Page 93 of In the Same Boat

Last night flashes through my mind suddenly in sharp, horny fragments. The way his lips tasted, the feeling of his hands on my hips, the weight of his body on mine…

My eyes snap open again. Oh, I’m definitely awake. And I definitely need water.

I carefully slip out of the bed without waking Nico and grab one of his T-shirts from the floor. It’s not even 9a.m. yet, I doubt anyone is even up, but the only thing that could make this worse would be flashing someone – well, someone else.

The yacht is quiet when I step out into the corridor. The early morning sunlight spills through the windows across the main cabin while the marina outside still feels half asleep.

I head towards the kitchen area in search of water, my head aching at every turn, furious at me for how much I drank last night.

‘Good morning,’ Hank says, causing me to jump out of my skin.

Wow, I didn’t think my headache could get worse, but that did the trick.

He’s standing barefoot by the coffee machine wearing shorts and one of those aggressively cheerful polo shirts of his.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ he says, realising he’s startled me.

‘That’s okay,’ I tell him. I puff air from my cheeks. ‘Good morning.’

‘Feeling a bit worse for wear?’ he asks with a knowing grin.

I nod – as much as my headache will allow.

‘Your mum and I couldn’t find you. We ended up leaving, going to get a late dinner somewhere. Where did you guys end up?’

I feel my cheeks flush bright red. When we were pretending, I wanted them to think we were at it, for the plan. Now it’s true I feel so, sooo awkward. No one wants their parents thinking they have sex, do they? Just like no one wants to think of their parents doing it. Ugh.

I, personally, was delivered by stork.

He’s grinning at me. Oh my gosh, please stop grinning. I feel like he’s reading my mind.

‘You’re up early,’ I point out, suddenly aware I have no idea what time he gets up generally, but everyone sleeps in after a night out, right?

‘Old habits,’ he says.

‘Ah, have you always got up early for work?’

‘No – I mean it’s an old-man thing,’ he says with a laugh.

‘So… is Mum in your cabin?’ I can’t stop myself from asking.

I grab a cold bottle of water from the fridge and hold it on my forehead. Oh, that’s good. That’s sooo good.

‘No, she’s in yours,’ he replies. ‘I assume you were in with Nico again?’

I take a long drink of water while trying to avoid eye contact. I could lie, but I’m standing here in Nico’s T-shirt, and I’m headed back there. I just nod.

‘So you and Mum had a good night last night?’

I’m wondering if our plan worked, if we caused enough chaos for them to want us out of their hair…

‘Bloody marvellous,’ he replies. ‘Even the club, as noisy as it was, we had a blast. I’ve never been in a VIP section before. Why would anyone do it any other way?’

Spoken like a true man who owns a yacht.

‘That’s great,’ I reply. ‘Everyone had a great night. Great, great…’

Yeah, okay, so the plan backfired.