Shifting until she was standing in front of her family's line of sight Ebony pointed to the stairs leading to the deck below. "Want to go to the beach club?"
Cameron didn't hesitate. "Yes," he said, standing up abruptly.
The beach club was exactly what it sounded like. Being on the lowest deck, the beach club was a giant room that hosted a pool surrounded by lounge chairs. The impressive room with its black and gold design reminded Cameron of the Rosebank house back in Stardust, had everything they could dream of—multiple mounted TVs, a few staff members standing by to refresh towels and take orders, a connected outdoor deck, a diving board off the side of the yacht, and even a slide.
"Thank you," Cameron breathed as soon as they were away.
Ebony nodded and plopped down onto a lounger. "Don't mention it. I get it. They are being a bit much right now."
"Your uncles seem…intense." He was mainly thinking of Elias. At least Leon smiled and joked a little unlike his living statue of a brother.
Ebony shook her head with a laugh. "That's just the way they look. They're actually very sweet."
Sure, to you, he thought. For some reason Cameron got the feeling they had men hung off balconies back in Brazil.
"I bet they like Gavin, don’t they?" This was the first time Gavin's name came up between them since boarding the yacht an the resulting expression on her face made him immediately regret bringing him up.A shadow descended over her features and she looked away. Catching the eye of a nearby attendant, Ebony called her over and asked her something. Her words were so soft they were lost to him in the sea breeze. He watched and waited as the attendant came back holding a small box with a red cross on it.
Finally, Ebony looked back at him as she balanced the first aid box on her lap. "Yeah, my uncles love him."
He heard the unspoken “everyone does” hanging in the air and had to school his expression before the annoyance could slip through.
The cool touch of her fingers beckoned him to close his eyes. He could feel the slick ointment on her fingertip rubbing across the cut near his brow.
"Your bruises are fading," she murmured.
Cameron kept his eyes closed partly because of her cool featherlike touch and partly because of the surge of anger that rose up in his throat like bile. The memory of that fight burned within him like a hot coal in his chest, smoldering, refusing to die. It was only the arrival of Ebony on his doorstep the next morning offering him countless apologies and the invitation to spend winter break with her that mollified his anger. Just her and her family and no Gavin. The pain of his wounds and humiliation faded instantly at that, replaced by sheer satisfaction.
Cameron opened his eyes and looked at the beauty in front of him. Too bad his excitement was one-sided.
Oh yes, she smiled and laughed as they let the days slip past them but he wasn't blind. Not to her. Not to the girl he’d spent years pining for. There was a bone deep sadness to her eyes. As if the deep mahogany color of them had been muted just a bit, and he knew the reason why.
Cameron had to bite down a curse. Even in his absence the bastard managed to take up space in his life. It was as if the ship was haunted with him. Everyone's face had polite smiles plastered on but underneath they were all thinking abouthim.
Cameron stood up abruptly, unwilling to feel the growing weight of anger and rejection in his chest any longer. Holding out a hand he smiled at Ebony.
"Would you hate me if we undo all your hard work and jump in the ocean?"
As if needing the same distraction, Ebony took his hand with a grin. "Not at all."
And for a few hours they lost themselves to the luxury of the yacht. They dove off the side into the beautiful lapping waters below, swimming away from their heavy thoughts. This was it, Cameron had the Ebony he always dreamed of, purely focused on him. Her anger at Gavin was forgotten about. The scars on his face weren't constant reminders to rekindle her rage. There was nothing standing between them, it was how it was supposed to be.
Dinner was a formal affair, something he’d realized on day one, thanks to the new clothes Mrs. Rosebank had left in his room. Wearing a freshly pressed button-down dress shirt and slacks that probably cost more than half a year's worth of his car payments, Cameron sat stiffly at the long table. Like the rest of the yacht the dining room was jaw dropping. The room screamed wealth with its subdued ivories and splashes of glittering gold and soft leathers. The captain had proudly told him as Cameron stood waiting for the others to join that the furniture was designed by Roberto Cavalli while the custom fifteen-foot agate table was hand crafted somewhere in Turkey.
Itwasn’t the high-end formality of the evening that kept him from relaxing, it was the nagging feeling he couldn’t shake: that he simply didn’t belong. The worst part was that it was nothing Cameron could name directly. No single moment he could point to and say, “Ah ha, that’s it.”
From the moment he joined their trip, Mrs. Rosebank had gone out of her way to make him feel welcome. He was certain she’d spoken more to him this week than in all their previous interactions combined. Even Mr. Rosebank and her uncles had been friendly enough when they weren't watching him like a newly released prisoner around their virginal daughter. There was just something missing in their dynamic that made Cameron feel like an outsider amongst them.
The only thing that made it bearable was Ebony. Sitting across from him, Ebony glowed under the soft light of the chandelier. With her curls fanned out around her shoulders he caught the occasional sparkle from the diamond studs on her ears. She looked breathtaking.
"Here she is, the birthday girl," Leon announced as he walked into the room. Coming to where she sat, he waited for her to stand, her emerald dress shimmering with the movement as he hugged her.
Behind him the silent brother, Elias, the one that freaked Cameron out the most with his watchful gaze, hugged her, saying something in her ear. Ebony smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek before sitting back down.
Cameron tried to listen as her father raised a toast, but his mind kept drifting until it lodged onto something that stilled him all over. Today was her birthday and he had no gift to show for it. He cursed himself for not remembering. Like images flickering on a screen his mind brought up memories from the years before. The matching birthday cakes. Their smiles on their joint posts. Guilt laced with anger bloomed in his gut. He had forgottenhistoo. Their birthdays were only days apart from one another. This trip had always beentheirbirthday trip, not just a winter getaway.
That was the reason he felt out of place. That was the reason for her heavy smile. He shouldn’t be here. He was taking another's place.Hisplace.
Cameron felt a little sick. Angry and helpless didn’t quite suffice.
