“Two greyhounds,” Jake ordered. He already knew my favorite drink.
“Hey, guys.” Meagan waved us over to where she was sitting with a group of dancers.
When we squeezed in, I happily let her slide between me and Jake. I wouldn’t even hate it if something happened between the two of them. As great as he was, a relationship was the last thing on my mind.
“Oh.” Liz, one of the other principal dancers, jumped up and pointed toward the top deck. “I think the fireworks show is about to start. Let’s go.”
The entire group got up from their seats and started making their way to the upper balcony, but I hung back.
“You coming, Kai?” Jake asked over his shoulder.
I smiled and shook my head, waving him on. “I’ll catch up in a bit.”
Lie. No way would I be going anywhere near that balcony.
So they walked off, and I worked my way back to the emptying bar, where I could finally breathe and sip my drink slowly.
My thoughts were heavy as I let my worries consume me. I was still technically in LA—though on the San Pedro end of it—still moored in the harbor, and Gravity was only a little over an hour away. But I felt like I was a world away from my friends.
Then again, the dance life was known for its bouts of loneliness, with traveling to a new town, getting to know a new dance crew, and learning how to fit in yet again. While that was fun and I was doing what I loved, it was mentally draining at the same time.
I was scrolling through my phone when a message from Sebastian popped up. I sighed and opened it, my heart suddenly beating fast.
Sebastian: Sorry, I’m a dick.
Kai: You are who you are. No apologies needed.
Sebastian: Does that mean you’ll have a drink with me?
I looked up to where he was sitting earlier, and damn it, he was still there. I frowned as I looked back down at my phone and typed.
Kai: No.
I tried to ignore the tiny flutters in my chest as I caught his smile from the other end of the bar.
Sebastian: Fair enough. We can talk like this.
Kai: I didn’t think you liked to talk.
Sebastian: Sure I do. How do you like the ship so far?
I started to look over at him but forced my head to remain down. After inhaling and releasing a deep breath, I gave up my resistance and typed back.
Kai: I like it better than I thought I would. Though… I haven’t seen much of it.
The tour Sophie took Wayne and me on the other day had consisted mainly of the crew areas.
Sebastian: You need a tour then.
Kai: Let me guess. You want to be my tour guide?
A light chuckle drifted from the other end of the bar.
Sebastian: I appreciate the confidence, but I am clueless. Maybe we should explore together.
My hands froze on my phone as I tried to come up with some sort of clever rejection. But instead…
Kai: Now?
I looked up to see him grin.
Sebastian: No better time.
Chapter 16
Sebastian
I had no idea where I was taking Kai when we slipped into the nearest elevator and pushed a random button on the panel, but I loved that she went along with me, wearing a smile.
The door dinged on the seventh deck, and we just starting walking. We passed the open atrium, the casino, a sitting area, and a bar. I pointed at a glassed-in room with a revolving door at its entrance, and she nodded. She went first, pushing into the room, and I followed, meeting her on the inside with a grin.
The room was dark since it wasn’t in use, but it looked like an ideal place to go for a good time. Purple leather couches were situated around the room. The floor was made of clear plastic squares with giant light bulbs beneath them, and a dance floor took up most of the room. A long bar ran along the back of the room, the wall lined with every drink imaginable. And a DJ booth was set on top of a stage.
I took Kai’s hand and pulled her toward the booth, slipped inside, and pushed the only button that looked like it could power things on.
Bingo.
As the lights on the machine blinked to life, Kai gasped beside me. “What are you doing?” she squealed.
I chuckled. “Just testing out the dance floor.” I looked at her panicked expression, loving it far more than I should. “What? We’re not doing anything wrong. We have run of the ship.”
Her eyes grew wide, and she smacked me lightly with the back of her hand. “That doesn’t mean we can fiddle with the ship’s AV equipment,” she admonished. “Don’t you need a license to run this stuff?” Her eyes were wide, scanning all the buttons on the table in front of us.
Her curiosity only egged me on. I pushed another button and watched as a strobe light appeared from the ceiling. “Too right.”
Kai laughed. I didn’t care that she was laughing at me, probably for my Aussie-speak. “Too right” was just my way of agreeing with heaps of excitement. But I liked that it put a smile on her face.
“Want to know a secret?” I gave her a sideways grin.
“Depends,” she said with a glare. “What will it cost me?”
“Free of charge.” Then I winked. “When I was in high school, not only was I impressing all the ladies by tickling the ivories, but I was DJing on the side for extra cash.” I gestured to the equipment in front of me. “I was just fucking with you earlier. I could work this equipment in my sleep.
The next button I triggered started up some old Motown hit that had Kai squealing, and whatever tension she’d carried moments before at trespassing was fading away with each passing beat.
For a second, I just watched her face light up at the familiar tune, basking in her presence like she was the sun beaming down through a parting cloud. Maybe I’d needed Kai on the ship for more reasons than I’d been willing to admit. Her existence had the uncanny ability to make me feel a little more whole each time I was with her.
“I love this song,” she said as her shoulders moved to the beat.
“Likewise.” I continued watching her as her eyes closed and her movements became bigger, like she couldn’t help the way her body reacted to every beat. “Dance for me.”
My request was met with laughter filled with surprise as her movements paused.
“Excuse me?”
I bit my bottom lip, suddenly eager to take whatever I could get from Kai in this time alone. “I’ve only ever seen you dance to my songs. Show me something else.”
The surprise in her expression seemed to be morphing into something else. Intrigue. Acceptance. Then she stood and walked out to the dance floor. “Play ‘Dirty Diana.’ We learned this one in class last month.”
I thumbed through the song booklet and found the number then cued up the song. “Got it,” I said before hopping to my feet.
“Where are you going?” she asked with curious eyes as I crossed her path.
I took a seat at a booth at the end of the dance floor. “I want a front-row view for this.”
She probably would have met my comment with a sassy one of her own if the music didn’t start up just then. Her eyes met mine, and I swear I saw a flicker of nerves in them. Is she nervous because of the steps? Or because I’m watching her? I hoped it was the latter.
But in the next second, every ounce of nervousness I’d detected vanished as she pulled apart her leopard print wrap skirt and tossed it at me. I caught it with wide eyes and my heart in my throat. She didn’t just…