A Royal Christmas Cruise (Stonewall Investigations Miami 2.50)

“Sorry, Catherine,” I said, cutting things off before they could escalate, “I’ve got to go. The ship is, uh, rocking pretty bad.”

She looked confused, probably seeing that I was standing quite comfortably on two feet, no rocking in sight.

I hung up the call before my mom could get back on. With an exhale, I threw my phone onto the bed and continued to get ready, trying to forget about the drama that awaited me back home. I had to let it all go. I had to focus on the here and now.

Which happened to be very easy to do when I started picturing Shiro again, here on the bed, lying down and waiting for me, like a Christmas gift I had to unwrap with my teeth.

Annnd, I’m hard again.

8 Shiro Brooks

Silver and red fairy lights twinkled above us, strung up with invisible wire between the classic lampposts that lined the cobbled street. An instrumental version of “Jingle Bells” played through invisible speakers tucked inside holly bushes potted in beautiful white vases, their dark green leaves making the bright red berries pop. We sat in a circle around a table set on the deck, the ocean stretching out around us in every direction. We could see the moon glitter off the dark water as the cruise ship cut through the peaceful waters.

Lou and his girlfriend—who I’d only just learned was named Elle, and that was because her phone’s battery had died and she was forced to join in the conversation—were sitting next to me, both of them sipping on their candy cane rum drinks. Jada was retelling an animated story of the time Lou and I got locked out of our dorm and had to sneak up the side of the building to slip in through the window. Lou only made it up to the second floor, but I climbed my way up to the fifth.

“I still don’t know why you didn’t just call me,” she said, laughing after she got to the part where I ended up going into the wrong window.

“We should have,” I answered. “It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble.” I started blushing remembering the two frightened faces who had looked up from their fellatio marathon to see a virtual stranger crawling in through the window. To make matters all the worse, this had happened after we went to an “anything but clothes” party, so I was wearing a makeshift top and bottom created from holiday ribbons. I looked batshit crazy.

Thankfully, I had known Paul and Manny after I helped them move into the dorms. They were both incredibly drunk, which helped the situation. They threw on boxer shorts and helped me inside.

“And we still had to wake up the RA.” Lou shook his head, a smile lighting up his face.

“The A-B-C party was worth it, though,” I said, spotting Ace walking toward us from across the deck. He had a spring in his step. Rex walked close behind him, same spring. I was surprised to see another figure with them.

Nick. He lacked the spring.

They walked around the packed tables, everyone wanting to sit on the deck for the first night out at sea. Ace waved and twirled as he came over to us. I noticed Rex eating him up with his eyes. It reminded me of the way Nick had looked at me inside the bathroom.

Heat flashed across my chest, down into my crotch.

“Hey, guys,” I said, moving my chair so that there was space for the three of them. Nick sat next to me, looking as good as ever in a simple white T-shirt and navy blue shorts. I noticed a woman walking toward the table, one I had spotted a couple of times already. At first I thought one of us had dropped something, but she walked past us, going over to the railing and leaning against it, her hat almost getting blown off by a sudden gust of wind.

“How were your naps?” Lou asked, looking at Ace and Rex, who had clearly done everything except nap.

“Wonderful,” said Ace, his green eyes glittering. Rex, a man who lived up to his name with big burly arms and a jaw that looked strong enough to bite a tree in half, also had a glitter in his gaze.

“Oh, these two napped reallll hard,” Jada said, brow arched, straw in her mouth. She took a big sip as Ace burst into giggles.

“Yes, if by nap you mean Rex pummeled me inside of the massive tub in our room.”

“Ace!” Jada exclaimed, slapping playfully at his chest. Rex adopted a cocky little smile but said nothing. I had a feeling he was used to Ace’s big mouth as much as we were. “Nice,” she followed up in a stage whisper.

I wondered what Nick was thinking about all this. He smiled and laughed and dropped a couple of jokes. He seemed comfortable. He also didn’t need to be here. Maybe I should have been more forceful in turning him away. I remember feeling pissed off that he wouldn’t take up my crazy plan on the spot, and I could see how crazy that all was in hindsight, but still, the frustration toward him all disappeared in a flick of his butterfly-winged eyelashes.