‘…and it turns out, there’s a kids’ zone on board,’ he says excitedly. ‘With a pool and a big soft play area. Disco lights. Slides. Ball pits. The works.’
‘So what?’ Nikki says, unimpressed. ‘We’re not six.’
‘So,’ Brody continues, ‘it’s closed right now, because this voyage is adults-only. But the guy I spoke to, he said he was a big fan of mine, and that I could hire it out – just for us.’
‘Sorry,’ Nikki replies in disbelief. ‘Have you been hit in the head with too many cricket balls? You want us to go to a kids’ play area?’
I wonder if she’s being even harder on him, now it’s starting to seem like she can’t get him back.
‘It’s not a kids’ play area tonight,’ he corrects her. ‘I’m turning it into a club.’
There’s a pause. Then Kelsey gasps.
‘Oh my God, Brody Ryan, I love you,’ she tells him. ‘That’s amazing. It sounds like so much fun.’
‘It really does,’ I add – well, after ten minutes of one of the dealers trying to explain what Kalooki is to me anything sounds preferable.
‘Can we go now?’ Kelsey practically begs him.
Brody jumps to his feet, straightens his jacket, and smiles like a man who knows he’s just saved the night.
‘Yes! Catch me up,’ he says, already walking off. ‘I’ll go tell him we’re ready.’
I watch him go, half-laughing, half-sighing.
Honestly, I can never quite work out if he’s a dream or a nightmare.
I love that Brody runs off like an excitable child – hilarious, considering where he’s headed.
‘Well, you heard the man, let’s follow him,’ Neil says, rallying the troops.
As everyone else heads off, Kelsey takes hold of my arm, holding me back just a little so we can chat.
‘Okay,’ Kelsey says, her smile stretching from ear to ear. ‘You’ve got a great one there, with Brody.’
I feel myself smiling before I can stop it. I know, I know, he’s not really mine, but it’s nice to pretend that this is my life.
‘I know,’ I say, trying to play it cool. The interesting thing about my smile is that it’s genuine though. It’s not a part of the act.
‘Come on, you two, keep up,’ Al calls back to us.
He seems genuinely excited – I really hope for his sake that he can actually fit in wherever it is we’re going. I know the ship has its own morgue, police, things like that – but I’d be surprised if it had a fire brigade with the kit to cut a bodybuilder out of an enclosed slide.
‘I knew it, you know,’ Kelsey says, linking her arm with mine. ‘You and Brody, being the perfect couple, ending up together.’
‘No, you didn’t.’ I laugh. ‘You’re just saying that because he’s got you a ball pool.’
‘It’s true,’ she insists, shaking my arm. ‘I knew the moment Isaw you at Al and Kira’s wedding. When you came down for breakfast in his clothes.’
I feel my smile widening again.
‘You came down in his clothes – smiling just like you are now. Glowing, actually,’ she tells me. ‘And not just the morning-after kind of glow either. The kind where you realise you’re head over heels for someone and you don’t know what you’re supposed to do about it.’
‘Is that so?’ I say. ‘You’re psychic now, eh?’
She ignores me.
‘He is amazing though, right?’ she says, like she’s trying to coerce a confession out of me. Surely I have the right to remain silent?
