Below Deck

“That was a lot of dicks in one sentence.”

“There are a lot of dicks on this boat. You think you’ve got problems? Ben is the best sex I’ve ever had and he’s a man-whore,” she complains, shoving her mascara tube back into her make-up bag and grabbing her bottle of perfume from the counter.

“How do you know he’s a man-whore?”

“Because he told me,” she replies, spraying a cloud of perfume in front of her and then doing the upper body roll to move herself through the mist. “He fucked that quiet, mousy chick Jessica the day before we got here. But damn if that man doesn’t make my toes curl. Again, I see nothing wrong with what you did. You need a distraction in your life. I can’t handle watching you stare at your dad all the time, looking like you’re on the verge of puking.”

Fine, maybe I’m not a huge moron for still wanting to sleep with Declan, but I’m definitely an idiot for worrying about my behavior with him right now instead of sucking it up and going in search of my dad.

As soon as Declan and I got back to the ship and got up to the balcony, he told me he’d see me at dinner, used his finger to make an X over his heart, and promised he was done being an asshole and avoiding me. And in between glances at my father over dinner and trying to get up the nerve to pull him aside, I couldn’t stop looking over at Declan as he stood behind the bar, smiling at me whenever we made eye contact.

Brooke puts the cap back on her perfume bottle, sets it down on the counter and walks over to stand in front of me, grabbing both of my hands in hers.

“Mackenzie, we only have a few days left of vacation. Your dad seems relaxed and happy, and while I’m fully on board with him finally finding out the truth about the bitch he married, I don’t see any problem with you waiting until we get back home,” she tells me softly, giving my hands a reassuring squeeze. “The end result will still be the same whether you do it now, or a week from now. Let him have his few remaining days of peace, and let Mr. Magic Dick give you his piece until then.”

I yank my hands out of hers when she laughs, smacking her lightly on the arm.

“You’re so disgusting.”

“And you love me for it,” she smiles, moving around me and out into the room. “Besides, without me, Declan never would have seen the error of his ways and apologized. You’re welcome.”

Following her over to the bed, I watch as she sifts through every article of clothing she dumped on top, looking for something to wear.

“I’m not thanking you for telling Declan my personal business.”

She holds up a black, strapless dress to the front of her with a questioning look and I shake my head.

“I didn’t tell him everything, just a few important facts so he’d stop judging you,” she tells me, throwing the black dress on the floor and picking up a red one. “He didn’t need to keep thinking you could buy and sell him a hundred times over. He’s the type of man whose ego wouldn’t let him get beyond it, even if you are hot and he’s dying to bend you over the deck railing again.”

I roll my eyes at her and nod at the red dress she holds up, her voice muffling as she slides it over her head.

“I gave him a few tiny details to make him eat his words and make him feel like the douchebag he was. Now everything is back to normal and you can get laid,” she says with a smile, smoothing the dress down over her hips and fluffing out her long, blonde hair. “Now, go get yourself all prettied up and get yourself some magic dick. I’d appreciate it if you avoid doing it in our room tonight, since Ben is sneaking up here as soon as he gets done with his shift.”

She smacks me on the ass as I turn and head back to the bathroom. I give her the finger over my shoulder and shout a warning at her before closing the door.

“Clean that shit off your bed before he gets here. You are NOT having sex with a self-proclaimed man-whore on my sheets.”

A few minutes later, freshly showered and lathered up with my favorite coconut-scented lotion from Nordstrom, the one and only item I have ever splurged on, I exit the bathroom with a cloud of steam behind me. Despite Brooke’s order to “pretty myself up,” I left my face clean of make-up, let my hair dry naturally in thick waves around my shoulders, and threw on another pair of tiny cotton shorts and a tank top. Whatever happens after I leave this room, the one thing it isn’t is a date or a need for me to impress a guy. If all goes well, it’s just sex with a guy who already wants to have sex with me, but just needs a little extra push. Since he loved the matching pair of tiny cotton shorts so much the night he had his hand down them, that’s as much effort as I’m willing to make. I’m not the queen of seduction, and I can count on one hand how many men I’ve slept with, but something about Declan, as infuriating as he can be, gives me a backbone and a pile of confidence I’ve never had.

As Brooke races back and forth between her bed and the closet, tossing things onto the floor in a mad dash, I answer the door for her when there’s a soft knock on it, to find Ben casually leaning against the doorjamb with a smile on his face.

“Good evening, pretty lady,” Ben tells me as I laugh and move back out of the way so he can enter the room. He stops right in the middle of it and looks Brooke over from head to toe, whistling when she holds out her arms and does a little spin for him.

Wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible before they start going at it like rabbits with me standing right here, I quickly walk through the door and start pulling it closed behind me when Ben suddenly turns around and calls my name.