But before I could respond or digest it further, Joel called my name, and then a chorus of Aspen, Aspen rang out, and I had no choice but to follow the coax.
Theo leaned back with a grin, tipping an imaginary hat toward me like we’d just been having a casual, light conversation.
And with my water in hand, I joined the rest of the crew at the pool just as the sun set, ushering in a hellish night that would change everything.
The later it got, the more the alcohol flowed.
And the more the alcohol flowed, the more I wished I’d never left the stateroom.
What started out as nice cocktails by the pool turned quickly into lines of shots. The crew went from lounging around and chatting to cannonballing into the pool and playing drinking games that seemed so ridiculously out of place on a multi-million-dollar yacht that my lip visibly curled at the sight.
Theo had taken leave of his offer to serve us, but he sat at the bar, watching the antics with a curious smile permanently on his face. Every now and then, he’d even indulge the crew in taking a shot with them. Somewhere around eleven, he excused himself with Wayland to go check on Captain Chuck, who was the only one of us still working, and the crew partied on in their absence.
I’d asked Joel if we could head out over an hour ago, but he’d pretended like he didn’t even hear me at all. And I wanted him to have fun, I did — but I knew him well enough to know he was teetering on the edge of cute drunk and messy drunk, and I did not want to deal with the latter.
Contrary to the fact that I wanted to leave now, I had been enjoying myself. It was fun, being in a pool on the top deck of a yacht in the Tyrrhenian Sea. I got to chat with Emma more, hear stories about Wayland’s time growing up in Jamaica, and Joel was being flirty and cute and fun.
The problem was — he wasn’t being flirty and cute and fun with only me.
I sipped my water, watching him and Ace in the pool. They were speaking in hushed tones, and then suddenly, they slid through the water quietly, depositing their drinks on the edge of the pool before they lifted themselves out.
I saw what was happening before Ivy and Celeste did.
The poor girls were dancing to the playlist Claude had put on, their hips swaying this way and that, when Ace and Joel snuck up behind them. They wrapped their arms around them, dragging them kicking and screaming toward the pool. The girls had put their feet in and gone waist deep, but had avoided getting their hair wet.
Until now.
Joel and Ace launched themselves into the pool with the girls wrapped up in their arms, and when they all emerged, it was to squeals and curses and both girls swatting at them as they laughed.
I chuckled, shaking my head at the show, but then Ivy shoved Joel over to the far edge of the pool. She muttered something for only them to hear — something that made Joel smile wickedly — and then, in front of me and God and everyone else, he grabbed both her tits in his hands and squeezed.
It wasn’t a sexual advance, more like a playful boob squeeze that reminded me of something my sister would do to a friend. But it didn’t matter. Regardless of intent, he’d grabbed her somewhere he never should have, and he’d done it in front of everyone.
Ivy laughed and shoved him away, and then her hands disappeared under the water, and he bit his lip at something before wiggling out of her grasp.
Another laugh left Ivy’s lips as she made her way out of the pool, and Joel slapped her ass on her ascent.
That did it.
I wasn’t one for confrontation. In fact, even now, as I stormed over to the pool, everything inside me was screaming for me to just walk right past all of them and go downstairs, go to my room, go to bed. It was fine. He was just drunk. They were just playing.
But something had clicked inside of me.
All summer, I’d felt it niggling, a little prickle of something tickling my chest, my throat, wiggling its way into my body and soul. I was afloat, and in that state, I was susceptible to doing and saying things I never would normally.
Apparently, that included stomping right over to Joel and calling him out in front of the entire crew.
“Hey, babe,” Joel said with a goofy smile when I hit the edge of the pool.
“Did you forget I was here?”
My words were cold and harsh, and I crossed my arms as everyone turned to look at us.
Joel frowned. “What?”
“I said, did you forget I was here? Or did you want me to see you fondling another girl like I don’t exist?”
Joel’s mouth popped open, but I saw anger slip in quickly, replacing the shock. “You’re being ridiculous. We were just messing around.”
“Yeah?” I asked, popping a hip. “Well, maybe I should find someone to mess around with, too.”
I stormed off just as a chorus of ooooh’s broke out, along with a light cloud of laughter.
Emma was coming up the stairs as I stomped toward them, and when she saw me, her eyebrows knitted together. “Hey, are you okay? What happened?”
I shook her off when she reached for me, still fuming so much I couldn’t even answer her.
I was rounding the railing of the stairs when Joel’s arm caught my elbow, whipping me around to face him. Emma gave him a look before her eyes met mine, and I softly nodded, letting her know I was okay. She didn’t seem convinced when she left us, but she gave us the space to talk.
“What’s your problem?” Joel asked.
Everyone had gone back to partying, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think they
