Chapter 4
Rhett
“I still can’t believe they’re our fucking neighbors! Oh shit. Did you get a good look at Ana?” Tommy asked.
“Not really,” I said.
“Don’t tell me your eyes were only for Chanel,” he said. “Dude. Don’t fucking get involved.”
“I told you. I’m not,” I said. “It was just a shock, seeing that they have the room next to us.”
“That means two things. One, it’ll be fucking easy as pie to slip into Ana’s pussy.”
“That’s only one thing,” I said.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Lost myself in the thought. The other thing is you need to have some seriously fucking loud sex. Make Chanel jealous as hell.”
“That should be her move. I’m the one who broke her heart, remember?” I asked.
“Who the fuck cares? Show her you moved on.”
Tommy and I were in the dining room, lounging by the bar. The two of us ordered whiskey on the rocks, and then we went to find an empty table. This room was full of people I had no intention of mingling with. They sucked ass in high school and they looked like they sucked ass now. Either people were huddled in their old groups reliving their glory days, or people were reintroducing themselves to old flames, trying to look like they’d made something of themselves in the past ten years. It was pathetic, and the fact that we had an itinerary made this even more idiotic.
I wasn’t going to be spending any more time with these people than I had to.
Tommy and I found an empty table and took a seat. I could see my friend scanning the crowd, looking for his first lay of the week. I sipped on my drink as I lounged back, my button-down shirt pulling against my muscles. It had been ages since I’d bought new clothes for myself, and if it wasn’t a T-shirt, it was being stretched to its limits.
“I think I found my woman for the night,” Tommy said.
“Who are you preying on tonight?” I asked.
“Ana just walked in.”
I whipped my gaze up to the main doorway and watched the two of them walk in. I saw Ana for a moment, looking no different than she did in high school. She still wore heels she couldn't walk in, she was still plastered with makeup, and she was still wearing clothes that were way too tight for her body.
But Chanel was a different story.
Chanel looked beautiful. Her long brown hair was down, cascading between her shoulder blades. Her light blue eyes were accentuated with the slightest hint of makeup. Her black heels flexed her toned calves and rounded out her ass nicely, and the dress she had fluttering over her body tugged at my cock. It was a simple yellow sundress with turquoise accents that matched the jewelry she was wearing.
Holy fuck, she looked amazing.
The tables were filling up quickly, and I saw the two of them walk over to the bar. Ana was ordering something massive that came in a colorful plastic cup while Chanel held a glass of wine. That was something I had always loved about her. Everything she did was so tasteful and full of grace. From the way she would glide across the floor in her heels to the way her dress swished against her luxurious curves, there wasn’t a thing about her that wasn’t perfect in my eyes.
“I’ll be right back,” Tommy said.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Just hold on,” he said.
I watched him walk over to Chanel and Ana, and I groaned. He was fucking inviting them over to our damn table. Of course, he would pull something like this. He was thinking with his cock and not with his brain. He was all about me not falling into Chanel’s web again or whatever the fuck he called it, but he didn’t think twice before leading them over here to sit with us.
I watched as Ana giggled with Tommy. Chanel’s eyes were darting around the room, her hand gripping onto her wine glass. She was nervous, which was odd for her. I had experienced many things with her while we were dating, but none of them included any sort of anxiety or nervousness.
But she was full of it, especially when her eyes landed on mine.
The way she moved across the floor was mesmerizing, like she was floating instead of walking. Ana’s arm was linked with Tommy’s as the three of them headed back to the table. If this was going to happen, and if Tommy was going to orchestrate this, then the least I could do was make this as bearable for Chanel as I could.
So, I stood up and pulled out her chair for her to sit in.
“Chanel,” I said.
“Rhett,” she responded.
I sat back down in my seat, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was snapping pictures of the room, getting candid shots whenever people ventured over to our table. Her lips curled over the rim of her wine glass as heat trickled up my back. I could remember the first time she ever wrapped those lips around my cock and how eager my body had been to blow its load right then and there. I spent the first half of that blowjob trying to contain myself, so she couldn’t choke on my cum.
“So, Rhett,” Ana said. “Broken any hearts lately?”
“Enough, Ana,” Chanel said. “Don’t make this more awkward than it needs to be.”
“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” I said, as I glanced over at Tommy.
“Miss Ana, you look gorgeous tonight,” Tommy said.
“She does,” Chanel said. “And she’s not wearing any panties, if you’re curious.”
“Chanel, are you serious?” Ana asked.
“Just trying to help my best friend out,” Chanel said.
I chuckled into my whiskey as I took another sip of my drink.
“How have you been, Rhett?” Chanel asked.
Her voice caught me off guard as I lifted my eyes to meet hers again.
“Good. I’ve been good. Yourself?” I asked.
“Good,” she said. “Things have been good.”
“Well, glad to clear the air on that one,” Tommy said.
Chanel shot him a look that had me chuckling again as I watched Connie approach something akin to a stage.
“Oh, wonderful. I bet she’s going to tell us what we have to eat,” I said.
Chanel grinned at me, and I felt my heart skip a beat.
“Hello, everyone!” Connie said. “Is this thing on? Can you guys hear me?”
“We can always hear you, Connie!” Tommy said.
“You’re so bad,” Ana said with a grin.
“Match made in heaven,” Chanel said.
“All right. Wonderful. So! I want to thank you all for coming out to our first dinner. Oh, how exciting! Is everyone excited? Okay. So, I wanted to give a fun little welcome speech, but I’ll make it quick, I promise. If you haven’t gotten an itinerary for the cruise, there are some splashed around the room. Grab one, because that’s the boat schedule for the ports as well as our fun little meet-ups like this one.”
“I wouldn’t call it fun,” Chanel said.
“More like homework,” I said.
She turned her eyes toward me, and I watched how they lit up with amusement. I had missed that look. I had always loved making her laugh. It had made me feel powerful then, and it made me feel powerful now.
“There’s a fun little slideshow that we’re going to play to usher in the cruise, so I hope you guys are ready for some trips down memory lane!”
“I’m ready to create new memories, honestly,” Ana said.
“I’m ready to start tonight, if you are,” Tommy said.
“Did you bring a hair tie?” Chanel asked.
“Hair tie?” I asked.
“Shut up, Chanel,” Ana said.
The slideshow began, and it filtered through pictures I had forgotten about. Pictures of Tommy and me running down the hallway in dresses during Spirit Week, and pictures of the cheerleaders at the football games. There were a couple of Chanel and Ana that popped up during prom, and I felt myself tense at the memory. Chanel’s eyes darted over toward me, scanning me like she had that night before she got into the back of the car with me.
I was ready for this ‘fun’ little slideshow to be over.
The longer it went on, the antsier people got. Dinner was being served over the drawn-out project, and some people began to talk amongst themselves. Soon, everyone was talking and getting more drinks while the slideshow lagged on, and I could tell it was pissing Connie off.
Which, of course, became the topic of conversation.
“If she didn’t wanna piss people off, don’t make it four hours long,” I said.
“I was done after thirty minutes,” Chanel said. “How many pictures did she have from high school?”
“And where did she get them all from?” Ana asked. “It’s not like she walked around with a camera.”
“Was that a jab at me?” Chanel asked.
“Hardly. You’re not snapping pictures every second. But this thing’s been going on for, like, an hour and a half. That’s a shit load of pictures,” Ana said.
“That’s true,” Tommy said. “Plus, who the hell wants to be reminded of high school when we’re grown and making memories of our own?”
“Everyone on this cruise,” I said with a grin.
“Maybe we’re just on the cruise to make new memories with old friends,” Ana said.
“I’m here to flesh out this story I promised people and to move on from things,” Chanel said.
Her eyes connected with mine as our food was set in front of us. The four of us ate and caught up a little bit, asking each other about the past ten years. Chanel talked a little bit about her years at Cornell and what she had been doing afterward, and Ana talked about how she had somehow fallen into marketing. Tommy regaled Ana with stories of his real estate business, but I could feel Chanel’s eyes on me.
“What have you been doing the past ten years?” she asked.
I downed the rest of my drink before I picked up my fork.
“I just retired from the Navy,” I said.
“Oh, shit. You enlisted?” Ana asked.
“Enlisted and became a SEAL,” Tommy said.
“What? You’re a Navy SEAL?” Ana asked.
“Was a Navy SEAL. My contract ended about a month ago, and I didn’t re-up,” I said.
“Why not?” Chanel asked.
I turned my gaze back towards her as I drew in a deep breath.
“Only so much of that shit I could take,” I said.
“I can only imagine,” she said.
“Well, I don’t know about any of you guys, but I could use another drink,” Ana said.
“Let me escort you,” Tommy said. “I could use another one as well.”
I watched Tommy offer his arm to her. Hook, line, and sinker. The two of them were going to be banging somewhere, which meant either myself or Chanel would be out of a room at least for a little while. We watched as the two of them ventured to the bar to get another drink, leaning into one another and loosening up as they took shots.
“She’ll puke on him before she can get him naked,” Chanel said.
“You’d be shocked as to what Tommy will fuck through,” I said.
Chanel threw her head back and laughed before she grabbed her wine glass.
“You look beautiful tonight,” I said.
Her eyes connected with mine, raking quickly over me before she nodded.
“You fill out that shirt nicely,” she said.
“I read your blog sometimes,” I said.
“Oh? And what do you think of it?”
“It’s really good. Your writing always has been. I can still remember those letters you’d write to me between classes in high school. I was always in awe of your ability to put words together.”
I saw her blush as she grinned into her wine glass.
“And there they go,” I said.
Chanel whipped her head up as Ana and Tommy left arm-in-arm from the dining room.
“Which room do you think they’ll end up in?” she asked.
“Not gonna lie, if Tommy can get into your room, he will,” I said.
“Great,” she groaned.
“If you want, you could join me on the bow. I was headed there anyway after this dinner,” I said.
“Where all the lounge chairs are?” she asked. I nodded. “We could keep talking or we could stargaze. I’ve also heard rumors about a twenty-four seven pizzeria and soft-serve ice cream machine over that way.”
“You had me at pizza,” she said with a grin.
“Ah, so you’re still a pizza fanatic,” I said as I got up.
“Not a chance I’d give up pizza, though I pile more vegetables on than I used to.”
“Not a three-meat lover any longer?”
“Nope. I developed this fun little thing called heartburn. I guess that’s what happens when people get old.”
“Hey, we aren’t old. We aren’t even thirty yet.”
“That’s old compared to our high school days,” she said.
“True,” I said.
“I take it you know the way to the bow of the ship?” she asked. “Because I sure as hell don’t.”
“I’d better, or my former commanding officers would be seriously disappointed in me.”
I held out my hand to her, hoping she would take it. Her eyes settled on the gesture, and I could see that sea of questions kick up a bit. The boat was gliding smoothly along the ocean, the waves lightly rocking us in the process. Her eyes slid back up to mine, dancing along my face before she sighed.
Then, she slipped her perfect little hand into mine as memories came crashing back.
Her hand was just as warm and soft as I remembered it, and part of me wondered if I could intentionally get us lost so I could hold onto it a little longer.