Sailor Proof (Shore Leave 1)

“I’m not injured.” Arthur had a sad little smile for me as he patted my upper arm. “I’m fine. Enjoy your game.”

I felt like I was missing some important point as he walked away. He didn’t seem as fine as he claimed, but before I could chase him down, Calder called me back to the game. I continued coaching Taylor and Seth and the rest of the team who had stuck around, and the boys whooped and hollered with each point. I missed Arthur, though. Missed having a reason to spur the team on to victory. Missed showing off for him.

A lot of my fight had left with Arthur, and it wasn’t surprising when we lost two fast sets to Calder’s team. The kids didn’t seem all that disappointed, still hopping around and turning cartwheels, but I felt guilty because I knew my distraction had played a role in our demise.

After the game I wandered over to the dining hall where people were milling around, waiting for the gong to ring. Arthur was surrounded by a different group of kids, and he was smiling far wider than he had playing volleyball. Tinny music echoed from the phone he was holding up as he showed dance steps to a pair of little girls, one of whom promptly tripped mid-spin.

“Oops. I messed up again.” The girl’s chin wobbled, dark eyes welling up. I prepared for waterworks, but Arthur simply laughed and tipped her head back up with his finger.

“That wasn’t a mistake! You invented a new move. Here, let me try.” He did a much more graceful version of her trip, managing to make spin-trip-spin look intentional. “Wow. That’s fun!”

“You’re silly, Uncle Arthur.” The girl grinned at him, no more tears, crisis averted. Damn, Arthur was impressive. I couldn’t help smiling too.

“And you’re brilliant,” Arthur said as he knelt down to the girl’s level. “Keep doing you, okay? Keep it fun.”

“I will.” Grabbing his hand, she swung herself back and forth.

Keep doing you. Keep it fun. Hell. Was that where I had gone wrong? By focusing so hard on winning, had I taken away the thing that made Arthur who he was?

He headed into the dining hall with his fan club of kids at his heels, leaving me kicking at the dirt and wondering how in the hell I was supposed to make this right. My neck hurt. Now I needed a real apology for my fake boyfriend and fast unless I wanted to be the one sleeping in the tub that night.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Arthur

“Are you and Derrick going to make up?” Ingrid asked after breaking up a kid battle over who got which stick for roasting marshmallows. We were in charge of s’mores distribution again, and after such a long day, the kids were even more rambunctious than usual.

“What?” I played dumb and handed out another pair of graham crackers. “We’re not fighting.”

“Yes, you are. You didn’t sit together at dinner, and he keeps giving you these long puppy-dog looks.” Ingrid deftly intervened before Seth and Vince could spear each other.

She had a point. I’d seen Derrick coming my direction and quickly slid into the last seat at Aunt Sandy’s table rather than wait to sit together. I was perfectly aware I was acting petty, and I still didn’t entirely understand why I was so upset. And weirdly, knowing Derrick had noticed and might care buoyed my mood. “He does?”

“Definitely.” Grinning at me, she flipped her braid over one shoulder. “You should put him out of his misery and forgive him for whatever tiff you guys had.”

“It’s stupid anyway,” I admitted. Even trying to rationalize in my head, it seemed ridiculous. My fake boyfriend was too good at defending my honor, and I took issue with his enthusiasm. Yeah. Anyone would laugh at that beef.

“Even more reason to let it go.” Ingrid apparently didn’t need the full explanation to dispense advice as we handed out food to the last of the line. “Okay, I think that’s all the kids.”

“And hey, now we’re out of chocolate.” I held up the empty box. “Guess there’s none for us.”

“Yes, there’s some for you.” Derrick appeared in front of us almost as if I’d summoned him. And he held out a small paper plate. “I made you one.”

“You did?” I didn’t move to take the plate even as Ingrid made an awww noise. “Why?”

“Because you were so busy with the kids, I figured you might miss your chance.”

That got another awww from Ingrid, who made a show of cleaning up the picnic table and leaving Derrick and me to stare awkwardly at each other.

“Oh.” I went ahead and accepted the plate even if I didn’t fully understand what he was after here. I ate the s’more, mostly because it felt rude to not, but I was more interested in figuring out what Derrick was up to than the treat.