“I know, baby. I know.”
Baby.
Such a simple word, yet the tenderness of it coming from him did things to me I couldn’t have prepared myself for. It felt like my heart swelled five times in the mere second it took him to say it.
Henry dropped his forehead to mine and exhaled through his nose as he closed his eyes. “Every time I see that sadness you’re trying to hide out there, it kills me. I want this to be fun for you, Phoebe. I don’t want you to regret any time you spend with me.”
I pulled away from him slowly until he looked back down at me again. “I won’t ever regret you.”
“Promise?”
“If that’s what you need from me, then, yes, but you already know it’s the truth.”
He ran his tongue across his bottom lip before dragging his teeth over it, at war with himself over something neither of us could fix now. “Even if I can’t have you whenever I want to, the wait is always worth it. You’re always worth it.”
“Have me now. Here.”Please,I wanted to beg.Don’t make me wait any longer for you.
“We’d have to be quick.”
“Then, stop wasting time.”
“Jesus, Phoe?—”
But he never got to finish his response as a hard thump on the door had us both turning in that direction before we heard the one voice we’d been dreading catching us like this all summer long.
“Cohen? You in there?” Andy called out. “Hurry up! I need a piss.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Henry
“Come on, man,” Andy said impatiently, banging on the door again. “Jace told me he saw you come down here, so I know it’s you who’s hogging the toilet. I’m desperate!”
Phoebe’s face paled as she stared up at me, helpless. “What do we do?” she mouthed.
I pressed a finger to her lips and shook my head, knowing the only thing to do now was wait this out. If I engaged with Andy, he’d hang around to irritate me. If he thought someone else was in here, though, he’d likely walk away and realise the other hull had another toilet the dumb arse could use.
“For fuck’s sake, Cohen,” he grumbled.
His impatience had been about to get me out of this unexpected, sticky situation, but then the wind must have picked up outside, making the catamaran hit a wave particularly hard, causing me to sway forward and press Phoebe’s back into the edge of the sink. Her squeak of pain echoed around the small bathroom loud enough for Andy to have heard through the thin door.
Phoebe’s brows rose as I clamped a hand over her mouth to try push the sound back in, only for silence to take over while all three of us waited for someone to do or say something—anything. Her wet lips pressed against my palm, her eyes wide as she stared up at me, too scared to move, too scared to even breathe.
“Erm. Sorry. My bad,” Andy said, clearing his throat. “Didn’t realise there was someone else in there. I’ll give you a minute.”
We listened carefully for Andy’s footsteps to drift away, only sighing in relief together once we were sure he’d gone far enough away for us to try get out of this unscathed.
I immediately scooped an arm around Phoebe’s back, pulled her away from the sink, and held her closer. Those sparkling doe eyes stared up at me, making me want to whisk her away from anything or anyone that could hurt her. Even if that included her being far away from here. From me.
“Did I hurt you?” I whispered.
“No.” She shook her head, her attention drifting to the door. “Do you think he knows we’re in here together?”
“I don’t think so. He wouldn’t have left if he’d suspected it.”
“But… how are we going to get out now? This boat is so small. Someone will see us.”
I was getting so close to not caring who the hell knew about us, I almost suggested we walked out of there holding hands, but I saw the fear in Phoebe’s eyes, and I knew bringing that kind of drama into her life wasn’t an option. She’d come to Mykonos to escape those emotions of fear and self-flagellation, not be faced with new ways to mentally torture herself or drown in guilt.
