“I’ve been spending a lot of time with Ruby,” I hedge.
“I think it feels like more time than you think it is. Two to three hours each day is actually very little time, love. That means I get you for twenty-one hours. Go have fun.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Go.”
I nod and kiss him again. “Love you.”
“I love you. Have fun. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
The nice thing about not needing a wallet or telephone is that my pockets are always empty and I’m never in danger of leaving something behind. That doesn’t stop me from patting my pockets and then looking around every time I leave the bungalow. It’s a habit that doesn’t die easily. I’m not even sure I want to get out of the habit since I’ll be returning to the real world far too soon.
Ruby is down at the beach where I always meet him. Right in front of my bungalow. As I walk to him, I make a mental note to look at what he’s wearing today so I can report back that I did, in fact, notice. Whether I remember is another story entirely.
I’m relieved that he’s wearing much the same thing I am. His shorts are a little shorter and his tee is actually sleeveless, but he’s definitely dressed similarly, for which I’m grateful.
Ruby looks up as I stand over him. He smiles and my heart jumps. He’s so beautiful. I offer him my hands and pull him tohis feet. Because I can’t help myself, I lean in and place a soft kiss on his lips.
“Hey,” he says, smiling still.
I think we’re both going to look like the Joker since our smiles rarely fade the entire time we’re together. Hell, most nights, I’m smiling for hours after we’ve gone our separate ways.
“Everything okay?” Ruby asks.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I don’t know. You look a little tense. Your shoulders are tense.”
I mentally force my shoulders to relax and laugh when I realize he’s right. They’re totally tense. “Sorry. I feel a little guilty for leaving Oscar home.”
“Oh,” Ruby says and takes a step back. “We don’t have to?—”
I pull him closer again. “It’s fine. He pointed out that you and I aren’tactuallyspending all day together even though it feels like much longer than it is. He’s not wrong. I’m not sure why I feel guilty about him staying in. We do our own thing all the time.”
“Are you sure?”
I squeeze his hands. “Positive. I’m really excited for this. I’ve been eyeing this excursion for ages, but for some reason, I’ve never been on it.”
“It sounds awesome,” Ruby says, and we start walking down the beach toward the docks.
“I think it’s going to be the highlighted excursion on this trip. Then again, I don’t go on a lot of excursions, so it’s not hard to take the top spot.”
He laughs quietly. “Why?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, really. The world is so busy around us when we’re back home that I think by the time we get here to unwind, we just want to relax. No schedules to abide by. No travel necessary. No interaction with others if we choose not to. I think we enjoy the peace and island time slowing us down for awhile. It feels like we just catch our breath right before we need to go home.”
Ruby nods. “Sounds about right.”
We get to the dock and follow the signs. There’s a young man at the gate with a handheld phone scanner. We watch as he holds it up to someone’s rubber bracelet. Thebeephas him pulling it back and watching the screen. He looks up at the three men with a smile. “Welcome aboard. Make yourselves comfortable.”
They climb on and head to the left beyond the captain sitting behind the wheel.
The man looks at us with a big smile. He has long, straggly hair that falls around his face and brushes his collar. There’s something youthful in his face. His shirt has the name Cash embroidered onto it.
“Hi,” he greets as we step forward.
“Hi,” Ruby and I say together. I hold my wristband out to be scanned since I secured our tickets.
