Chapter Seven

Victor

Exiting the car that had collected us from the airport, I popped on my sunnies to hide my wide-eyed awe as I looked around. Although, the sun was an enormous ball of blinding yellow hotness in a clear blue sky. It promised us a great start to the holiday, not discounting the men that filled the dockside.

Behind me, I could hear Ollie, Leeson, and Garett talking, but the wide array of men held my attention as my head went into swivel mode, absorbing everything around me. Thousands of men—or so it seemed—were boarding the ship, chatting with others, or already on board and watching from the decks above us. As I strained my neck to look up at the gigantic ship—floating hotel—the brochure hadn't done justice to, I could see it would easily cope with so many people.

Sun gleamed off the brilliant white of the ship and all the glass it carried, blinding me despite my glasses and making me dizzy with its sheer height. I counted at least ten decks before giving up. Some of the balconies facing me already had occupants watching the chaos on shore.

I got a range of fluttery sensations when a dark-haired guy strolled past me, attempting to catch my eye. When our gazes clashed, he gave me a flirty grin. My nerves kicked in but there, in the background, was excitement, too. Although, I felt sick to my stomach at the idea of flirting with a guy after being out of practice for over four years.

This was also my first ever holiday and the idea of spending two weeks on this luxury Royal Caribbean cruise ship, floating around the Caribbean islands with like-minded people was a dream come true. Only one thing would have made it utterly perfect—Denton.

He might be single but that doesn't make him gay, so get over yourself!

My shoulders slumped at the truth and at how I'd not found the courage to speak to him about his breakup with Nese. I'd made no attempt to dig a little deeper into his reasons and whether he was interested in someone else or just wanting to be single for a while. I was a scaredy cat. I really didn't want to know he'd found someone else. Someone that wasn't me.

Over the last few weeks, interpretation of Nese's behavior could be associated with too many things regarding the break-up. She wasn't saying anything about it, especially to me, despite how close we'd gotten whilst working together. Nese continued to be stiff with me and not her usual self since her breakup. It was almost like I'd caused their problems.

Maybe it was my guilt worming its way to the surface for finding her boyfriend attractive. Whatever it was, I'd broken down and confessed to Leeson something was up, and Leeson, being Leeson, assured me it wasn't my issue but hers. Despite that, I was getting a vibe I'd done something horribly wrong, and it was niggling at me constantly. I'd never made a move on Denton, so I had nothing to feel guilty about—did I?

Twice I'd gone out for coffee with Denton since he'd split up with Nese, and he'd been his usual self. The second time I'd mentioned the cruise, and he'd seemed genuinely happy about me going with Garrett and Leeson. During the conversation, I'd gotten the feeling he was encouraging me to let loose and enjoy myself. Afterwards, I'd gone home and moped about for hours before giving myself a talking to. It wasn't the first time Denton had talked about me dating and although it was nice that he was looking out for me, it still sucked on every other level that he wasn't the one asking me out.

I bit my lip to stop the maudlin thoughts taking hold when this was supposed to be an amazing adventure. An adventure that I'd decided could—would—help me dip my toe back into the dating pool, so to speak. If I couldn't have Denton, then there had to be someone on a ship this size who wanted to have some fun with me—that didn't involve sweaty sex?

"Look at that guy!" Leeson murmured out the side of his mouth and fanned his face dramatically. The Hawaiian style shirt Leeson wore with a pair of shorts was like my own because he"d picked them out. Ollie and Garrett had dressed similarly, but Garrett had drawn the line at wearing one of the bright green shirts with orange flowers. He'd gone with a dark blue with a light blue flower pattern. It was fun wedding party outfits, or so Leeson had said when he'd insisted we bulk buy outfits that matched for the wedding parties planned. Who was going to argue with him? Not me or Ollie, that was for sure, as his two groomsmen.

I followed Leeson's gaze to the dark-haired dude who'd passed earlier and smiled at me. "I'm sure he gave me a flirty grin when he walked past," I answered quietly for risk of being overheard, although with the overall excited chatter, there was probably little risk of that.

"Go you," said Leeson, nudging his shoulder against mine whilst a slender arm snaked around my waist. I caught a whiff of chocolate that somehow always lingered around Leeson. "But I wouldn't choose someone yet. There's plenty of time to scope out the guys. My research says this is like one big gay-friendly party."

Garrett, who had gone to grab the bags with Ollie, appeared with two of the bigger suitcases and gave his future husband a glare. "The only one you'll be partying with is me," he barked, then spoiled it by kissing the end of Leeson's wrinkled nose. "Got it."

"Got it… but I'm just gonna say there's a—"

"There's nothing," Garrett pointed out sternly, but the glint in his eye suggested he wasn't as annoyed as he was making out. "Now shall we get on the ship I've sold a kidney to get tickets for?"

My nerves were back, forming into a ball of anxiety as I tensed next to Leeson.

"He's joking," Leeson said, hugging me a little tighter before I could suggest paying, not that I had that kind of money to pay outright, but I'd pay them back like I'd done before.

Garrett eyed me, the tension around his eyes and lips evident in the deep lines that appeared as his lips thinned. "I'm messing around, Vic. This is the wedding Leeson wants." A cheeky grin transformed him into the captivating man who had once graced culinary magazine covers. "And, my love, this is a lot cheaper than my first one!"

It was turn about as Leeson let go of me to face Garrett with a glare. It didn't have much impact as he was just too cute. "Let's not talk about that dick and spoil my wedding!" Leeson took hold of my hand and dragged me with him towards the gangway leading onto the ship. "And you don't know that for sure as you haven't seen the final bill."

There was cursing behind us, but it got lost in Leeson's laughter and mine because his playful grin was too hard to resist.

"Hey, you pair, wait for me, and what about helping with the bags' lazybones?" Ollie called, making me pause and Leeson nearly trip because it appeared he wasn't for stopping.

He barely looked over his shoulder as he shouted back, "We'll get a purser or a steward. We get our own one, isn't that cool?" Then Leeson was off, dragging me with him onto the ship past crowds of men.

I craned my neck to make sure Ollie was following; it was the best I could do. Leeson might have been small, but the guy was strong. Resistance was futile when Leeson was on a mission.

By the time we'd made it to the luxury staterooms that Leeson had bragged all had balconies and a hot tub, I had spent most of my time blushing and apologizing for knocking into people. Leeson had nearly taken out two men in his over exuberance to follow our steward, who had organized with the ship's purser to deliver our bags and stop Ollie complaining.

The cute steward, Miller, rattled off all the amenities on the ship as he opened the stateroom door and stepped aside for me to walk in first. I'd not imagined my stateroom would be as luxurious as Garrett and Leeson's, who were four doors down from me.

Wordlessly, I walked into the spacious, beautifully appointed room. The queen sized bed with cream and blue bed linen, with huge sumptuous looking pillows, sat close to the door. This left a large seating area with a huge couch next to the glass doors leading out onto the balcony. The view of the sea, which sparkled like a blanket of diamonds as the sun hit it, left me with a ball of emotion lodged in my throat. The sheer opulence was breathtaking and I felt the impact of the gift my friends had given me.

Assuming I was sharing with Ollie, I turned and grinned eagerly at him. "Come see. We have a queen sized bed to share, but with how big it is, we likely won't find each other for the two weeks we're here."

Giggling, I glanced around the room once more, only then registering a noise coming from behind the closed door to my right. I opened my mouth to ask about it but it came out as a strangled, choked cough at the semi-naked man who appeared through the door wearing nothing except a towel around his hips. Golden skin glistened with droplets of water that ran down the planes of… Denton's hairy chest.

"What… you… here… what… wet?" Heat coursed through me and sweat gathered on my top lip as I stopped stuttering and attempted to make myself look less foolish. Then my gaze lingered on all the naked skin and it became impossible to get my mouth to form a coherent thought.

I dipped my eyes, hoping that not looking at all the wet skin would stop me from imaging drying it with my body, only my gaze caught on the towel and the impressive bulge pressed against the front of the white fluffiness.

It's soft.

Fuck, he's soft!

Dear gods, who knew it came in that size?

Denton's chuckle was warm and matched the twinkle in the eye I found when I returned my attention to safer places. It was then I noticed the towel he held in his hand when he brought it up and hung it around his neck, catching the drips from his hair. The white really stood out against his dark hair and tanned skin.

"I see you are all settled in, Mr. Newton," Miller stated, not at all surprised at Denton's appearance.

Miller was fully into the room, directing the purser who had appeared—when, who knew—to where another suitcase sat tucked under a walnut shelving unit.

No…

Was I sharing with Denton?

I glanced at the bed once more, seeing it with fresh eyes.

Oh my!

"Your flight was fully booked, so I had to take an earlier one, which meant I didn't have time to shower after leaving work," he explained, like that would make perfect sense to me.

I scratched my forehead and stared at him, working on keeping my eyes on his face and not on the silky-looking hair on his chest, or lower.

"I'm sharing with you?" I asked, while resisting the temptation to pinch myself to make sure I was awake.

"This stateroom is booked for Mr. Newton and Mr. Colby. You are Mr. Newton?" Miller asked me, sounding a little uncertain as he shifted his gaze between me and Denton.

"I am… I just thought…" I glanced back to the open door where Ollie remained wearing an expression I considered was like my own—stunned. "It was me and Ollie sharing," I said, feeling way more flustered and pleased at Ollie's shrugging shoulders.

"I'm sharing with Garrett's best friend, Beckett. I thought I mentioned it? I haven't met him yet, but Garrett assures me he's nice." Ollie shrugged his shoulders once more, a skeptical look on his face.

Denton stepped closer and I felt the heat from his semi-naked body. He smelled like a summer beach, leaving my brain taking its own vacation. As the steward walked back to the open door, I realized I was too distracted to even remember his name.

He's leaving us alone!

I'm going to be alone in a room with Denton.

A naked Denton…

"If there is nothing else, I'll leave you to prepare for departure. Drinks are being served on the top deck. You'll find the directions in your personal pack, and on the app we recommend you download to keep updated on all the activities on the ship. If you require anything at any time, just press this call button and someone will attend to you." He gave us a bright smile and then shut the door quietly, leaving me alone with Denton and clueless about what to say or do.