Ollie swears. “Fine. But we’re not swapping bunks untilafterthe date. I don’t trust you not to chicken out as soon as your sheets are on my bed.”
I extend my hand so we can shake on it. “Deal.”
When he puts his hand in mine, I grab the rest of the cupcake from the counter and smash it into his face.
He jumps back, curses flying from his lips. We stare at each other for a moment. He looks utterly ridiculous with frosting sliding down his face. The cupcake is in pieces on the floor. Lord, we’ve made a mess.
Ollie starts laughing at the same time I do. The frosting tickles my nose as it melts on my face, and I feel childish in the best way. A way I don’t often feel anymore.
“Is this, like, a foreplay thing?” Britt says.
Ollie and I turn to the galley entrance and find her grinning gleefully.
“I’m not cleaning up after your weird sex games,” she says.
“It’s not a weird sex game,” I say.
“That’s for after the date,” Ollie says.
“What date?” Britt says.
“It’s April second,” I say at the same time Ollie says, “The date I’m taking Neen on tonight.”
Britt’s eyes widen and she prances over. “What do you mean,a date? Like adatedate?”
“A platonic date,” I say.
“It’s a real date, isn’t it? I think my soul just left my body.”
“I thought you didn’t want to have to clean up.”
Britt’s gaze drops to the floor. “Right.”
“How about you forget everything you’ve seen here and run the coffees up for me?”
“But I’m not on service until—”
“It’s that or I shove what’s left of that cupcake down your throat and hide your lifeless body in the bilge.”
“Coffee it is, then!” Britt says. “Nice work, buddy,” she adds, shooting Ollie a wink as she steps around me to grab the coffees.
Once she’s out of sight I turn to Ollie. “You don’t have totelleveryone about the date.”
“For fuck’s sake.” He turns away and crosses the galley to the sink, where he gets a kitchen towel damp and wipes it over his face.
“What?”
He sighs. “If you want to hide it, then what’s the point, Nina?”
“Of the date?”
He nods.
“It’s my birthday. Dates usually involve free food. I want the bottom bunk.”
Ollie rolls his eyes. “Don’t be like that.”
“Like what?”
