“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m not trying to pressure you into this cruise. We can just hang out here, and I’ll tell my parents the truth.”
“No, don’t. Jeff and Judy paid a lot for this. I looked it up.” He sighs. “I don’t want them to lose out on it either.”
“So the solution is formeto get on a boat?”
“To try it. I’ll be there, after all.”
“And you think this will go well?”
“Maisie.” Nate’s voice is soft this time. “It’s me and you. Wecan handle anything, and the boat is so big I doubt you’ll even be thinking of the water. But I highly doubt you wanna be alone, and neither do I. So, let’s go do this together.”
The way this man knows me is still shocking sometimes. We’ve been in each other’s lives since we were children. There were plenty of people who didn’t have the dedication to know someone like Nate does.
Hell, my fiancé didn’t.
Nate knows he’s won before I even voice it. “You have an extra thirty minutes to pack.”
“We don’t have any extra time. The airport’s gonna be terrible.”
“Then you better get started.” He smiles. “BeforeI start gloating that I’m right.”
“Don’t even,” I mutter before turning to go back to my bedroom. I dimly remember the plans Rob and I made to get to the airport.
Nate’s thirty minutes are nonexistent.
My best friend finds me hurling clothes into my suitcase. Once that’s done, I throw in all the small toiletries I’d collected over the last few months when I thought I was going on this trip with Rob, finishing it off with the sunglasses I’m pretty sure I’m never going to wear.
“My, my. This is chaos.”
“Shut up. I’d like to see if your bag is any better.” I’m in the middle of jumping on my bag to get it to close.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, Maisie.” Nate walks over to throw his weight on it too. “Mine ismuchworse.”
The Nashville Airport is, without a doubt, a fucking nightmare. I’m glad Nate’s driving, because after the third near-accident, I’m about to pull my hair out.
“Did people lose all sense in the last few days or something?” I snap as someone stops for a turn so fast that we nearly rear-end them.
“No one with any sense goes near the airport unless they have to.” Nate is oddly calm.
I don’t know how Rob would’ve dealt with this. Maybe it’s better that I don’t.
Nate has surprisingly planned everything out. When I ask about parking, he says he got a spot. When I ask how much I owe him for it, he rolls his eyes and tells me he won’t accept a dime.
And then I look up how much it would cost anyway.
“Nate,” I hiss. “Please tell me this isn’t how much you paid.”
I turn the screen around and he doesn’t even look. “I told you not to worry about it.”
“We should have had my mom and dad drop us off,” I say as we get out of the SUV. “Sure, they might sit in traffic for two hours, but it would be cheaper than this.”
“Jeff and Judy Cohen are the kindest souls I’ve ever met. I wouldn’t do that to them.”
“But they’d do it.”
“I think being in all of this would send Jeff into an early grave. Besides, I’m getting a whole cruise for free. I think I can afford some expensive parking.”
“That, and you’d have to admit you were considering going without me.”
