She looked back at Jace one final time, let out a heavy sigh, then handed me her empty champagne flute. “Screw it,” she said under her breath. “What are holidays for?”
Bailey gasped behind me, but before either of us could say another word, Rhea was crawling over the netting of the catamaran. When she got to the edge, she pulled herself up and over it to where all three of the guys sat on the leather U-shaped seats, and each of them turned to look up at her.
Rhea planted her hands on her hips before she raised a crooked finger in the air and beckoned Jace closer. “Come on, then.”
“Huh?” was his only response.
“You heard me. On your feet.”
Jace glanced at the others in confusion, but it didn’t take him long to ditch his drink in Andy’s lap and go to her like an excited puppy about to enter an all-you-can-eat hotdog buffet. Within just a few steps, he towered over her, and Rhea had to crane her neck to look up at him.
“Ask me how I feel now, Jay-Jay.”
“You love me yet?” He smirked.
“No. I still think you’re a complete imbecile. You drive me crazy more hours than you don’t, but I figure you’ve earned at least one thing for your efforts.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“This.”
Without missing a beat, Rhea rose on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and she pulled him in for a kiss that had the whole catamaran whooping with cheers of approval. Andy clapped, Bailey screamed, “Finally!” over the sound of the vessel’s engine and the waves. I smiled the proudest smile I could muster, watching the two of them as Jace’s hands found Rhea’s waist and he pulled her even closer to him, his desire for her as obvious as the colour of the sun in the sky.
But when I let my gaze drift over to Henry, his eyes were on me, and I saw the look he gave me.
I understood it.
We were happy for them.
We were jealous, too.
He wanted to come to me. I wanted to go to him.
Instead, we remained where we were, pretending not to be lovers, pretending we were barely friends, because that’s what we’d promised each other this would be: a secret.
When Jace and Rhea finally came up for air, they took a second to stare into each other’s eyes before they both burst out laughing, their happiness infectious, pulling me out of any morbid thoughts threatening to take over.
“I knew you’d come around,” Jace told her. “And my Lord, woman, you can kiss!”
“I know I can.” She tapped his cheek like a parent would a child. “Now, be a good little boy and run along to get me another drink, would you?”
“What do I get in return if I do?”
“Try it and find out.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He planted one final kiss to her lips before he slapped her on the arse and made his way inside the catamaran like the good little boy she’d told him to be. It was only when he’d disappeared from sight that we heard the howling of his happiness echoing from inside the boat, followed by a cry of, “Jace got the girl, baby! Never in doubt. Never in doubt,” making the rest of us fall into fits of laughter all over again.
If I couldn’t have my guy in public, at least Rhea could have hers.
“Hey, Bee?”
With a smile still on my face, I turned back around to find Bailey waiting for me, her brows knitted together, and a hint of concern in her features. “Thanks for doing that. For telling her to go to him.”
It was my turn to scowl. “What do you mean, thanks?”
Bailey leaned in closer. “I think Rhea’s been putting off giving into Jace because she felt like she was letting you down if she did.”
“Me?” My brows rose in surprise.
