My stomach dipped. Hasheem’s hand slid over my thigh under the table, and my eyes shot to him. Now was the time to pep talk myself.You can do this, Harlowe.
“Y’all know the rules,” Simone said, smiling wide. “What y’all taking? Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Hasheem said at the same time I said, “Truth.” We both looked at each other. In my head, truth was the safe bet. Every couple before us had gotten cute little questions. There was no way I was taking a dare. A dare was going to have us half naked taking shots on the bar or something.
“Interesting,” Simone said slowly, gazing between us. “Split decision. Here’s your card.” She handed me a pink and red card from the deck she was holding, and I shut my eyes before reading it.Please don’t be weird. Please don’t be weird. Please don’t be—The moment I opened my eyes, my throat closed. There was no way in hell this was my question.
Have you ever dated or slept with your current partner’s sibling or their ex?
“Well?” Simone tilted her head. “You gotta read it out loud, babe.”
I shook my head before I could stop myself. There was no way I was reading that out loud and answering it. I felt Hasheem sit up beside me. He leaned over and read the card.
“Nah, we not answering that.”
“Oh? So y’all forfeiting?” Simone’s brows raised.
“Nah. We’ll take the dare,” Hasheem replied, plucking the card out of my hand and flipping it over to the other side. His eyes skimmed over it before shooting up to Simone.
“What it say?” somebody called.
“Read it for us, Hasheem.” Simone smiled like she was enjoying every second of this.
“It says…” He paused, then looked right at me. “Switch partners with another couple for one song and give them a dance they won’t forget.”The hell?A little ripple of “ohs” rolled through the crowd. Simone had definitely handpicked this cardfor us. She had to because there was no way we’d drawn the messiest card in the deck.
“Rules are rules. Y’all chose dare,” Simone said into the mic.
“Alright,” he said easily, eyes never leaving mine. “Tiana and Malik.” He stood and held his hand out to me. I slid my fingers into his automatically. “Trust me,” he whispered in my ear. I glanced over at Simone, who was smiling like a fool.
“Looks like we got ourselves a trade,” she said tightly. “DJ, give us something slow.”
I bit back a laugh, then shot Simone a look over Malik’s shoulder. If she wanted a show, we were definitely about to give her one. Twista’s “Daddy” came through the speakers, and my eyes shot to Hasheem. He nodded at me with a stupid smile on face. There was nothing funny about having to give somebody else’s man a lap dance in front of everybody. I swallowed hard as I glanced over at Tiana.
Sorry,I mouthed just as Hasheem stepped in front of Tiana like he was about to grind her down, hands lifting like he was Channing Tatum inMagic Mike. Okay, we’re doing this. I took a deep breath, ready to hit a body roll, when Hasheem started stomping his right leg. Was he doing the A-Town stomp? I stared at him for a second, and sure enough, he was full knees, face screwed up and all. The whole boat exploded with laughter, and so did I.
“Not the A-Town stomp!” Tiana dropped into her chair, fanning herself.
“Aye, chill! You tryna take my wife?” Malik joked, falling out of his seat, crying laughing.
This I could do. I slid in front of Malik, gave him two seconds of Shakira energy, and then flipped it into the Milly Rock. The rest of the couples lost it, and phones came out all around us. Hasheem and I ran through the best dances of the 2000s.
“Alright, alright.” The DJ caught the vibe and mixed the track. “Let’s throw this thing back then.” Dem Franchise Boys filled the speakers and “Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It” sailed through the air. Everybody on the ship jumped to their feet. Tiana stood from her chair and grabbed my hand as we rocked side by side together, snapping our fingers and doing our step. I smiled over at Hasheem. Any mess that Simone was trying to start by giving us that card was gone.
“Okay!” Simone called through the mic before the song could even end. “That was . . . cute. Next couple!”
The music slowed, and Hasheem guided us back to our seats. My knees were screaming, and I was wheezing for air, but that was fun.
“You good?” Hasheem asked, dropping his hand back onto my thigh under the table like it belonged there.
“Yeah. Thanks for making what could have been a really embarrassing moment one of the best moments of this trip.”
“That’s how you handle somebody playing in your face,” he said quietly. “You don’t let ’em see you sweat. You let them see you having fun.”
I nodded. Simone could put all of our history out into the world if she wanted. Yes, I’d slept with his brother, been friends with his ex, invited my best friend on a brand trip, and started falling for him. The gag was Hasheem already knew all of this, and he was still choosing me. Maybe people would talk when all this got out. Maybe his family would have questions. Maybe mine too, but for the first time, that didn’t feel bigger than us. Maybe we didn’t have to pack this up when we left Zanzibar.
“Wake up, Valentine,”I whispered in Harlowe’s ear, giving her a gentle shake under the covers as I climbed in beside her.
“Mmmm, five more minutes,” she mumbled, trying to roll away from me as she dragged the sheet over her head like a kid.
