“Huh?”
“You’re doing that staring thing again.”
“Oh.” I released my lip, not realizing I’d been biting it. “I think I should get ready.” I pointed down the hall to my room. “Thanks for saving me.”
Alex kept his eyes on me as he sautéed the asparagus, flipping them in the pan without having to look. “I seem to remember you saving my cooking once. Did you really think I’d let you serve Lean Cuisines at a dinner party?”
I let out a breathy laugh. Alex’s hair had grown messier as he cooked.And in that moment, when his almost smile lifted into something real, my fingers ached to brush the hair from his eyes. Eyes that made me think of the first sip of coffee in the morning, or licking brownie batter off a spoon.Oh God, I’ve lost it, I thought, and forced myself to my room before I could say or do something I’d regret.
—
After we’d finished cooking and set the table (including a few candles I’d hesitantly lit), Alex hooked his phone up to the TV, and jazz played softly in the living room.
“Artie Shaw,” he said, as if I knew anything about it. He’d been quiet ever since I emerged from my bedroom dressed for the evening.You look beautiful, he’d said, but I wasn’t sure he meant it, because when we stepped into the living room, he sat as far away from me as possible. With the lighting and the music, I kept daydreaming he’d cross the room and kiss me. But he only sat there bouncing his foot up and down as he rambled on about the differences between early jazz and swing music. He kept his eyes on his phone as he talked, hardly looking at me at all.
Captain Xav was the first to arrive, wearing the same suit he always did whenever the guests on the boat invited him to dinner. Belva came soon after, winking at me as she sat beside him on the couch and coyly adjusted the skirt of her jacket dress. How was it that Belva, a woman in her seventies, had more game than I did? Though based on some of her stories, I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Mia, Kitty, and Greyson finally returned. They shouted hello, then disappeared onto the patio, probably trying to stay out of arm’s reach of me. I scolded Ollie for his informal light-washed jeans and tuxedo shirt when he appeared. Nina showed up fifteen minutes late and barely fit through the door in a ball gown that, with its geometrically structured bodice and a rainbow chiffon skirt, looked like something off a runway and took up nearly half my living room. In each hand she carried a pitcher of Drunken Joeys, my signature cocktail.
I took the pitchers from her. “Not exactly fancy dinner party drinks, but thanks.” She waved me away, her chest heaving, and I wondered how tight she’d tied herself into that dress.
The dinner began simply enough. I called everyone to the table, which was actually my kitchen table with a card table pushed against it. Ollie expressed his surprise at my wonderful cooking, and I admitted it was all Alex, except for the deviled eggs and salad. The Drunken Joeys disappeared quickly, so I brought out the wine I’d bought for the occasion. The conversation flowed easily, and even Captain Xav, usually silent at all social events, joined in, telling us about how he’d helped Alex get his first yachting gig. Captain Xav leaned back in his chair and sighed, rubbing at his beard with a hand.
“I took one look at his résumé and told my buddy he was the guy for the job. How could he not hire a guy named Ocean to be a yacht chef?”
“Ocean?” Nina said. “Have you had too much to drink, Cap?” She leaned over to grab his wineglass, but he pulled it from her reach.
“It’s his name!”
Alex reddened and shook his head, looking down at his plate.
“It’s true,” Greyson said. “He thinks it’s embarrassing, which it definitely is, so he goes by his middle name. Marla and Tom—”
“Grandma and Grandpa,” Alex interrupted.
“Marla and Tom,” Greyson repeated, “said something about naming all their kids after the magic that surrounded them when they were conceived, so—”
“All right,” Alex said, dropping his fork onto his plate. “You are officially no longer allowed to talk to your grandparents without me present.”
I pointed my fork at him. “Have you been lying to us about this very important information, Ocean Hayes?”
“OceanAlexanderHayes,” Greyson said.
“You knew my parents were hippies,” he said. “When I told you there are some weird names out there, I was speaking from experience.”
“I was at Woodstock, you know,” Belva said, earning herself an impressed glance from Captain Xav.
“You were conceived on a boat, weren’t you, bud?” Ollie said. “What’re your siblings’ names?”
“Summer and River,” Greyson said.
“At least my name suits me better than my sister’s,” Alex said. “Summer is a skiing instructor in Colorado.”
Nina held a hand over her heart. “You’re kidding.”
“One hundred percent serious. My brother, River, is an accountant. No good jokes there.”
“I think Ocean is a wonderful name,” Nina said. She turned to Ollie. “And Oliver is a perfectly good name too. I don’t know why you don’t use it.”
