Half the crew was asleep in their hammocks, and the other half was in the galley, playing cards and betting on everything under the sun. They seemed sufficiently distracted, so I checked that I had everything I needed in my sack, made my way to the ladder, and headed up to the main deck.
The first thing I checked was the captain’s quarters, and I sighed in relief when I saw the shut door. He never hung out with the crew or stayed out on the deck at night. Viper locked himself inside that horrible room with all those dead creatures strewn about. Every. Single. Night.
I had no idea how the man slept in there without getting constant nightmares.
The thought made me shiver as I walked over to the mast that had the crow’s nest on top.
Tilting my head back, I double-checked that Max was up there, and a smile crossed my face when I saw his legs hanging over the edge. With one more glance around, I found the coast clear, walked over to the shroud, and made my way up the rigging.
The first time I’d climbed up to the crow’s nest, it had scared the crap out of me, but it was second nature by now. I wasn’t scared of heights—good thing too since we flew so high above the sea—but not having a safety net freaked me out a little.
As soon as my head popped up over the edge of the crow’s nest, Max said, “Good evening, Kas.” Such a formal greeting.
I grinned at him. “Good evening, sir.” I mimed tipping a hat at him.
He snickered and scooted over so I could sit beside him. I made sure to sit as close as possible so we were touching from hip to knee, our shoulders pressed tight together.
He didn’t seem to mind since he didn’t try to scoot away.
“How was your day?” he asked me after we sat in companionable silence for a few minutes.
“Well, I was having a nice day untilsomeonecalled me a lily-livered knave.” I brushed a fake tear away and made my voice sound upset. “Hurt my feelings somethin’ good.”
Max stared at me with wide eyes, and I had a feeling he couldn’t tell if I was teasing or not, so I grinned at him. He blew out a breath, let out a short laugh, and shoulder-bumped me. “You’re a little shit sometimes.”
“Yep! Nice name-calling, by the way.”
He snorted and shoulder-bumped me again. “So… how was your day, really?”
“It was good. Sparrow got to see how bad I am at sewing.”
He turned to me. “You can’t sew? But you stitched my head up fine.”
“Yeah, don’t ask me why, I’m usually fine with stitches, but when it comes to all the intricate sewing people do on fabrics, I suck.” I shot him a grin. “And sorry to tell you, but I didn’t do that great a job on your head.”
He snorted. “It was fine. Even Stitches thought so.”
“If you say so.”
“Still, I never would’ve sent you over there if I’d known that. I’m sorry, Kas.”
I laughed and nudged him because he looked so worried. He was adorable. “It’s fine. Icansew, I just can’t sew all fancy. And don’t worry, Ariella saved me from Sparrow’s wrath anyway.”
He snorted. “I don’t think Sparrow has a mean bone in her body. Her wrath.” He chuckled again, shaking his head.
His happiness made me smile. The man didn’t smile or laugh enough, so it was my job to make him do it more.
I opened my sack and pulled out an orange, passing it over to him. “Sage said you didn’t eat yours today. You need to eat it to prevent scurvy.”
He sighed. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Why do you keep skipping out on food?”
“It’s not on purpose. I got distracted because Viper went off on Bones, and I didn’t want his skinny ass getting thrown to the sea serpents. I forgot tonight was an orange-for-dessert night.”
I gestured to his orange. “Eat.”
He sighed again, but he started peeling it, so I called it a win.
