Chapter Eighteen
Olivia
I was having a heart attack. I was sure of it. My chest felt tight, and I struggled to breathe as my throat constricted. We were sinking. Sinking. Right into the ocean, just like in my worst nightmares.
The yacht worker kept going. “So we need to get off the yacht in a calm, orderly fash—”
Before he could finish his sentence, pandemonium broke out again. So much for ‘calm and orderly’. With all the contestants shrieking and milling around, I couldn’t see Dec anywhere anymore.
“Dec!” I cried out. “Dec!”
He was by my side in an instant. “I’m here, Liv. Don’t worry. I’m gonna get you out of here safely, I promise. Not even a hair on your head is gonna get wet, okay?”
All four of my limbs felt frozen in place. I couldn’t move. I was petrified that if I did, the yacht would suddenly tip again, and we’d all be plunged into the icy depths of the sea.
“Come on.” Dec slid an arm around my waist, coaxing me to move. “There’s a tiny little island right near here. All we have to do is paddle the life rafts over to it and wait for the helicopters to come. They’ve already radioed the Starling Islands, so they’re on their way.”
Tears were building in the corners of my eyes. I let Dec lead me down below decks, where the rest of the yacht staff and show crew were helping out with all the inflatable life rafts. Someone handed us brightly-colored life vests as well. Dec helped me put mine on before sliding his own over his chest, and then he led me down to the end of the dive deck, where couples were departing in the small orange rafts.
“Here’s our raft,” Dec said, gesturing towards the bobbing inflatable in the water. It was held on a pole on the deck by a rope, and we were supposed to climb in before unfastening the rope.
I couldn’t take another step forward. One wrong move and I’d miss the raft, and I’d end up in the water. “I…I can’t.”
“Yes, you can, Liv.” Dec grabbed my hand and held it tightly to his chest. “I know you can. Where’s the strong Liv who yelled at me that first night we met, huh? The one who gave me a real piece of her mind and stormed away. That’s the Liv we need to see right now.”
I nodded, but my entire body was still shaking like a leaf. My stomach was doing flips, and the only thing holding me together was Dec’s hand on mine. His easy confidence calmed me, though, just a little. Enough to take a step forward, then crouch down as I slid myself into the raft.
“Easy,” Dec said, helping me all the way. “I’ll do all the paddling. You just sit there and try to breathe.”
I hadn’t even noticed the little paddles in the bottom of the raft. I wanted to help, but my limbs still felt heavy and useless as I sat back and did what Dec told me, trying to take deep breaths.
“Where is the island you told me about?” I asked as we bobbed farther and farther from the yacht.
“Not far. I just have to paddle around the yacht, then head south. You’ll see it in a sec.”
We moved around the other side of the yacht, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the island in the distance. It was more of a sandbar with a few patches of trees, really, but it was still dry land.
“Um. Dec?” I said a moment later, looking down.
“Yeah?”
“How much water is supposed to get in this thing?”
Sea water was sloshing all over the bottom of the life raft now, and Dec frowned and began to paddle faster. “Don’t stress, baby girl.”
“This isn’t normal, is it? There’s something wrong with the raft.”
From the slight shake of his head, I knew I was right. He was just trying to make me feel better by denying the issue; trying to stop me from freaking out. I could see the truth in his eyes, though. The raft was getting heavier and heavier by the minute, and water was quickly seeping in.
The little island was only a few hundred yards away now. “We’re going to make it,” Dec said. “Just a little bit longer.”
Water was sloshing all throughout the raft now, and I was soaked up to my hips. “There’s a hole in the raft,” I said in a small voice. “First the yacht starts sinking, now this too.”
Dec didn’t deny it this time. He kept on paddling, droplets of water clinging to the strong muscles of his powerful arms as they moved back and forth. “You can swim, right, Liv?” he said quietly.
“Yes.”
“Good. We might have to swim the last few yards. But we’re nearly there. You’re gonna be fine. Okay?”
He looked right into my eyes, and for the first time since the yacht emergency began, I wasn’t afraid. I knew Dec would take care of me, just like he had so many times before. “Okay,” I replied.
He paddled until it was no longer feasible, and then he grabbed my hand and pulled me with him into the water. With all my clothes on, I immediately began to sink, but the life vest—and Dec’s strong grip—pulled me right back up above the waves only seconds later.
“Hold onto me and kick!” Dec called out to me. I clung to his back and did what he said. We reached the sandbar within minutes, and when the water was shallow enough for us to stand up and walk, Dec hoisted me into his arms and trudged toward the shore, holding me tight. As soon as we reached proper dry land, he gently lay me down on the sand and leaned over me. “You’re okay, Liv. See?”
“I know,” I whispered. “I…”
I was about to thank him when he cursed, cutting me off. “Son of a fucking bitch.”
“What?”
I turned my head to see what he was looking at. A lot of other couples had safely arrived on the small island (their rafts were hole-free) along with several Wed At First Sight crew members. Crew members who hadn’t even been on the yacht in the first place.
“Have those camera guys been sitting here waiting for us?” I asked. “Did they know we would all end up here?”
Before Dec could reply, I gazed out at the ocean. In the distance, I could see the mega-yacht still sitting out on the water. It wasn’t sinking. In fact, it was totally fine. Helicopters were circling overhead and dipping low, but they weren’t conducting rescues unless absolutely necessary. They were filming.
“The showrunners set this up,” Dec said grimly. “Those fucking assholes. They wanted to convince us all the boat was sinking, then watch how we all coped with the emergency. Absolutely fucking shameless.”
“We could’ve been hurt!” I said.
He shook his head. “No, they would’ve made sure no one was ever in any real danger. But Jesus Christ….I can’t fucking believe it.”
I looked up at him, and for a second, it didn’t even matter to me that the sinking emergency wasn’t real. The rescue was real. The way Dec had taken care of me in the water was real. The way he made me feel was real.
“Amazing work, guys!” A junior producer and two camera operators stepped toward us. I was still lying on the beach, and Dec was still crouched over me. “That rescue…wow! Now why don’t you give her a kiss, man? That’ll be the best shot of the week.”
Dec was right. The showrunners really were utterly shameless.
I was about to sit up and tell them to piss off when Dec’s mouth came down on mine, kissing me hard. After a stunned few seconds, I kissed him back, snaking my arms up around his neck to clutch him tightly. Dec’s hands wound under and around me, pulling me closer.
In this moment, it felt like our first kiss back in New York all over again. Raw. Primal. Perfect. When we finally broke away, the look in Dec’s eyes seemed to mirror the way I felt. This wasn’t just lust anymore. I was seriously falling for him.
Something told me he felt the same.