Chapter 31

Joey

“Not that one. Save that one for one of the more elegant nights.”

Frowning as I hold the dress shirt against me while looking in the mirror, I acknowledge Andi’s reasoning with a nod.

Tossing the purple fabric to the side, I grab a polo and the most comfortable jeans I own.

“What’s the deal with all of this purple?” Andi asks as she sifts through the clothes I’ve brought.

“It’s my favorite color,” I remind her.

Anthony’s favorite color is purple too, and after getting interrupted by Dave in my room the other night, I want to tease him by wearing it as often as I can.

“You also look great in turquoise and navy,” she recommends before turning back to the makeup sprawled on the tiny desk.

“Everyone looks good in turquoise,” I agree.

“Turquoise and Jesus. Can’t live in Texas without them.” I grin as she contorts her face and applies her eyeliner.

“I thought you were going for a natural look. We’re only going to dinner.”

“And the bar after,” she adds.

Ten minutes after she applies more makeup to her face than she needs, she steps away from the mirror with a smile. “Done.”

“About time.” Moving her out of the way, I puff my hair a little in the mirror. Bright blue eyes surrounded by a halo of jet black hair greet me.

“Guys have it so damn easy,” she mutters. “Fix your hair, and you’re done. Women should get a medal for all of the hoops they have to jump through to impress a guy.”

“I’m gay remember?” I find Andi’s eyes in the reflection. “You don’t know anything about jumping through hoops for the opposite sex.”

“Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on with you and your guy?”

“He’s not my guy,” I counter, and she frowns.

Sighing, I know it’s time to tell her, maybe not everything but enough to keep her feelings from getting hurt any further. Sneaking around with Anthony was never meant to hurt anyone, even though the fact remains that it will. Me most of all, I fear.

“The truth is,” I begin and chuckle when her eyes widen and she sits on the edge of the bed fully invested in what I’m going to say next. “I don’t know if he is my guy.”

“Like you haven’t spoken to him about it?”

“We don’t really have time to talk to each other,” I explain.

“Because you’re too busy banging?” With her hands, she mimics sex with her finger jamming through the closed circle she’s made with her other hand.

“We haven’t spent a lot of time doing that either.” Flinching when she squeals, I jerk my head back a few inches.

“I knew it! The day I came over and you pretended to be sick?” I nod. “You didn’t have to act sick just to hide a damn hickey.”

“This whole situation is complicated,” I remind her.

Ugh. Now I’m using that word.

With a heavy sigh, she glares at me as if I’ve missed some point.

“It doesn’t have to be.”

It’s my turn to sigh at her.

“Listen,” she says grabbing my hands that are tangled in my lap. “What makes it complicated? The rule?”

And the fact that he doesn’t seem comfortable coming out as a couple no matter how much he insists that he wants to.

“Yep.”

“So you break the rule, big deal.” When I don’t answer immediately, she scrutinizes my face. “You’re worried that when Jon finds out you broke the rule, he’ll break the rule, too.”

“Exactly.”

My hands are released as quickly as she grabbed them, and I know I’ve somehow said the wrong thing.

“Is the idea of Jon and I together so disgusting to you that you’d make yourself unhappy just to avoid it?”

“You’re the closest friend I have. I don’t want to lose you.”

“First, I’m the only friend you have beside the guys. Second, you’ll never lose me, no matter what happens between your brother and me.”

She can’t even see it.

“You pull away from me every single damn time you see Jon with another woman. I’m,” I say pushing a finger against my chest, “punished because he’s a womanizing whore.”

“I do not,” she insists.

“Just the other night after seeing him walk off with that chick on the boardwalk, you withdrew. You were no longer my friend that night. You’d been replaced by the girl grieving over Jon.”

“I was upset.” Her eyes well with tears, and this is exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid.

“I know you were, and it kills me to see you that way, but do you seriously think he’ll change? If you hook up with him and he goes right back to being good ol’ Jon, you’re going to be miserable.”

“I won’t know until I try.” Her voice is weak, and the assuredness she usually carries with her is nowhere to be seen.

“You deserve better,” I say the words with all the confidence I can muster. It seems to echo in the room just like it has done every time I’ve said them.

“I don’t want better.” Her lip twitches with an attempted smile. “And you deserve better than sneaking around. This is a non-issue for you. Even if Jon is pissed about Anthony, you can still date him.”

“We’d be miserable if the group dynamic changed.”

“You’re miserable now.”

Narrowing my eyes, I look at her. “Right now? I’m not miserable, but I can see it getting that way the longer we try to avoid each other and sneak around.”

“Okay,” she says clapping her hands together. “Tonight we drink and have a good time. I’ll do my best to keep the guys distracted if you can no longer fight the urge to jump Anthony’s bones and need to attack him.”

Laughing, I stand from the small chair in front of the desk. “I think I can control myself.”

“I’d like to see you try after you’ve been drinking.”

Flushing at the memory of Dave’s bathroom, I look away and grab my access card from the nightstand.

“We’ll need a warning sign.” She fluffs her hair one last time in the mirror before walking toward the door.

“Warning sign?”

“Yeah.” She opens the door, and I follow her through it. “Like a code word or a hand signal.”

“This is becoming too covert, even for me.”

“Well, you don’t want any of the other guys catching on.”

“I’m more concerned about Dave getting drunk and mentioning it.”

With her hand clutching my elbow, she stops us in the middle of the long corridor. “Dave knew before I did?”

“Dave walked in on us kissing Sunday night after they got back from the fishing trip.” Her frown deepens. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s not like I sat him down and spilled my guts.”

My skin tingles when she releases her grip on my arm.

“What?” I ask when she gets the same look she had in her eyes moments ago in my room.

“And you were worried about me changing?”

“Andi.” I sigh as we begin walking again and grab the elevator before the doors close.

The ride to the dining hall is silent since we’re in the car with several other people, but I pull her to the side the second we step off.

“I don’t want to fight about this. How we are right now is exactly why I think Anthony is right about us not continuing whatever this is between us.”

“He doesn’t want you?”

“He’s,” I pause searching for the right word, “torn.”

For the first time since my teen years, I wish I was either a chick or wasn’t gay. Navigating the dating world when so many people see your sexuality as a demonic choice is so fucking hard.

“He’s an idiot if he doesn’t want to date you.” She gives me a smile, and I love the look of it on her face. “Because you’re amazing.”

“Thank you,” I say as she slings her arm over my shoulder.

“Now, let’s find the guys and get our drink on.” I knew after she woke up from her two-hour nap earlier, all threats of never drinking again would be forgotten.

“There they are.” I point toward the group of four guys that are surrounded by women.

“Vultures,” Andi spits as we get closer.

Anthony is standing a foot or so away, face turned down to his phone, and it makes me realize I don’t have his number. I’ll have to remedy that very soon. Dave is trying to hit on a blonde girl, while Cooper has his arm already wrapped around the redheaded chick he met while waiting in line earlier. My brother, the focus of a slender brunette, sees us first.

“Hey,” he says as he steps away from the other women.

Uncharacteristically, he presses a quick kiss to Andi’s temple before pulling me closer.

“Save me from this chick,” he whispers in my ear. “We need a new rule about no strays at dinner on the cruise.”

Chuckling, I pull him away from everyone else, making a quick excuse about a family issue. What I didn’t realize when I did it, is for the whole family to break away.

Cooper tells the girl he’ll be right back. The girl Dave was talking to, looking relieved, walks away as well. Unsure of what to do, Anthony stays a couple of feet away until Andi grabs him and forces him into the huddle.

“New rule,” my brother begins as the group steps in tighter. “No strays at the dinner table while on the cruise.”

“Agreed,” Andi says immediately.

“Now wait.” Cooper holds up both hands in protest.

“We aren’t supposed to make rules in the moment,” Dave reminds everyone.

“I vote to waive the three day contemplation period,” Jon argues.

“Second,” Andi pipes up.

Anthony chuckles, but he looks fully engaged in how we handle stuff in the group.

“You may regret this tomorrow night,” Cooper warns. “You may not want that chick tonight, but things could be different tomorrow. Come on, Dave. You can’t possibly agree with this.”

“Have you seen me eat?” Dave grins. “The no chicks at the table rule only helps me out, man.”

We all nod our agreement to his evaluation. The man is the sloppiest I’ve ever seen when he’s eating.

“Fuck,” Cooper grumbles, glaring at Andi. “That means no dudes either.”

“Exactly,” Anthony chimes in. My brother grins, and I can tell he was about to say the same thing.

“All in favor of no outside people at the cruise dinners, say I,” Jon says.

We all say “I,” Cooper being the last one to reluctantly agree.

“Now get rid of that girl for me,” Jon says as he grabs my arm and thrusts me in the direction of the brunette.

“Allow me,” Andi says intercepting me before I can stop her.

“Andi,” Jon hisses, but it’s already too late.

“See that dark-haired guy over there?” The girl’s face falls, morphing from a grin to disappointment as she nods. “He’s mine.”

“Yours?” the girl asks for clarification.

“Mine,” Andi reiterates. “And I’m pretty sure our two children back home wouldn’t appreciate it if you destroy a perfectly good marriage.”

Bravely, the girl looks around Andi to my brother. “He’s not wearing a ring.”

Before Andi can punch the girl in the nose for challenging her, Jon steps up and wraps his arm around her shoulder.

“Sweetheart,” he bites out as he pulls her away and gives the brunette a parting nod. “Took it a little too far.”

Oddly, he doesn’t release her until after the waitress is ushering us to the table. He pulls her chair out for her and sits to the right of it. Smiling, I make eye contact with Anthony who is also watching the interaction, both of us wondering exactly what all of this could mean for us.

My smile falters when my jerk of a brother opens his big mouth.

“Think that chick is gone?” he asks before scooting his chair as far from Andi as he can manage without being completely away from the table.