A Royal Christmas Cruise (Stonewall Investigations Miami 2.50)

“Oh, Shy! Seriously?” Ace said, sitting back up and dropping a finger.

Jada put her finger down, too, looking at me with some pity. “Mason needs to step it up.”

“He sure does,” I said half-heartedly. Next to me, Nick quietly dropped a finger, and my entire body turned into a bundle of live wire. I tried so damn hard not to picture Nick bent over, hands on his cheeks, spreading himself wide open so someone could eat his ass.

Annnnnd, of course, it was the only thing my brain could now focus on.

Nick was up next. He sucked on his lower lip, doing even more to my body than I thought I could handle. I started to pump my legs together, which made me focus on the way my dick was growing harder by the second.

“Never have I ever had sex with a man.”

I had to work to keep my jaw from dropping. Ace and Rex and Jada all put their fingers down. I followed, working on a five-second delay.

Assumptions. The worst things to make, and I had made them. With the way Nick had kissed me, and how he handled me when we were alone, it had me automatically assume that he knew his way around a guy’s body.

Next was Elle, who said that she’d never had sex in a car before. We all dropped fingers for that one. The game continued, the group of us giggling like kids stumbling on bad words in a magazine. At one point, I looked out to the jet-black ocean and realized how lucky I felt. When Mason and I broke up, I was sure my entire trip would be ruined. I thought I’d turn into a sailing grinch, locked up in his room and avoiding all kinds of good memories.

Instead, the complete opposite happened. Fun was being had, and memories were being made, all while we sailed on a five-star cruise ship decked out for the holidays.

And, not to forget the star on top of the tree, there had been the practically serendipitous meeting of the mysterious and oh-so-freaking-handsome Nick. If I had boarded this ship with Mason, then I had a strong feeling Nick and I never would have even exchanged words. Now, he was sitting next to me, his knee bumping into mine, lingering, hidden by the table. At one point, his entire leg pressed against mine. There was a palpable heat that rolled off him. It scrambled me like eggs poured onto a hot skillet.

The game came to an end without too many more realizations. I wasn’t sure if my poker face could handle any more bombs coming from Nick. Once all hands came down, yawns started to take their place.

“All right, guys.” Ace rested his head on Rex’s shoulder, which I feel could have doubled as a helicopter landing pad. “I think we’re heading to bed.”

“Same,” Lou said, stretching his arms. Elle seemed like she was about ready to run a marathon, but she didn’t say anything, just nodded and stood up as the rest of us did. Nick stretched, too, his arm lifting over my head, his intoxicating scent drifting in my direction. My knees shivered. I suddenly felt as awake as Elle. Like I could run a marathon, but only if it was with Nick and only if we were naked and only if we weren’t actually running but fucking.

We walked as a big group to the elevators. Before getting in, Nick said his goodbyes to us, saying he was going to write a quick email. He stepped aside after we all said our good-nights, walking toward the atrium where he took a seat on one of the benches. I was tempted to follow him, to say that maybe I also needed to write an email, and that we could write our emails together.

Possibly naked.

But no, I didn’t follow. I figured that would just bring up more questions than I already had bubbling inside me. And besides, I was feeling pretty exhausted. A good night’s rest didn’t sound like a terrible idea.

We rode the elevators up to our floors and said good night to each other as we all separated. Ace was literally carried down the hall by Rex, his giggles falling behind him like a trail of horned-up breadcrumbs.

With a yawn I unlocked my room. Inside, I stripped down to my briefs and crawled into bed, exhausted after a full day of reunions, fake friendships, and bathroom hookups. I could hardly believe that I’d been on this cruise for less than a day. It felt like we had already gone halfway across the world with everything that had happened.

In bed, I grabbed my phone and started to mindlessly scroll through my usual apps. A couple of times, I’d find myself thinking about Nick and what he was up to in his room.