gasps and excited cheers.
Dare glanced over his shoulder. “I can’t hear you!” he told the kids. “Louder. I need some encouragement up here.”
The cheers grew louder and a group of them started to chant his name. Dare turned back to see that Noah was several feet ahead of him. He started up again, making sure to keep a firm grip on the faux rocks that had been strategically placed.
But this … it was too easy.
Once Noah was close to the top, Dare figured it was time to focus.
He gave one more look over his shoulder, grinned, and then…
Dare practically flew to the top, leaving Noah staring after him. Rather than ring the bell right off, he waited for Noah to join him. Before Noah’s hand could grip the top, Dare rang the bell and the kids started to clap.
Noah met his gaze. Those chocolate-brown eyes held a hint of amusement. “Still just a big kid, aren’t you?”
That sucked every ounce of his enjoyment out of the moment, and, mindful of the kids below, Dare resisted the urge to flip Noah off.
But he left him with a few parting words, said low enough that only Noah could hear. “I wasn’t a kid then and I damn sure ain’t a kid now. Don’t blame me if I always knew exactly what I wanted.”
With that, he released his grip and propelled down to the ground, pasting on a smile for the excited kids who were now cheering as though he’d done something incredible. He high-fived a few before snatching up his flip-flops and walking away from Noah.
For the second time in his life.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Noah knew he’d fucked up. He hadn’t meant them the way they’d come out, which also meant he hadn’t meant them the way Dare had taken them, either. Not this time and certainly not the first time years ago.
“I want more than this,” Dare clarified. “I’m talking forever.”
“Babe, you’re just a kid. Forever’s a long damn time.”
Noah certainly wouldn’t win any awards for being a smooth talker, that was for sure.
Yep, he could still hear those words echoing from a long-ago memory. Noah had wanted to take those words back as soon as they’d come out, but it had been too late. He’d sealed the fate of their relationship with those crass words, though he honestly hadn’t meant to hurt Dare. He’d just been so young.
And now… Well, Noah had meant them as a joke. He’d been caught up in Dare’s excitement, having fun and not thinking about anything other than their competitive spirit. Clearly, Dare hadn’t taken it that way.
Once down off the rock wall, Noah pulled on his socks and shoes and went in search of Dare. He had no idea how to find one man in the sea of people aboard the ship, but he didn’t plan to give up until he did.
An hour later, he found Dare sitting out by the pool, the inky night sky laid out all around them.
“This seat taken?” Noah asked, nodding toward the empty lounge chair beside Dare.
“Yeah, it is.”
Knowing Dare was simply being hardheaded, Noah dropped onto the chair and stretched out his legs. “Look, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ve always known what you thought of me.”
“It’s not like that,” Noah stated, his tone firm.
“No? Coulda fooled me.” Dare lifted his beer bottle to his lips but didn’t look at Noah. The icy chill from the man’s attitude could be felt for miles around. Noah half expected to peer over the edge of the ship to find a glacier sliding by.
Sighing, Noah relaxed against the chair and stared up at the sky. Apologizing to Dare was futile. He knew he could say it a million times over, but if Dare didn’t want to hear it, he wouldn’t listen.
And it appeared he wasn’t listening now.
“You were pretty good on that wall,” Noah told him, wondering if changing the subject would help. “And you were good with those kids.”
Dare didn’t respond.
“Technically, you won. Which means you get to decide what we do next.”
“We?” Dare questioned.
“Yeah, you know, you, me, and the mouse in my fucking pocket.”
Dare snorted. “You never were very funny.”
“True,” he relented. “But I’ve always been hot.”
Another snort from Dare.
“What do you want to do?” Noah asked.
“Sit here. Where it’s quiet.”
Noah turned his head and stared at Dare, hoping he would look back at him. It took a few seconds, but finally he did. And for a few seconds after that, Noah couldn’t pull his gaze away. Looking at the man brought back so many memorie
s. Some good, some not so good. One thing that was still the same, though, was the way Noah felt when he got lost in those hazel eyes. And he found himself getting lost again.
“Dare…”
Before he could get a sentence out, Dare was sitting up. “I’m gonna call it a night. Big day tomorrow. The kid in me has always wanted to go to the Bahamas.”
Noah sighed.
When Dare was on his feet, Noah stared up at him. “I know I fucked up.”
Dare turned to look at him, his forehead creased. “Then or now?”
Both. Not that he was going to tell Dare that. Not yet. They still had seven more days on this ship, and he did not want to piss the man off by hashing out something that had happened fifteen years ago. They simply needed to find a way to get along for the next week, and then they’d be home free. Noah could go back to his normal, boring life and Dare could…
Noah didn’t even know anything about Dare’s life.
“How about a truce,” Noah blurted, hopping to his feet. “For the remainder of the trip, we’re just two guys sharing a cabin.”
Dare studied him, and Noah fought the urge to squirm beneath the scrutiny.
When a smile tugged at the corners of Dare’s mouth, Noah’s breath seized in his lungs. That smile … it still had the ability to make his insides quiver.
“You really think you can spend seven days with me and not want to jump me?”
That was the Dare that Noah knew. The man he’d fallen in love with all those years ago. “I was thinking the same about you.”
Dare’s gaze slowly raked over Noah’s body, but the words that followed belied the heat in his eyes. “I don’t think I’ll have a problem.”
“Is that a dare?” Noah asked.
“What? You think you can refrain from wanting to run your hands over this?” Dare motioned toward his own body. “I don’t think you have it in you.”
Noah shrugged. “Do you still snore?”
Dare snorted. “I never did snore. That was you.”
“Right. Me.”
Dare held out his hand. “Shake on it. Seven days. Roughly one hundred and sixty-eight hours. We’re just two guys sharing a cabin. And you’re not allowed to touch.”
Fearless (Pier 70 Book 2) Page 7