“I thought you were skipping Sunday Funday,” she teases Nick and comes over to me and kisses me on my cheek.
“Yeah, well, all that changed,” Tom says from the phone. “Hey, Mona, what’s happening?”
“Oh, shit,” she says, going to the phone. “The gang’s all here. Must be a big thing.” She holds the phone and then turns to look at us. “Who fucked up this time?”
Everyone answers at the same time. “Luca.”
She looks over at me. “What did you do?” She has become a part of our group, and if truth be told, we would all pick her if Nick fucks up. Not to mention, she is drop-dead gorgeous with black hair and green eyes. And the best part is she’s super smart.
“He has a kid,” Nick says, smirking as he leans back on the counter across from us and crosses his legs at the ankles.
Mona gasps out loud. “What?” She slaps her free hand on the counter. “How? Who? When?” She doesn’t even catch her breath while she asks me all these questions. “Holy shit, how old is he or is it a she?” she says and then holds up her hands. “Oh my God, is she pregnant right now? Can I throw you a baby shower? What about a gender reveal party? They are very big right now.”
I look over at Nick. “Calm her,” I tell him, and he reaches out and pulls her to him, kissing her lips again. “Seven,” I answer, and her eyes go big again. “Or six. And he’s a boy, a beautiful boy named Aiden,” I say, smiling at her.
Her eyes go huge. “That’s crazy. How did you not know?” she asks, and everyone groans.
“I’m out,” Tom says at the same time as Jason does, and they all disconnect.
I start to speak, but she holds up her hand. “Wait, I need wine,” she says. Going to the fridge, she grabs her white wine and pours herself a glass, taking a sip and then sitting on one of the stools. “Okay, now start.”
“We met on the booze cruise,” I say, and she laughs out loud.
“The cruise where one of the guys got chlamydia?” Then she looks over at Nick, pointing at him. “I don’t even want to know what you were up to.”
He raises his hands. “Please, I was a saint. Before you, all I did was watch porn.”
“Yeah, anal porn, right?” she asks him, and his mouth opens halfway.
“That is not my history,” he says, and she laughs, shaking her head.
“You know that when you go on porn, there are popups, right?” she tells him as he crosses his arms in front of him. “It opens in another window, and even if you clear your history, it’s still there.”
He looks at her and then looks at me, and all I do is shrug. “I did not know this,” he says. “But if it makes you feel better, it was after we did all those things.” He winks at her, and she blushes.
“I’m still here,” I tell them.
“Okay, sorry,” Mona says. “Go ahead.”
“I need a minute,” I say to them and walk out their back door to their outdoor patio. I stand here with my hands in my pockets, and I’m suddenly back to when this craziness all started.
“Holy shit, boys,” Nick said loudly. “Look at all the pussy,” he whispered, and I looked around. It was like spring break gone wrong.
“Four days of sun and booze,” Jason said while he grabbed his bag. We got in the massive line to board the ship. We stood there for a good hour as we got through security, took our picture, and then finally got our cabin keys. “So we have two cabins side by side,” the woman behind the counter said. “Both are with twin beds.” We took the keys from her and then made our way up the ramp toward the boat.
“How cool is it that the boat is called Carnival Destiny?” Tom asked, looking around when we walked in and were standing smack in the middle of the boat. I looked up to see it was all glass for five or six floors, and an American flag hung in the middle of the ceiling. Three glass elevators on one side, and on the other were stairs that wound down from floor to floor.
The bar in the middle of the floor was already full. “What do you say, boys, shall we?” Jason pointed at the bar, and we all walked to it.
I looked down, walking to the bar, and bumped into someone, and all I saw was blond hair. My hands flew forward to stop her from falling. I brought her to me, and her hands grabbed my arms.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, looking into the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. A cliché, that’s for sure, but still the same. Her eyes literally shined as she smiled.