It feels like I'm supposed to be here,she said last night, and watching her out on the small ice practicing with her friends, I knew it was true.
She belongedhere, on this ship.
I focused on my coffee for a second, trying to squelch my emotions, because watching her laugh with her friends was making my heart plummet into my ass, which I knew wasn’t fair. I should be ecstatic that she found her happiness and her place in this world.
I just wish that place included me.
My mind drifted back to home, back to what Kappy said that night in Colt’s backyard. He said Ali seemed lost, but that wasn’t true at all.
She had friends here, good ones. She wasn’t lonely. And that guy…Brandon.I grit my teeth as I watched him skate with her. He really liked her. When she talked, his eyes were glued to her. It was obvious. Just as obvious as the fact that he belonged here, and I did not.
This week was a dream, but the heartbreaking reality of the situation was about to come crashing in.
This precious, beautiful thing between us…it wasn’t for forever.
She basically told me the very first night that we couldn’t get our happy ending. It was just hard to actually see the reasons why right in front of my face like this.
But I needed to shove all this down.
We weren’t over just yet… We still had tonight, and I wanted to enjoy the rest of the little time I had left with her.
_________
“How about we leave off the way we started?” she asked, watching me closely as I racked up the pool balls.
“Yeah?” I grinned at her holding a pool stick in one hand, a margarita in the other. “I’m down. Dare.”
“Okay…” she drawled. “I dare the loser of this game to get a tattoo of the other person’s choosing.” She shot me a wicked grin while sauntering up to me. “What do you say, Jameson Patrick?”
Damn.The way she said my full name had desire shooting straight to my groin, and she fully knew it. I took a sip of my beer. “That’s a high stake, sure you wanna do that?”
She gave a nod toward the pool table for me to take the first shot. “Let’s go, big guy.”
I let out a small chuckle. I loved seeing her confidence. “All right, but let it be known that I gave you an out.” I lined up my stick.
“Confident there, bud,” she teased.
“Always.” I shot and two striped balls found their pockets. I gave her a wink. “Good luck.”
She gave a shrug as she waltzed around the table. Her tongue poked out a tiny bit as she studied the angles before taking her shot. With one hit, she knocked in two of her solid balls to tie it up. When she stood to her full height, she gave me a cocky smirk. “Not gonna need it.”
Wandering over to her side of the pool table, I inconspicuously squeezed her ass. “Did you just hustle me?”
She laughed as she smoothed away from me. “Take your shot.”
After her next two turns, it was painfully obvious I was going to lose this game. While I was decent at pool from playing here and there with the guys, Ali played like someone who practiced every night.
“Ooh, maybe you should get a Flounder tattoo,” she teased. “Right on your booty.”
I shook my head ruefully at her, making her cackle evilly. “Not over ‘til it’s over, baby girl. Eight ball is still in play.” I cocked an eyebrow at her.
She just smirked as she lined up to shoot.
“Shit,” I said right as the ball made a thud noise from being sunk.
“Aww,” she cooed, saddling up to me. She used two of her fingers to playfully walk up my chest, making goosebumps erupt under my shirt. “Is your ego bruised because you’re losing or because you’ll be stamped with a reminder of the loss?”
“Careful, Ali,” I whispered down to her.
