“Stop trying to make me laugh.”
“I’m serious! Curling ribbons isn’t the only thing I can do with scissors.” She mimed opening and closing a pair, then jabbed them at an invisible Alex.
I thought of all we had to do that day. Preparing the boat for the guests, greeting them, making drinks, ferrying food from the kitchen to the table, and cleaning, a lot of cleaning. “Don’t be too hard on him. It isn’t his fault.”
Nina raised an eyebrow at me. “Uh, if he can’t see what a catch you are, then yeah, it’s his fault. If you weren’t already filling the role of best friend, I’d be all over that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please, I’m totally not your type.”
“Chop that beautiful blond hair of yours into a layered bob and maybe you would be.”
“Just play nice. He told us he didn’t date. I let you, and Mia, and Kitty, and pheromones get in my head. I’ll be fine. It was only a teeny, tiny, totally not serious crush. A distraction.”
Nina raised both eyebrows at me then. “If you say so.” She took my hand, beaming at me like a proud parent. “I’m glad you took my advice, putting yourself out there and all.”
“A lot of good that did me.” I thought about our fight in CVS and how Nina had said I didn’t really want to be alone. “I stand by what I said before.”
“Which was?”
I squeezed her hand. “I’m not alone. I’ve got you.”
Nina gave me one of her rare full-mouthed smiles. The boat was quiet, especially here on the main deck, and we sat together in silence, both aware the quiet wouldn’t last for long.
“I can handle service on my own today,” Nina said.
I didn’t bother arguing with her. The last thing I needed was to be in another kitchen with Alex. “Don’t be a jerk to him, okay?”
Nina stood from the bed and straightened her polo. “I can’t make any promises.”
—
Even on a 150-foot superyacht, it was hard to avoid Alex. As soon as I stepped into the crew mess, there he was, preference sheets spread out in front of him on the counter.
I took a deep breath and walked over to the coffee maker. I needed to act like everything was fine between us. Like nothing had happened. We were coworkers, and neighbors, and, hopefully, still friends.
I pulled a mug from the cabinet, and Alex perked his head up at the sound of it clinking against the counter.
“Oh, hey, Jo,” he said. He tapped a preference sheet with a finger. “Captain says we’ve got picky eaters today. The devil’s triangle: gluten-free, dairy-free, meat-free, and”—he glanced at the preference sheetagain—“at least thirty-three grams of protein in each meal. Why thirty-three? Why not thirty or thirty-five?”
“You should season their food with protein powder,” I said. I leaned against the counter and sipped my coffee, hoping I looked casual and not at all like someone whose heart was aching in her chest right this very minute. Distraction, my ass. Why was I constantly lying to myself?
Alex let out a laugh, looking more tired than I’d ever seen him. His hair, instead of stylishly messy, was an actual mess. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and there was no trace of that almost smile.
He drummed his fingers across the counter. “Can we talk?”
I watched as steam curled from my mug and pressed up toward the ceiling, then gave him my stew smile. I didn’t want him thinking I was angry or hurt, even though I was a little bit of both. I’d told Nina not to be hard on him because it wasn’t his fault. But I hadn’t imagined everything, had I? Had I imagined the lingering gazes and flirty banter?
“Alex,” I said, forcing myself to look at him. “There’s nothing to talk about. It was a mistake. I didn’t mean anything by it. I was in a weird place last night. I needed a distraction, and you were just... there. Too many drinks, I guess. Can we please forget it ever happened?”
Alex looked down at the preference sheets again. “That’s what you want?”
I thought of how immediate the hurt and embarrassment had been when he pulled away last night. “Yes. That’s what I want.”
He rubbed a hand over his cheek, then met my gaze with a nod. “Okay, yeah. Let’s forget it ever happened.”
I stretched out my hand, like he had at Mitch’s on the night we met, when he hadn’t pulled back from my kiss. “Friends?”
Alex didn’t say anything at first. He stared at my hand, as if weighing his options. Had I made things so awkward we couldn’t even be friends? But then he put his hand in mine, that barely there, nearly imperceptible almost smile on his lips.
