Wrecked (11 page)

“I hope so.”

Sarah turned to Candi who she caught rolling her eyes.  “Come on, Sugar Lump, let’s go find us a seat.”

“I really wish you’d stop calling me that,” Candi said to her back. 

Sarah just ignored her.

They walked over to a dark corner where a comfortable couch and a couple of tables were gathered together.  They dropped down onto the couch, setting their drinks on the table in front of them.

“So, what kind of meat is at the market today?” asked Sarah, scanning the room slowly from left to right, her eyes locking onto two guys who stepped away from the bar and began heading in their direction.

“A-ha, yes.  I thought so.  Tits out, Sugar Lump.  Incoming.”

“What?” was all Candi could get out before two really hot guys were standing in front of them.  She looked over at Sarah who was mouthing the words ‘tits out’ at her and throwing her shoulders back at the same time.

Candi leand in and whispered, “What is this, Animal Kingdom?”  

“Yes,” deadpanned Sarah.  

The big blond guy on the left spoke first.  “Hey, what’s up?  What are you girls drinking?”

“Margaritas, of course,” answered Sarah, evenly.  She didn’t seem flustered at all, just really sexy.

“Mind if we join you?” asked the other one, looking at Candi.

“Sure, sit … for a little while, anyway,” answered Sarah, knowing instinctively that Candi would be too tongue-tied to respond properly.

“Uh-oh, Jack, we have a dangerous one here,” said the blond, smiling.  They moved some nearby chairs so they could sit across from the girls.

The guy named Jack got comfortable, setting his drink down across from Candi’s.  “So, I’ll break the ice … we’re Jack and Mason, I’m Jack, he’s Mason, and we’re from New York.  What are your names, and where are you from?”

Sarah answered for both of them since Candi seemed to have been struck dumb.  “I’m Sarah and this is Candi; we’re both from North Carolina.”  

Candi looked over at Sarah, looking as if she were trying to send a silent message, her eyebrows raised.

“What?” asked Sarah, looking directly at Candi.

“What?” responded Candi, acting innocent, while also raising her eyebrows again and giving a nearly imperceptible shake of her head.

Sarah deliberately ignored her and turned back towards the boys.  “Is this your first time on this ship?”

“Yep,” answered Mason.  “How ‘bout you guys?  This your first time?”

“Yes, it is,” answered Sarah as she reached out, lifting her drink off the table and taking a big drink through the straw before she continued.  “We haven’t really seen anything here yet.  Is there a dance club on this ship?”

“You bet.  Up on B-deck, just down the hall from our rooms, in fact.”

Sarah got a sour look on her face.  “B-deck.  Isn’t that near the top?  With the ocean view balcony rooms?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?  Is that where your room is too?”

Candi blurted out, “No!  I mean … no.  We’re down below that area.  Our room doesn’t even have a window,” she finished sheepishly.

Jack jumped in, trying to bring the mood back to a happier place, “I’ve stayed in those rooms before, they’re not bad.  You hardly spend any time in them anyway, if you’re lucky.”  He lifted his eyebrows encouragingly at Candi.  His message was clear.  Sarah could tell he was more than willing to give Candi a personal tour.

Sarah smiled.  “I like that idea … spending no time in the room.”  She looked over at Candi.  “See?  We just have to stay out dancing all night.  Problem solved.”

Candi smiled back nervously.

“The club opens at nine, but Jack says it doesn’t really get going until ten or so.  We were going to go over there later ourselves,” said Mason.  He lifted up his drink, holding it up in front of him.  “Here’s to having a good time, staying out all night, and dancing and drinking until the sun comes up!”

The others reached for their drinks, clinking them together across the table, toasting to a night of revelry.  Everyone finished their drinks with big, long gulps.

***

Candi put her glass down on the table a little too hard, laughing nervously at her own clumsiness.  

Jack looked into her eyes and grinned.  He had the cutest smile.  Candi took a minute to really look at him.  His eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen; paired with his dark hair, broad shoulders, and trim waist, they made him look like some sort of underwear model or something.  He had a really manly jaw, square with a hint of beard shadow.  She didn’t know what to say to a guy this cute.  He was almost as cute as Kevin.  She wondered how old he was.  He looked at least nineteen, maybe older.

Sarah nudged her and whispered in her ear, “Stop staring, dork.”

Candi laughed self-consciously and looked down for a moment at her hands, trying to force herself not to twist them nervously.

“How old are you, anyway?” Mason asked Sarah.

Candi looked up to see what Sarah’s response would be.

“How old do I look?”  She started at him with a dare in her eyes.

“Old enough to get into a little trouble,” was his flirty response.

“I guess you’re right about that.”  Sarah turned to Jack.  “What about you, Jack?  Are you old enough to get into a little bit of trouble?”  She smiled sweetly, acting as if she was oblivious to the game she was playing, making Mason jealous by acting like she cared about Jack.  Candi could tell she really didn’t care about either one of them.

“I guess so,” he answered, smiling gamely, buying into her flirtatious manner.  Then he looked over at Candi, winking at her.  

Candi’s face went red.  She was confused with the games.  First Mason flirts with Sarah.  Then Sarah flirts with Jack.  Jack flirts with Sarah and then with her, right there at the same time.  In front of his friend.  Was this normal?

Mason and Jack were both staring at her now.  Candi started to squirm under their attentions, completely paranoid that she had a booger or something on her face.  She casually reached up to wipe at her nose.  Hopefully whatever they were staring at was now gone.

“Who needs another drink?” asked Mason, breaking the spell.

“All of us,” said Sarah.  “Come on, Mason, let’s go get a round together.”

Mason held out his hand for Sarah who took it and stood up.  

“Be right back!” she said to Candi, waving at her with her fingertips.  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Candi tried not to squirm.  She knew that there were probably a whole lot of things she could do and not run afoul of that directive.  

“Have you ever been on a cruise before?” Jack asked, back to staring at her again. 

She tried not to let it creep her out with its intensity.  “No, never.  Have you?”

“Yeah.  Several actually.  They’re all pretty much the same – partying, eating, getting no sleep.  Then you go home and back to the real world.”  

“Sounds like fun,” was all she could think to say, even though it didn’t.

“Yeah, it’s fun, but it can get old.  Buuuuut I think this one holds promise.”

Candi smiled at his obvious innuendo out of courtesy, but she couldn’t keep the misgivings from rising up in her mind.  Something about him was off.  Or maybe it was just the alcohol taking over her good sense.  

“Why have you been on so many cruises?” she asked, before she realized how stupid that sounded.  “Sorry, that was a dumb question.”

“No, no, not at all.  Well, my parents work a lot, so I guess they feel bad about me being stuck alone at the house all the time.  So sometimes when they go out of town, they send me out with my uncle on these cruises.  This time I took Mason with me instead.  We go to school together.”

“Oh, well, that’s cool, I guess.  I mean, my parents would never send me off on a cruise without coming along, so you’re lucky.”

“Yeah, well, it’s fun; but like I said, it gets old.  At least this time I have a room to myself.  If you feel like checking it out later, just say the word.”  

Candi shrugged her shoulders noncommittally, reaching over to grab her empty glass.  She sipped some of the melted ice water.  She wasn’t used to talking to totally hot strangers in bars, especially ones who were very possibly flirting with her if she wasn’t mistaken, so she didn’t know what to do or say.  She was praying Sarah would hurry up and get back with their drinks.

“Are you going to the dance club later?” 

“I’m not sure.  If Sarah wants to, probably.”  

“What Sarah wants, Sarah gets, is that it?”

Candi laughed.  “Yeah, pretty much.  I don’t bother telling her no anymore.”

“You guys are pretty close friends, huh?” 

Candi was surprised at this question.  “I guess so.  I mean, we don’t know each other that well, but we get along okay.”

“Huh.  That’s surprising.  I saw you two earlier when you came in.  You seemed pretty close.”

Candi thought about this, realizing that she and Sarah had actually hit it off, even bonded a bit.  She was happy about it and decided not to over-think it too much.

“We are, pretty close I mean.  She’s fun.”  

“I’ll bet.” Jack looked at her and smiled.  “I’ll bet you are too.”

Oh my god, he’s totally flirting with me,
thought Candi. 
I can’t believe a guy this hot is actually flirting with me! 
She couldn’t stop the totally goofy smile that broke out across her face.  Jack saw it and smiled back.  Both of them just sat at the table grinning at each other – Candi because a cute boy found her interesting and Jack for reasons she didn’t want to analyze too much.  The alcohol was starting to make her feel a little fuzzy, and she didn’t mind it at all.

“Okay, what’s so funny?” asked Sarah, approaching the table with a drink in her hand.

Mason followed, balancing three glasses.  “Here you go everyone.  Drink up.”  He set them down on the table, grabbing the nearest one and taking a long drink from it.

Candi and Jack took sips of their drinks, looking at each other over the rims.  Candi was so nervous, she just kept drinking.  Within thirty seconds she had drained her glass.  Her loud bottom-of-the-glass slurp brought her back to reality.

“Oops, my bad,” she said, then hiccupped.  

“Oh boy, we have a lightweight here,” said Mason, laughing.

Sarah rolled her eyes.  “Slow down, Sugar Lump, we need to last all night.  Pace yourself.”  She had only taken one sip of her drink so far.  

Jack winked at her, gallantly trying to make her feel better.  

“So, what time are you girls going to dinner? The second seating?” asked Jack.

“No, we’re going to the first seating,” said Sarah absently as she played with her straw.

Jack looked at his watch and his eyebrows went up.  “Well, if that’s the case, you may want to drink up and get going, because it’s six thirty right now.”

“Oh, crap, are you serious?” exclaimed Candi. 

“Yep.”

Candi stood up quickly.  “Come on, Sarah, we have to go!”  She could just picture the look on Mr. Peterson’s face when they walked in a half hour late.

“I have to finish my drink,” said Sarah.

“No, we don’t have time!”

“I’m not leaving until my drinks is finished.”  Sarah sat stubbornly, and Candi knew she meant it.

“Fine!”  Candi grabbed her drink and sucked the straw so hard the drink was gone in five seconds flat.  She burped as she let out the little bit of air she’d also drank.  “There!”  She slammed the glass down on the table.

“Thatta girl!” said Mason.

“Not now, Mason, they’re late for dinner,” said Jack, wryly. 

“Oh, that sucks.  Well, hopefully we’ll see you later at the club.”

“Will we see you there?” asked Jack, addressing his question to Candi.

“I don’t know, we’ll see.”

“Yes, definitely.  See you guys later,” said Sarah as she stood to go.  “Thanks for the drink, hot stuff.  See you soon.”  She leaned over and kissed Mason right on the mouth.

Candi stood there, frozen in place.  Then looked at Jack with a panicked expression on her face.  

He laughed and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.  “I hope I see you later, Candi.  Have a nice dinner.”

Sarah grabbed Candi by the upper arm.  “Come on, Cinderella; time to go to dinner.  We’ll see the boys later.”

Candi snapped out of her reverie, letting herself be led away.  “Bye!” she said over her shoulder.  

She couldn’t believe it.  Jack had kissed her on the cheek.  It was her first kiss from a guy who wasn’t playing spin the bottle at a junior high birthday party.  Well, okay, so it wasn’t on the lips – but it was still a kiss and it counted.  She sighed with contentment as they walked towards the doors to the dining room.

Sarah laughed.  “So, what do you think of the cruise so far?”

“So far, so good,” responded Candi, smiling.

“Excellent.  Now let’s go to dinner and see how much we can piss off old Frank.”

Candi grabbed her by the arm to stop her from going into the dining room.  “Do you really need to try so hard to do that – piss your dad off, I mean?”  Candi didn’t want to see her new friend get hurt.  She also didn’t want to have to sit through what was surely going to be a very uncomfortable meal after Mr. Peterson flipped out.

“Oh, don’t worry.  I won’t have to try hard at all.”  She gave Candi a hard look and then opened the doors, stepping through them, without worrying about whether Candi was following.  

The room was full of people sitting at round tables covered in light cream-colored linen.  Waiters and waitresses in uniforms were hurrying from table to kitchen and back again in what looked to be a carefully synchronized operation designed to get everyone fed in two hours and then out again so the second seating could begin.  The far wall was mostly glass, with a view out to the ocean beyond.  The sun was setting and the rays of red and orange light streaking across the sky made a perfect backdrop for the formal dining room.

Candi saw that Sarah had spied her parents at a far table and was making her way over.  Kevin was facing her, as were Mr. and Mrs. Buckley.  Candi know when Kevin saw her because he rolled his eyes in greeting.  The Buckleys both stopped doing what they were doing, frozen in place, staring at Sarah as she approached.