“I’m sorry you’ve had such a shitty day,” I tell her.
With a terse nod, she turns the sconce on her side of the bed off, and we settle under the sheets again. The room has cooled since we first arrived. When Katerina let us in, the air inside was stale, so after dinner, we cracked open the window, welcomingin the night air. In long sleeves and pants, I’m perfectly comfortable, but Joey’s got to be chilly in that little getup.
“Thanks,” she replies. “Have you ever been cheated on?”
My chest gets tight at just the thought of what she’s been through. “Not that I know of, but I can imagine it’s the worst.”
“Totally,” she sighs.
“How long were you together?” I ask.
“We met when I was sixteen. He was twenty-one.”
“Oof,” I say with a little more judgment than intended.
“Yeah, I was all googly-eyes for him, but he kept things platonic. We reconnected when I went to college and I moved in with him right away.”
“You’re living together?” Ouch. What’s she going to do when she returns home? I suppose I should be thankful that Hayden and I have our own places. “Where in California do you live?”
“Santa Monica. What about you? In New York, I mean?”
“Long Island.” Yeah, opposite sides of the country; we’ll definitely never see one another again.
“What does your boy—ex,” I correct myself, “do?”
“He’s a music producer. You may know him, actually.” She hesitates. “Tyler Jones?”
“As in Jeremy Jones’s son?” They’re a famous father-son music producing duo. I heard rumors he was on the ship but hadn’t seen him. What a fucking prick for cheating on Joey.
“How did you two meet?” I guess knowing that we’ll never see each other again makes it easier to ask personal questions.
“I snuck into a club with my friends with a fake ID, and he was scoping out talent that night.”
“Really?” I ask.
“Yeah. I did a lot of crazy shit in high school. That’s what happens when your mom is—never mind. That was a fun night.” Her voice is soft, almost wistful. “He had no idea I was sixteen, of course. I can’t even remember how he found out I was still in highschool, but he was pissed. Especially after spending half the night showering me with attention. He punched his number into my phone and told me to call him the day I turned eighteen.”
“Did you?”
“You bet your ass I did.” She laughs, but it falls short. “Ugh!” She lifts both arms and smacks the mattress on either side of her. “Enough about him. Distract me,” she begs, her voice breathy. “Help me get my mind off the last twenty-four hours.”
“What did you have in mind?” For a second, I think she’s asking me to distract her with sex, and my heart and my dick both leap. I shut that shit down quickly.
“Let’s play a game.” She pushes herself up again and fluffs the pillow behind her.
“A game?” I turn to face her and prop myself up on one elbow. “Are we five?”
She shoves my shoulder, and I fall back dramatically.
Then she lets out the most adorable laugh. “Come on. Don’t be such an old man.”
“Okay.” I give in. “What game do you want to play?”
“Truth or Dare.”
I groan. “Anything but Truth or Dare.”
“What? Bad experience?”
