THE LAST SUNRISE ON THE CRUISE SHIP
“Cody.”
I stiffened, dread and shame anchoring my feet to the floor at the sound of Austin’s voice.
“You were going to try to sneak out, weren’t you?”
I turned on my heel, and the zipper of my duffel clanged loudly against the metal frame of the tiny cabin’s bunk beds.
No.
I actually wasn’t, but the fact that he assumed that was my intention was telling, and now I did wish I’d already left.
Then we could’ve avoided this whole thing.
Glancing up at Austin’s looming presence, I pressed my lips together at his disappointed frown.
I knew it well.
Much better than his smiles or laughs.
Averting my gaze, I lied. “Yeah, I guess so.”
His feet were suddenly in front of mine, his taller, broader frame blocking the light from the single fluorescent fixture in the cabin. “There’s a procedure for disembarking. You can’t just sneak out. That’s not how it works.”
I stepped back, an echo of things he’d said over the past six months ping-ponging in my brain. The light corrections and insinuations that became sharper as the weeks at sea went on.
“Hey, I set your alarm for you”after I was five minutes late for my morning shift, having stayed up past midnight the night before to help his band break down after their set.
“You should try to make a good impression on the crew”when I’d needed a break and didn’t want to mingle at a crew party.
“This is important to me. Please don’t do anything to mess it up.”
“Do you even care about anything?”
“What are you even doing?”
As bad as it’d gotten, none of it stung more than how easily, or quickly, my first boyfriend’s adoring looks turned to regret.
And then, worse, resignation.
I was just me, the guy who left his home to chase something, only for home to implode while he was gone.
And to discover that there was nothing out there for him.
I was a moron.
Rallying the dregs of my confidence, I raised my eyes to Austin to find him staring forlornly at the cabin, his fists clenched but his mouth firmly shut.
I was such a fucking moron.
“I’m sorry, Aus.”
I wasn’t sure what else to say.
My gaze moved to his mouth, the one I hadn’t kissed in weeks.
Or even wanted to.
