“Mm-hm.”
Okay. Wow. How to handle this? I probably shouldn’t blurt out interrogating questions likeAnd would you date him? Shall I make you dinner reservations as soon as we get back?“I could tell people to stop, if it, you know, makes it uncomfortable.” I stared at my hands. “Does it make you uncomfortable?”
She shot me an unreadable look. “I was wondering if it madeyouuncomfortable.”
I stared at her. “I’m sorry,” I finally said. “Was I being subtle by accident? Because Ethan once told me Iwasn’tsubtle, and honestly, I agree.”
She looked startled. “What?”
Wow. Maybe Ihadbeen subtle. Or maybe adults were astonishingly obtuse? I returned to her question. “No. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable.”
She nodded. “Does your dad date a lot?”
“Does mydad—” I snorted a laugh, then broke it off at the look on her face. “Oh, you’re serious.”
Cora raised her brows. “I was until you laughed in my face.”
“He doesn’t dateat all. I don’t think he’s been on a single date since my mom died.” At Cora’s expression, I realized this was probably not the right way to signal Dad was emotionally available. I backpedaled. “Which doesn’t mean he’s not ready to date! Just, he hasn’t. But he’s not anti-dating, I’m sure.”
“Hm.” She straightened. “I’ll leave you to your book. Good talk.”
I saluted, because I was a weirdo. Oy.
“And don’t worry,” she said as she left the small library. “You’re not subtle.”
***
I read until dinnertime, which was another loud, boisterous meal. Afterward, like the day before, everyone watched the sunset from the deck. Ethan leaned next to me at the rail. Our arms pressed together, his skin warm against mine.
“I never get bored of looking at the ocean,” I said. “Or the sky. They’re always different. Always interesting and beautiful and changing.”
“And always connected,” Ethan said.
My mouth quirked in a smile. “How poetic.”
“Am I wrong?”
I took in the vaulting sky, the endless dark sea, the way the horizon circled us in a stark line of dark and light blue. Our ship was the only small thing in the center of the blue world. “No. I guess not.”
“Two halves of one whole.” Ethan sounded satisfied.
I opened my mouth to tease him about better halves, but my lips stretched into an unstoppable yawn. “ ’Scuse me.” I covered my mouth.
“You better not fall asleep,” Ethan warned. “Tonight’s the best night for the meteors.”
He was right; not only was tonight the peak of the shower, but tomorrow we’d start heading back toward land and light. “I don’t know if I’m gonna make it. All this exercise stuff really got to me.”
He angled his body toward me. “Well. The best viewing is at three a.m. Total darkness.”
“Is it?” I arched my brows. “Maybe I should go to sleep now, then.”
“Maybe you should,” Ethan agreed. “Maybe I should, too.”
“Maybe we should both just happen to come up here at three.”
“I’m in if you’re in,” Ethan said, and when I nodded, he grinned at me. “It’s a date.”
A date. My whole body tingled as I watched Ethan walk away. Not adate-date, I knew—it was just a turn of phrase—but the word caused me to shiver.
