Page 50 of Ship Happens

“I didn’t say anything,” Kaitlyn says in her defense.

“No, but you insinuated.” Owen glowers at her.

“I think she was implying, actually,” Jacob corrects. Because he can’t help himself.

“Whatever.” Owen crosses his arms. “Thanks.”

“How’d that happen?” Kaitlyn asks.

“I was hiding from an obsessive masseuse,” Owen tells her. “Jacob was just collateral damage.”

“Hey, I was helpful!” Jacob reminds him.

Kaitlyn hesitates, eyeing the both of them silently. Like she doesn’t believe Owen for a second.

“Okay, well . . .” Owen straightens. “If you’ll both excuse me, I’m going to take the mineral bath that I came here for.” He barely gets the words out before he’s pushing past the Morrison siblings. Jacob opens his mouth like he wants to tell Owen to stop, but he doesn’t say anything.

He just lets Owen go.

Chapter Nine

Bro Code

For the second night in a row, sleep eludes Owen.

This time, rather than wrestle with the comforter and risk waking up Kevin, he dresses quietly, pulling on his sweatpants and hoodie from the night before. After the spa, the group had gone their separate ways for a few hours. Kaitlyn and Abigail had reservations of their own for a date night, Kevin went to “meet up” with a girl he met at the sail-away party, and Jacob . . . Well, Owen didn’t really know where Jacob had gone. That was until Kaitlyn and Abigail convinced Owen to join them at a stand-up show at one of the clubs.

Of course he spied Jacob first.

“What are you doing here?” Owen asked.

“Kaitlyn and Abby invited me, said there was a show?”

Owen grumbled, then rolled his eyes at the text from Kaitlyn that they were running late. Eventually, the show started, and Owen and Jacob were directed inside, forced to sit next to each other as several comics took the stage one right after the other.

The only time Owen cracked a smile was when Jacob leaned over to whisper something in his ear about how awful the first act had been. Owen had to cover his mouth when he accidentally let out a snort during the setup of a joke, earning the ire of a few nearby passengers.

“Respect the artist.” Jacob nudged him, giggling softly.

Owen had to stop himself, remember that it wasn’t normal. Their friends weren’t around, so there was no need to keep up the act of civility. But for the remainder of the show, all he could think about was how Jacob’s shoulder was pressed right against his, how their knees were almost touching, save for those thirty precious seconds when Owen was too tired to keep pretending and he let his thigh fall against Jacob’s.

Just for a bit.

Kaitlyn apologized when she met up with them at the room later, saying that she and Abby had gotten held up at dinner. Owen didn’t comment on how Kaitlyn and Abigail seemed very comfortable in the suite, dressed in their pajamas already, like they’d been settled in for a few hours.

Packing his sketchbook and his headphones in his shoulder bag, Owen makes his way out of the suite and down the short hallway to the private lounge area.

Despite the early—or late—hour, the lounge is still open, though there isn’t a soul to be found. The bar sits empty, the televisions turned off, the overhead lights dimmed to provide the perfect ambiance as the clock ticks toward sunrise.

Thankfully, there’s a self-service coffee station where Owen can make himself a quick drink before he makes himself comfortable in one of the large lounge chairs, sliding open one of the doors to the balcony so that he can appreciate the cool breeze.

He doesn’t pull out his drawing supplies right away. Instead, Owen decides that he wants to just sit with himself, hands warmed by the paper cup, breathing in the nutty aroma of the coffee. Outside the window gulls caw as they fly by, and in the distance, he can hear the crashing of the waves as the ship slices through the ice-cold water, and the breeze carries the smell of salt that Owen can’t help but take a deep breath of.

According to the “Where Are We?” feature in the cruise app, they’re closing in on Sitka, making their way up the sound. They’ll probably be docking within the next few hours, perfectly timing it to when most of the passengers will be waking up. Kaitlyn had given them the rundown of everything they’d signed up for. Their morning would begin with a breakfast on the water at one of the town’s most popular spots. After that, they’d been signed up for a candle-making course, though Kaitlyn assured them that there were plenty of other classes that they could sign up for if no one wanted to work with wax. After that, they’d have a bit of downtime, and Abigail suggested a few museums, or they could join the group that’s going on a tour of the various totem poles around town.

And for their afternoon activity, they’d been given a choice.

A hike or whale-watching.