“Everything’s a distraction,” Raven said. He pointed to Corey and winked. “He’s a big one.”
Corey blushed. “I don’t think he…”
Raven smirked.
I couldn’t believe it, either. I’d thought the others had been too nice to me, and things had gone way too smoothly. I was the one in doubt, more than the others, worried they weren’t being completely honest, just holding things together while we were working so closely right now.
But…hadn’t Axel made me feel I’d have to choose not long ago? Had he really changed his mind?
Marc had admitted they didn’t like Blake, but even then, everyone being calm about it seemed over the top.
Henry seemed to understand my confused silence. “This can’t end well,” he said. “We don’t expect perfection, but we try to avoid disasters.”
“I think it’s up to us, isn’t it?” Corey said, he and Raven turning to Henry, shoulders back, both standing tall in front of me. I was in awe. I wanted to kiss them both for feeling so strongly about something I was still a little afraid of. For feeling so strongly about me.
“We have to prove to the Academy we can work together just like before. Isn’t that what you and Liam said?”
“Right,” Henry said. “But there’s no fucking way the Academy is going to believe that you all just instantly agreed this was okay.”
“Then they don’t know us very well,” Corey said.
“Do they want us to fight?” Raven punched Corey lightly in the arm. “There. We fought.”
“Yup,” Corey said with a smirk. “You win.” He shrugged at Henry. “Maybe not every group works like yours does. We make up our minds, we’re in. We don’t need therapy and a whole lot of discussion to figure it out.”
Henry frowned. “Maybe. You know they’ll insist on a conversation.”
“Let them talk,” Raven said.
“You’re risking your Academy careers if they don’t approve and you insist on doing it anyway.”
“Worth it.”
“Shh,” Corey said and nudged Raven in the ribs. “You don’t mean that.” He looked at Henry. “But we get to choose our group, right? As long as we aren’t harming anyone, what right do they have to question us?”
Raven put an arm around Corey’s shoulders, pulling him close.
My heart lifted, and I wedged myself in the little space between the wall and Corey, completing the line. I couldn’t believe it, either, but this was way better than I’d ever imagined things would turn out. I still struggled with the idea that perhaps they weren’t being completely honest with their feelings, but if they were willing to try to make things work, I loved them all for it.
Henry rolled his eyes. “None of my business. I’m not going to say anything, unless we run into problems. But just so you’re prepared, we went through a lot of shit with our team trying to prove we could be a group and make it work. It won’t be easy.”
He waved a hand. “But you can worry about it later. We need to get everyone at risk off this ship. We may have to leave a few behind, though. Liam and I may not be recognized as being totally with you yet. Ethan can’t leave without being noticed. And the others, we’ll have to see who stays and who goes.”
“Have you seen Blake?” I asked.
“Blake’s with someone, I’m sure,” Henry said. “Why the sudden need to find him?”
“He needs to leave tonight,” I said. “We can’t leave without him. He’ll get killed if he’s seen.”
“From what I heard, he started this mess.” He snapped his fingers and pointed toward the door. “The one we’re having to clean up. Last I heard, he was running around on his own, something we warned him not to do. We can’t work with him if he’s doing his own thing.”
I scoffed, turning toward Raven. “We can’t just leave him. They might not have found him yet, but if they know I’m here, they might suspect he’s here, too. They’ll be looking for him next.”
“She’s right,” Corey said. “We can’t leave Blake behind. We can’t leave without at least telling him what you told Sam’s guy.”
“Maybe, but you have to go,” Henry said, pointing at me. “Tonight. No matter what. We aren’t set up to do anything but run at this point.”
“Give me until dark,” I said. “Give Raven and me a chance to find out who the investor is.”
Henry pressed his lips together, looking at us and then checking the peephole to remain on the lookout. “This is way too dangerous.”
“I’m in,” Corey said. “She’s right. We have a few hours until dark, when we can leave without people seeing us. So let’s use the time.”
“In,” Raven said.
Henry sighed. “Of course you are.” He turned from the door to glare at me. “I don’t want to see you all killed trying to find out something like this. It’s not worth it.”
“They wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t the right thing to do,” I said. “They’re not afraid to fight with me if I’m wrong.”
Henry grunted. “I don’t like this plan. Negotiating with criminals isn’t what we do, either.”
“You don’t have to approve,” Raven said, walking toward the door. “Go hide. We’ll deal with this.”
Henry huffed and then shook his head. “She’d kill me if I ran off without making sure you all got off this boat safely.”
I imagined he meant his wife. Who was influencing who?
“Then get with the progress,” Raven said.
“Program,” Corey corrected. “The program.”
“Same.”
The Kiss
My heart was beating a mile a minute. Corey and Raven had made me start to feel I could believe the others had been honest about their feelings.
Not one of them had seemed concerned about my having been with the others, more like they were concerned that no one had been informed.
What about Axel? He had been adamant about telling the others to back off.
But was it because I needed to keep them from fighting? I tried to remember, hoping my brain was recalling the past correctly. The more I thought about it, the more I was sure. I’d hinted to Axel that I was worried they would fight, and he told me he would tell them to back off.
Had he ever told me he’d want me to be exclusive only? Maybe not. Maybe I had been misreading them this whole time. They were all rather alpha in their own ways, and I had been so sure that they’d fight if they found out.
How could I have misunderstood them so much?
Or had something happened? Had something changed their attitudes
about this relationship?
Despite wanting to believe, Henry had been right. It had happened so quickly. They were too willing. I hadn’t even given the concept all that much thought.
All of them? With me? Like we’d been, but out in the open and with no secrets?
I’d have to wait and see.
We had to leave the room before the old woman came back. A group of four seemed too big to walk around in, and someone had to touch base with the others.
Henry got into the elevator alone. “I don’t want you three to separate,” he said. “But I’m going to go find Liam. He should be up there with Fancy.”
“Shouldn’t one of us go with you?” I asked.
“If they were listening to us like you said, then they might already have discovered Fancy’s role. Her room was one of the few spots we had left,” he said. “We might still use it now, since they’re letting us.” He pressed his lips together. “Look, I don’t approve of you going off to do something so dangerous to negotiate with criminals, but if you can ensure our safety as we get out of their way, that’s all we want.”
It was the best compromise we could possibly hope for. I was hoping for the investor’s name, but if everyone got off the boat safe, I’d take it.
We had until dark to find Blake and possibly name the investor before we would meet at a rendezvous point.
It was late afternoon, in November. Which meant we had less time than I would have liked.
Corey, in normal pants and a shirt, followed us down into the ship, making me feel like a lump, still dressed in the jumpsuit.
We found another storage room and stopped for a bit, waiting for some time to pass. We needed to give Baldy time to get his list together. If he was confessing to Sam who we were, hopefully we’d hear them looking for us and wouldn’t be trapped in a storage room where no one would hear us.
This storage room was clean, at least, and we were really close to guest rooms. There was carpet on the floor and the shelves had rows of towels. The area was warm and smelled nice. Corey said we were near the laundry facilities.
How many storage rooms did this ship have? Felt like a lot. The area was cramped, but cozier than others we’d been in, and there was at least room for us to sit on the floor.