But as she and Grace sat down and ate, she couldn’t help looking for him. It was crazy, simply unhinged. He was just a man who, while being a whole cut above the rest, really was only a vacation fling. That was it. That’s all it could be.
Right?
“Grace?”
Her friend stopped mid-bite, her attention narrowing on Kendall. “Yes?”
She spoke before she could stop herself, her words tumbling over themselves to escape her lips. “Do you think it’s possible for a long-distance relationship that started as a fling to work?”
There it was again, that strange look on her friend’s face that she’d never seen before. “There’s a lot of technological options that can close the distance these days. And plane trips aren’t that expensive. So… Yes, I think a long-distance relationship could work.”
“That sounds very logical and I don’t feel very logical right now.” Kendall sat back. She didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse. All Alex had promised her was good sex that she asked for. Yes, they’d spent quite a bit of time talking in between rounds of orgasms, but that just meant he wasn’t a monster. It didn’t mean he was interested.
Surely she wasn’t thinking about asking Alex to give this a go…right?
* * *
Alex woke up alone. He should have known it would happen. Things were going too good with Kendall. Hell, he should thank her for putting the brakes on and creating some distance between them. Except he didn’t feel like thanking her. He wanted to search the ship until he found her and demand to know why she hadn’t woken him up to say goodbye.
He sat up and got distracted by a crinkle. Alex frowned at the piece of paper neatly folded on the pillow Kendall hadn’t managed to use last night. She’d been too busy wrapping around him like a friendly octopus. Not that he minded. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d literally slept with someone. His partners were usually too busy bending over backward to tell him that they knew this was no strings attached and they didn’t expect anything of him.
It had never bothered Alex before.
Now, he looked at the note Kendall left like it was a bomb just waiting to go off. It could be anything. A compilation of words meant to let him down easy. A fucking thank you for the sex. With Kendall, he couldn’t be sure. Honestly, he should be relieved. After the last couple days, he was already entangled in her. Getting more so was a mistake. He’d learned that lesson too many times before. First with his parents, then later on in the relationships he’d naively thought were going to go the distance. They never did.
Eventually, everyone left.
Even as he told himself to just toss the note in the trash, he carefully picked it up and unfolded it. Even her fucking scrawl was cute. He blinked, waiting for the words to conform to expectations. Instead, what he read veered in the opposite direction.
I have to run before my friends think I totally abandoned them… See you tonight?
Her excuse felt flat, but he didn’t begrudge her it. She was right—they needed some space, no matter how much he resented the distance. Fuck. What was he doing? He’d never had to worry about this kind of thing before, and now he was neck deep and sinking fast. All because of Kendall and her fledgling confidence and vaguely neurotic ways.
Alex dragged his hands over his face. Shower and food and a conversation with Lucas, if he could snag him. Alex had done some abandoning of his own on this cruise and, though he’d fully intended to really abandon the ship, it didn’t make him less of a jackass for doing it. Though Lucas was more than capable of hunting him down if he needed something, it didn’t make Alex’s actions any less shitty.
Fifteen minutes later, he knocked on Lucas’s door. His friend answered, looking more relaxed than he’d seen him in recent memory. “Hey, stranger.”
“Hey stranger, yourself.” He motioned vaguely down the hallway. “You going on the excursion today?”
“Nah.” Lucas gave a slow grin that lit up his eyes. “I have plans.”
“Plans,” Alex echoed. “So much for not taking advantage of the party cruise.”
“You’re one to throw stones.” Luca laughed. “You’ve got freshly-fucked written all over you.” He shook his head. “We can plan to meet up for drinks later, or…”
“No, no, don’t let me distract you from your vacation fling.” Having Lucas focused elsewhere meant Alex didn’t have the distraction he was hoping for, but he couldn’t begrudge his friend whatever joy he’d found on this cruise. “I’m going to spend the day relaxing.”
Which was how Alex found himself in Cocoa Beach instead of doing literally anything else. He moved with the group he’d accidentally joined, his hands in his pockets, feeling a bit like a kindergartener. The idea of a water park or all the other activities they offered didn’t appeal, so he ended up on the “chill” side of the island, surveying a long beach with cabanas, lounge chairs, and other shit like that set up.