Chapter 7

Day Seven - At Sea

Amber woke up with the sun pouring through the window of her cabin and into her eyes. She squinted at the clock and groaned when she realized it was six in the morning.

Amber rolled over and noticed that Britney was not in bed with her.

"You go, girl," whispered Amber with a smile, not wanting to admit that she was really jealous of her. She wanted to be waking up in John's arms this morning. Hell, she thought. She wouldn't mind waking up in Dave's arms, either.

Amber stumbled to the shower and took a long, steamy shower, capped off with a screaming orgasm with thoughts of both John and Dave in her head.

Amber quickly got dressed in a light sundress and nothing else and headed out in search of breakfast down on the Lido deck.

Amber relished the feel of the cold, wood deck on her bare feet as she padded down to the Lido Deck Buffet. Once she got to the buffet, she started loading up a couple of plates of food and grabbed a table. That was when she saw John. John was sitting at a table, by himself, polishing off some breakfast. Then, a woman, who had dark hair and looked to be in her thirties kissed him on the cheek and sat down next to him. Amber lost her appetite as a knot formed in her stomach. Then her face flushed as anger took over.

Amber flew out of her seat and over to John.

"Who's this?" demanded Amber when she got to the table.

John looked up at Amber nonchalantly. "Is there a problem?" asked John. "I met Jane, here, last night."

"When you told me that you would be spending time with Emily!" screamed Amber.

"Who's Emily?" asked Jane.

"I loved you, John," sobbed Amber.

"This was just a week long fling," said John. "You got way too serious. That's not my fault."

The anger welled up in Amber to the point where she didn't even realize she had slapped him until after the fact when her hand was swollen with pain.

"You're a fucking pompous ass!" screamed Amber. She wheeled around and ran back to her cabin, bawling all the way.

Dave woke up with a heavy feeling on his chest. He then realized it was Britney's head on his chest and he sighed in contentment. He needed to pee badly, so he tried to extract himself from Britney. Unfortunately for him, Britney wasn't going to let that happen as she hugged onto Dave possessively.

"Baby, gotta go pee," said Dave. He kissed her on the forehead in an attempt to appease her.

"Please, don't go," moaned Britney. "It feels so good here."

"I promise I will come back," said Dave.

"I don't want to let go of you," whined Britney.

"Please, Baby?"

"Fine," huffed Britney. She let go of Dave and rolled onto her side.

Dave rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to relieve himself. When he left the bathroom, Britney was waiting outside. She maneuvered past Dave and closed the door. Dave chuckled to himself and then climbed into bed. After a short time, Britney climbed into bed again and eased into the position she was in before.

"I could stay like this for the rest of my life," purred Britney once she was settled.

"Me too," said Dave.

"You really serious about moving out to be with me?" asked Britney.

"Yeah, I am."

"Listen, Dave. I'm not ready to get married or anything..."

"I never asked you to marry me, did I?" said Dave. Secretly, he would have married her before they left the boat if he had a chance.

"No. It's just that things seem to be moving so fast. I don't know if I'm comfortable having you move all the way out to L.A. based on being with someone you've known less than a week."

"Are you familiar with the concept of soul mates?" asked Dave.

"Of course I am," said Britney.

"I think you're my soul mate, Britney."

Britney didn't say anything, which worried Dave.

"You okay?"

"Just coming to the realization that you might be right," said Britney. With tears in her eyes, she leaned over and kissed Dave on the lips. Dave's grumbling stomach broke the mood.

"Someone's hungry," giggled Britney.

"Hungry for you," said Dave with a broad smile.

"So cliché," giggled Britney. "Why don't we go grab something to eat and then come back up here and spend the day fucking like jack rabbits?"

"I like the idea," said Dave, "but what about Amber. You came on this trip to spend time with her."

"Hopefully she's doing the same thing with John today," said Britney. "Why don't you get dressed and then we'll stop at my cabin so I can put some normal clothes on. I don't think going to breakfast in just my robe is gonna cut it."

Dave quickly threw on some clothes, intending to shower after breakfast as a start of their day long sexual adventure. Britney tossed on their robe and then the two of them headed up to Britney's cabin.

"What the hell?" said Britney to herself as she keyed her door.

Dave could hear sobbing behind the door.

"Amber?" exclaimed Britney as she opened the door and flew inside.

"John's such an asshole!" screamed Amber as Britney entered the main part of the cabin. Dave was just behind her. He turned away and blushed when he realized that Amber was completely naked.

"Shit, sorry Amber," said Dave, heading back to the door.

"It's okay, Dave," sobbed Amber.

"I take it John broke up with you?" asked Britney.

"Worse," cried Amber. Her crying then became more intense, breaking down into wracked sobbing.

"Brit, maybe I should go," said Dave. "She's gonna need you today."

"You sure, Dave?" asked Britney.

"She's your best friend, Brit. I can't come between that. She needs you. You need to stay here with her. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow before we disembark?"

"Dave, you don't need to give up your whole day on my account," sobbed Amber.

"Amber, you need a friend today and I'm just gonna get in the way. The last thing you need after a tragic breakup is your best friend's boyfriend hanging around and reminding you about men. Brit, please stay with her. I insist."

"Thank you, Dave," cried Britney as she embraced her lover. "You don't know how much this means to me. Can we meet you for dinner at least?"

"Yeah, I think that would be okay as long as Amber is okay with it. Give me a call in my cabin and let me know."

"Dave, you don't need to do this," sobbed Amber.

Dave embraced Britney and kissed her chastely on the lips. He couldn't shake the feeling that this would be the last time he would kiss her. The thought sickened him. He wished suddenly that he didn't have any morals. He wished for once that he could be an asshole and not be so giving to people. Dave managed to not spill a tear until after the door closed behind him.

"How could I be so stupid?" sobbed Amber as soon as Dave left. "How could I fall in love with John? I should've known it was just a fling."

"I think you're getting to the point where you want to settle down and have kids. You saw that John was a family man and that attracted you to him."

"God, he's such an ass hole. I can't believe he was out with some other woman last night. With Emily, my ass!"

"Another woman?" exclaimed Britney. "How do you know about this?"

"I saw the bitch eating breakfast with him this morning acting all lovey-dovey. I slapped him so hard that he probably lost a few teeth."

"Jesus, Amber, I'm sorry," said Britney as she sat down next to Amber on the bed.

Britney took Amber into her arms and hugged her tightly. Amber sobbed even harder as Britney's hands ran over her back. After about ten minutes, Amber managed to settle down a bit. Only then did Britney loosen her hug on Amber. Amber drew back a bit and found herself staring into Britney's eyes. Amber knew where this was going. She knew they'd be having sex and she didn't want that. She didn't want to get hurt anymore than she already was. She knew she'd be crying over the unreturned love she felt for Britney. It was bad enough that she would already be crying about John.

Britney's lips brushed Amber's ever so gently. Amber's resolve nearly crumbled when Britney placed her hands on Amber's breasts.

"Britney, please stop this," whispered Amber.

"You need this, sweetie," purred Britney. "Just relax and I'll take care of you."

"No, Britney, please stop," said Amber calmly.

"What's wrong, Amber?" asked Britney.

"Nothing..."

"Amber?"

"Just not in the mood right now," said Amber.

"This will help you," said Britney. "Trust me."

"NO!" screamed Amber. "It won't help me. It will make things worse!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Britney, suddenly looking very concerned.

"Nothing..." replied Amber, withdrawn again.

"Amber, please talk to me."

"I can't."

"No secrets. Remember?"

"This is one secret I've gotta keep," said Amber.

"Amber, you've gotta tell me what's going on here. Why don't you want to have sex with me?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! YOU HAPPY?"

"But, Amber, I love you, too. What does that have to do with anything?"

"You don't love me the same way I love you," hissed Amber. "Every time we have sex I put all my love into it. As much love as you have for Dave. As much love as I poured into John. Yet, like John, my love is never returned."

Amber, having just released a weight on her soul that she had been carrying for years, broke down into tears. Britney followed.

"You love me? Like love love?" asked Britney, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Yeah," Amber spat.

"All these years..." whispered Britney. "All these years I wondered if you could ever love me."

"You wondered, what?" spat Amber.

"If you could ever love me the way I love you," said Britney softly. "Turns out you do."

"You're messing with me, right?"

"No," said Britney. "I've loved you since the first time we had sex. You remember that? We were both at a modeling camp..."

"... and we shared the dorm room for the first time. I still fantasize about that day. You really love me, too?"

Britney nodded. "I always assumed that you could never love someone as messed up and as fat as me. So, whenever I could get sex with you I took whatever I could get and tried not to push the emotional side of things lest I get you upset with me."

"God, I was so addicted to what affection you would give me, but I'd hurt so much afterwards because I thought you didn't love me and that you were just using me for sex. You were like a drug that I couldn't say no to."

"I know the feeling," said Britney. "I used to cry for weeks after we'd get together."

"This is so awesome," said Amber, now smiling. "God, now I don't even give a shit about John anymore."

Amber threw her arms around Britney and squeezed her tightly. Britney was quick to return the hug. After a few minutes, Amber pulled back and looked Britney squarely in the eyes.

"What about Dave?" asked Amber. "Where does he fit in all of this?"

"I love him, too," said Britney. "I know it sounds wrong, but I need a little girl time and I need a little boy time."

"I need my boy time, too," said Amber with a smile. "Do you love him?"

"God, yeah. He wants to move to L.A. to be near me. I think he'd be making a huge mistake."

"I don't think he would be," said Amber. "You're someone worth chasing after. Now that I know the truth, maybe I'll move, too."

"You'd move to L.A. for me?"

"I do hate New York," giggled Amber. "Seriously, though, I'd give up my whole career for you."

"Why does everyone love me?" asked Britney with exasperation in my voice. "I couldn't find a date two weeks ago and now I have two people willing to move cross-country for me."

"You're pretty special," said Amber.

"If Dave and I stay together, are you gonna be jealous?" asked Britney with a wince.

"I think the question you should be asking is how Dave is going to react when you tell him you are in love with me, too."

"Shit," said Britney with another wince.

"Eh, he's a guy. He'd probably get pretty excited by you having a female lover."

"I don't know," said Britney. "He's pretty serious about sex and love and all that."

"We could always offer him a threesome," said Amber with a smile.

"You trying to move in on my man?" asked Britney.

"Well he IS cute. Nice guy, too."

"He is, isn't he?" said Britney with a giggle.

"Seriously, though. I'd never get jealous of you and him as long as I got my time, too."

"I don't know if he'd want to share me," said Britney.

"Like I said before, maybe he'd want to share both of us," Amber giggled.

"Maybe you have a point," said Britney.

"I was just joking around," said Amber.

"No, I think that might be a good idea," said Britney. "If I were to share Dave with anyone, it would be with you. So why not share him? Maybe this whole thing would work better as a three-way relationship."

"I've heard those usually end pretty ugly," said Amber. "Besides, how do you know he'd go for it? It's not like he's in love with me."

"But you have feelings for him?"

"You could tell from that kiss last night, huh?"

Britney nodded and then smiled. "Why don't I go have a talk with him and see what he thinks of all this."

"Before you do... I... I want to make love to you. Just you and me, making mutual love for the first time."

"I like that idea," purred Britney. Britney stood up, slid out of her robe, and then sidled next to Amber on the bed. Britney leaned in and kissed Amber deeply. Amber drank in her love, feeding on it like a vampire in need. Britney quickly broke their kiss.

"I probably should shower before we do this," said Britney.

"I don't mind how you smell," said Amber. "I just want you."

"I probably still have some of Dave's dried cum down there," winced Britney.

"I don't care," said Amber as she lunged at Britney, knocking her down on her back and pinning her.

Amber kissed Britney deeply, snaking her tongue between her lips. As she kissed Britney, she gently massaged her breasts as well, causing Britney to moan into her mouth. Amber broke the kiss and showered Britney's neck with gentle little kisses.

"God, I love you, Amber," hissed Britney.

Britney ran her hands up and down Amber's back as Amber worked her kisses down Britney's throat and between her breasts. Amber languished for a while on Britney's breasts, taking time to run her tongue around each nipple. Amber always admired Britney's breasts and loved playing with them every chance she could get. Amber then worked her way down Britney's tummy, using more tongue than kisses. Britney always complained about having a big tummy, but Amber thought it was quite attractive and flat. Amber knew that Britney had a self-image problem and always saw herself as bigger than she really was. Most men thought Britney was very attractive and even pleasing in a bikini. The fashion industry's version of "plus-size modeling" and real life plus-sized clothing were two different things.

Britney moaned as Amber's tongue glided over her mound. Amber smiled as she tasted the saltiness of the remnants of Britney's sex from the night before. The taste and the smell were definitely not pleasant, but Amber still smiled because she was showing her lover that she would do anything in the world for her. She also knew that the man that made her the most happy had caused what she was licking up. That knowledge made her body tingle as she drove her tongue between her lover's folds.

Amber slowly worked Britney to the point or release several times, but didn't let her go over the edge. By the time Amber finally let her climax, Britney was begging for it; loudly. Afterwards, Britney couldn't move. Amber just held her as she relaxed and then fell into a light sleep.

Amber didn't need anything in return, though. She knew she was loved and relished in the feeling. As she slipped off to sleep, she worried about the one wild card in everything: Dave. She would enter a three way relationship with him if it was what it took to be with Britney, but she was scared that it would cause turmoil and might end with her losing Britney for good. Still, it was a gamble she was willing to take just to be near her lover.

Dave looked out over the ocean, watching the sun dip below the horizon for the final time of his cruise. He'd miss his balcony on the water when he got home to frozen Wisconsin. He knew he'd really miss Britney most of all. It would take him time to rearrange his life and move to Los Angeles. It would be a long time before he could hold her in his arms. With Amber's crisis, it was likely that he and Britney wouldn't have another private moment before they disembarked in the morning. That realization brought tears to his eyes.

Dave was startled by loud pounding at his door. He was surprised he could hear it out on the patio so whoever was knocking must have been trying to knock the door down. Dave wiped away his tears and then threw on a robe to answer the door.