The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories (102 page)

“I’m not sleeping in a bed that you just fucked a girl in,” I said, shaking my head.

“Fine, here’s the deal. There is housekeeping twenty-four/seven, so we’ll just have them change the sheets and push the beds back, or the other one can sleep up there for the night until the sheets are changed,” he said, pointing to a piece of the wall that stuck out. “You just pull it down and it’s a twin, too.”

“What if we both bring a chick back? We need rules. I don’t want to see your dick.” I had actually seen his dick before. We’d been best friends since we were in diapers practically, and we played sports together, so it was just a natural thing.

“I don’t want to see yours, either!”

“We should just work it so we go back to their room, and then we don’t have to worry about kicking them out or anything.”

“Good plan!” he said, snapping his fingers and pointing at me, nodding his head.

“Let’s do this...” I started to say as the Captain’s voice played in a speaker in our room.

“Hello! This is your Captain speaking. I hope everyone has found their rooms and is ready to meet some single people. We only do this cruise once a year, and it’s my favorite one...” I gave a sarcastic laugh towards Avery, wondering if El Capitan got lucky on a singles cruise as well. “Before we start the fun, there is a mandatory Safety at Sea briefing on Deck 7 on the Promenade in twenty minutes. Again, this is mandatory for all passengers. Once it is completed, you will be free to roam the ship and hopefully meet that special someone!”

“You fucking owe me big,” I said to Avery.

“Dude, you’re going to get laid. What are you complaining about?”

I was still feeling kind of guilty to be out having fun without my Peanut, but really, I needed this vacation. Working long hours at the bar and raising Cheyenne practically on my own was tough. I had the help of my parents, but I didn’t want to pawn Cheyenne off on them too much. I knew I was a good father, but part of me wished that Cheyenne was on the cruise with me.

“Nothing. Let’s go.”

*~*~*

I
scoped out our playing field as we made our way to the Promenade, but I didn’t see anyone who was our type. When we first got to the ship, I’d seen plenty of hot chicks. Where they had disappeared to was beyond me. Our cabin must be by all of the old people, because I didn’t see anyone our age walking with us towards the Promenade.

“You really fucking owe me,” I said to Avery—again.

“Dude, relax. Trust me.”

“Do you see these broads? They’re Ma’s age!”

“They have activities for our age group. Fucking relax, there are chicks here our age!”

I had a funny feeling in my gut. I didn’t have anything against
older women
, but when Avery told me that we were going on a singles cruise, I envisioned hot chicks in bikinis—not grandmas in a one-piece.

We were ushered and packed like sardines into the Promenade as we listened to the Captain’s voice coming overhead through the speakers. He gave us the rundown on safety as we watched the staff mimic what the Captain was saying—like on an airplane.

People were pushing, stepping on toes and not paying attention. I tried to listen, but it was just a cluster fuck of people who were drunk already and not interested in hearing a lecture on safety. I silently prayed that we didn’t hit an iceberg (unlikely on the way to Mexico) when I was pushed to my right, trying not to hit the person next to me to no avail.

“I’m sorry, they keep pushing me,” I said to the brunette beside me. I was just about to point to my left when she looked up at me.

The most emerald green eyes I had ever seen stared back at me, and a smile spread across her face. “It’s okay. It’s a cluster fuck.”

It was like she had read my mind—or had a sailor’s mouth—which I fucking loved. Either way, I wanted to keep talking to her. There was finally someone around my age, and if she was the only one, then Avery and I would have to fight to our death for her. Okay not really, but I saw her first and well...hook, line and sinker.

“It is,” I replied, glancing to my left at the people slightly pushing each other to fit on the side deck. “Is this your first time?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Yeah, my buddy dragged me here.”

“My friend dragged me, too.” She smiled again.

Fuck, that smile.

The Captain finished his spiel that I wasn’t paying attention to, and we were dismissed. People pushed again—like herds of cattle being released. It was fucking crazy.

“What’s the plan now?” I asked her.

We scooted down the hall, Avery in front of me, the hot brunette to my left. “I have a boyfriend, so I’m just here for my friend. I can introduce you if you want?”

“You have a boyfriend and you came on a singles cruise?” I laughed slightly. For some reason, this girl was making me nervous. Usually I had no problems
telling
a girl what the plan was, but now, I was asking.

“Like I said, my friend dragged me. Nicole, this is...”

“Easton,” I replied, giving a little nod. We made it into the open lounge area. The Grand Piano started to play in the background as people lined up at the bar. “And this is Avery.”

We shook hands, Avery and Nicole’s hands lingered on each other’s as my and... “I didn’t catch your name...”

“Oh, Brooke. Sorry!”

Even though Brooke said she had a boyfriend, I still wanted to get to know her. The moment I saw her, I forgot about all the possible hook-ups on the cruise. Her smile was like...her smile made my dick hard and my pulse race. Period.

It had been a long time since I had an instant hard-on when I met a chick. Usually I would watch them on the dance floor, their legs glistening from the sweat as they moved to the pounding beat, and then as they leaned over the bar to order a drink, I felt a little twitch in my pants as I stared at their chest. But this—this was fucking instant. I didn’t know what it meant, but I was going to find out, and I had seven nights to do it.

B
rooke

I’ve read a lot in romance novels about when you shake hands with or touch
the one
, you have an instant spark, like electricity running through your body. I've never felt that way with anyone before. When Jared and I met at a house party that Nicole dragged me to, I felt nothing as I talked to him and kissed him that night.

I still think that spark is fiction, but as I looked into the cornflower blue eyes of this stranger, my heart felt like it skipped a beat. I didn’t feel the spark when our shoulders smashed into each other as we listened to the safety presentation, but holy fuck, he was fucking hot and tall—at least nine inches taller than me—his five o’clock shadow was growing in, and I had the urge to reach out and run my fingers down his cheek and feel the prickly stubble.

When he smiled at me the first time, I couldn’t look away from his dimples and the way his mouth curved upward, causing faint lines to crease by his eyes and around his mouth. It was like I’d never seen a smile before. There was just something about the way he smiled that drew me in and made me want to look at it all day.

As we moved down the deck of the Promenade towards the foyer, I wished silently that it wouldn’t be the last time that I would see his gorgeous face. The ship had to have a few thousand people on board, because it felt like half of them had already stomped on my feet that were only protected by the small straps of my flip-flops.

“What’s the plan now?” Nicole asked, looking at Avery.

I was too busy looking into the mystical eyes of Easton to realize that Nicole was already in lust with Avery.

“Our dinner time isn’t until the late seating...” Avery started to say, but was cut off by Nicole.

“Us too!”

“Perfect, do you ladies want to grab a drink with us then?” he asked.

Easton and I were both looking at each other...but not looking at each other. I caught him stealing glances, and he caught me as well.

“I would like that,” Nicole replied, eyeing me and silently telling me that we were going with them even if I didn’t want to.

“Sounds good to me.” I smiled, looking over at Easton again.

He smiled back with a nod of his head. “Perfect.”

Nicole and I sat in the lounge area, listening to the piano in the background, watching people walk by in awe of the foyer as we waited for Easton and Avery to return with our drinks. They were only a few feet away at the packed bar, and Nicole leaned into me so they wouldn’t hear.

“Avery is fucking hot, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, he’s cute,” I agreed.

“What about Easton? Are you interested in him?”

“Nic, remember Jared, my boyfriend?”

“Whatever,” she huffed, waving her hand to brush off my statement. “Remember, I won’t tell if you hookup with someone—especially Easton.”

“I’m not hooking up with anyone. I’m here to get a tan and a massage and to be your damn wingwoman. So, if I have to sit here and talk to Easton while you and Avery flirt, fine. But I already told Easton that I have a boyfriend, and he was cool with that. I’m sure he’s going to find a
single
chick—not hang around with me.”

“Your loss.” She shrugged. “Easton is much better looking than that loser you call a boyfriend.”

“I know,” was what I wanted to say, but I didn’t. Jared was slender with no muscle and had shaved blonde hair. Easton was cut and had broad shoulders and dark blonde hair that I wanted to grab while his head was buried between my legs. In the twenty minutes that I’d known Easton, I had already pictured him in several different positions.

I’ve never been a cheater and wasn’t going to start now. After Jared’s lack of help while my shoulder had been bothering me, and his flirting at my birthday party, my gut was telling me that I should have ended our relationship. The other part of me kept reminding myself that we had been together for four years, and during those four years, he had shown me that he loved me—he just wasn’t good at it and hadn’t been doing it lately.

Easton and Avery came back with our drinks before I could respond to Nicole. I didn’t know how any of this worked. I figured that once I told a guy that I had a boyfriend, he would move on to the next girl on the cruise—not sit with us and have a drink.

“So, do you two come on single cruises often?” Nicole asked, but only looked at Avery—again.

“No, this is our first time,” he said back.

“Ours, too. I heard we should sign up for activities before they book up. Maybe we should do that after this drink?”

Easton and I both sat and watched them talk. I sipped my margarita and he sipped his beer. I shouldn’t have been drinking because of my medications, but I figured one wouldn’t hurt. Plus, Nicole would tell me to loosen up and have a good time, when in fact I
was
having a good time.

We continued sipping our drinks and making small talk as Nicole and Avery practically made footsies under the small cocktail table. Now that I was paying attention, I saw that Nicole was glowing. I hadn’t seen her react that way to a guy in a long time. She didn’t have that look about her when she was crushing on Mike from work. This was different. Her eyes were twinkling as she talked to Avery, occasionally touching his arm and laughing. I missed that.

Jared and I never experienced that. The night we met, we were both drunk and made out at the party Nicole dragged me to. The only flirting on Jared’s part was telling me that I was hot and then going in for the kill.

The more that I thought about my relationship with Jared, the more I realized that being with him was convenient. Before we met, I was single and lonely. I’d always had boyfriends throughout high school and for a few years afterwards. But when I met him that night, I had been in a dry spell and he had shown me the time of day. Before I realized it, he practically moved in with me.

After months of him paying rent elsewhere, we figured he should just officially move in with me and pay me rent. We had things in common, did things together at first, but lately we were more like roommates than lovers. As I sat watching Nicole and Avery flirt, I felt jealous.

I miss that. I want that. I need that.

I was starting to think that maybe this singles cruise wasn’t a bad idea after all. I wasn’t thinking of cheating on Jared—even though I was daydreaming about Easton, but a girl can look, right?

Being away from Jared was already opening my eyes and making me realize that we needed to talk. Things happen for a reason, and luckily he hadn’t proposed, because now I was starting to think that there was someone better out there for me. Someone who would give me butterflies. Someone who would want to cuddle with me and watch movies on rainy days instead of cuddling with a game controller. Someone who wanted me and not a mother figure to take care of them.

“So tell me why you have a boyfriend but came on a singles cruise again?” Easton asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, um—Nicole wanted to come, so she dragged me along. She tried to tell me it was a birthday present.” I laughed slightly.

“What does your boyfriend think of you coming on a singles cruise?”

“He doesn’t know that it’s a singles cruise.”

Easton raised his eyebrows, giving me a confused look. “Really?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like that. I’m just here for the vacation aspect, not to meet anyone.”

“I see,” he said, nodding his head in understanding. “Maybe you can help me scope out the hot babes since these two won’t be leaving your room anytime soon.” Easton motioned to our friends who were too wrapped up in their conversation to socialize with us.

“Sure. That sounds like—fun.” I hesitated on the word fun, thinking about finding other girls for Easton.

Fuck you, Jared, and my morals!

I kept weighing the pros and cons of meeting Easton and being on the cruise. Part of me wished that I would have broken things off with Jared months ago since I hadn’t been happy for a long time. The other part was telling me to just explore things with Easton and
then
break up with Jared when I got home. Actually, there was a third part of me that kept reminding myself that I had been with Jared for four years and that he did love me and I loved him.