I could feel my cheeks heat up with all their eyes on me. “It’s okay, I don’t mind. If I don’t want to answer, I won’t.” Like about my days in the military. “I grew up in a small town in Florida. We lived about two hours away from the gulf.”
I missed my dad waking me up early. We’d arrive at the water right as the sun started to rise over the water and fish until noon. Those were the days.
“Did everyone know everyone’s business where you grew up?” Stella asked with a bite. I wondered what had happened to her to make her want to leave where she’d always lived.
“You can’t sneeze without the people on the other side of town saying, ‘bless you.’” Everyone knowing everything that happened every second of your life was what made me not want to go home.
“Stell and I know all about small towns.” Penelope frowned at her friend.
“Let’s not go there.” Stella threw back the rest of her margarita and slammed down her glass. “Remember, we’re celebrating and putting the past behind us.”
I knew that was easier said than done.
Stella raised her glass. “More margs!”
The stews walked out at that moment with dessert in their hands. There were many times when I helped serve, so it was strange being on this side of the table.
“Tonight, the chef has bad for you a chocolate lava cake with a salted caramel sauce,” O said as she plated the dessert in front of the primary. She always made sure the primary was served first since they were responsible for our tip.
Zelda held it to her nose and took a long, drawn-out sniff. “This looks to die for.”
“I’ll be sure to let the chef know. Would anyone like another drink?” she asked as she circled the table and collected the empty drink glasses.
“Yes,” Stella held her glass in the air, “I’ll have a glass of white wine. Whatever you’ve got. I’m not picky.”
“Are you sure you should be switching to wine?” her friend asked her. “You don’t want to get sick.”
“I can’t drink a margarita with a lava cake. That would make me sick.” Stella scrunched her nose up as if the thought was disgusting.
It wasn’t appetizing by any means.
“I am not holding your hair back later if you get sick.” Pen raised her glass to Ophelia. “I’ll take another glass of Champagne.”
“I’ll be right back with your drinks,” O said with what I knew was a fake smile on her face. She didn’t like that she wasn’t mixing up drinks and getting them drunk. I would never understand O. If the guests were plastered the entire time, they weren’t going to leave us with a great tip. They needed to enjoy the experience as a whole.
“So Remy, is it?” Penelope asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Is that short for something?”
“No, just Remy.” All my life, everyone thought my name was short for Remington, but my mom only ever planned to call me Remy, so she said there was no point in naming me something different. There was logic there.
“Do you have a girlfriend or a significant other?”
I almost choked on my bite of cake. Did she think I might be gay or married? I don’t have a ring on my finger. While there’s nothing wrong with being gay, I didn’t think I put off those vibes.
“No, my lifestyle isn’t conducive to having a girlfriend.” I caught Stella relax at my words. Did she like that I didn’t have a girlfriend or that I didn’t want one?
Stella and Penelope seemed to have a wordless conversation that I enjoyed watching as they stared each other down. Every so often, one of their brows would raise, or a lip would twitch, but that was the only sign of movement. After that, they remained quiet, and I was disappointed they were done with me.
With everyone eating the amazing dessert, it wasn’t long before everyone’s plate was left without a crumb. While I wanted to leave earlier, now I wished I could stay. I knew I couldn’t, though. I had to give Scout a break.
“Thank you for having me, ladies. It was a delight, but now I must get back to work. Have a good night.” I bowed to them, then taking a step away, I caught out of the corner of my eye as my dinner companion stood on wobbly legs.
“Whoa there,” I grabbed her arm to keep Stella from falling on her face. “Are you okay?”
She ducked her head and hid behind her shiny veil of hair. “I drank more than I realized, and it all just caught up to me. Would you walk me to my room? I really don’t want to fall overboard again.”
I’d probably be fired if she fell over again. Especially if it was because I wouldn’t walk her to her room.
“We can’t have that, can we?” I answered her, holding my elbow out for her to take.
“Where are you going?” Reagan asked with an arched brow.
“I’ll be back as soon as I use the restroom. Remy here is helping me, so I don’t fall off the boat again.”
“You don’t have to come back if you don’t want to. If you need privacy, put something on the door handle.”
Stella sent a murderous glare to her friend, making Penelope laugh. She fell over and leaned on Scarlett’s shoulder.
“Let’s get out of here,” Stella huffed.
Her warm hand wrapped around my bicep, and she leaned into me. She smelled of the sun and coconut. “Thank you, and I’m sorry for Pen grilling you and her insinuation. She loves to embarrass me.”
“Really, I didn’t mind. If she had asked anything too personal, I wouldn’t have answered.” I tried to reassure her. It had been cute watching Stella get all flushed and embarrassed because of her friend.
“Still, she doesn’t know when to stop, so if you ever get cornered again by her, you can tell her to mind her own shit.”
I probably wouldn’t use those words.
“I might just do that,” I said to placate her.
We stepped inside, and the air instantly felt stale compared to the ocean breeze that was continuous on the aft deck.
Her hand moved up my arm and back down again. “You look very handsome in your uniform.”
Women did like a man in uniform. I wondered what she’d think of me in my dress blues.
“Thank you.”
“You guys seem to change an awful lot. Why is that?” She looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and I wanted to drown in them.
“We have different uniforms for different activities. You probably won’t see as many changes for the rest of your stay.”
“Mmm.” She hummed and let me lead her toward her room.
“How are you liking your stay on the Seas the Day?” I asked to make small talk.
“It’s over the top. I’m not used to this kind of luxury. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving every minute of it except for the incident earlier and you having to save me. Well,” she hummed as we rounded the corner to her room. “You saving me wasn’t bad. That probably makes me sound desperate, doesn’t it?”
We stopped in front of her door, but she didn’t seem to realize where we were. Instead, Stella continued to hold on to my arm and leaned into me, warming up the left side of my body.
“Why would it make you sound desperate?” I asked to spend a little extra time with only her.