Chapter 47

“Do you want to wake him up, or should I?”

I slowly came back to consciousness, hearing Cassidy ask the question. I kept my eyes shut, trying to listen in even while swimming out of my sleepy state.

“What’s the difference?” Cattie asked quietly. They were both still resting with their heads on my chest, the weight of their bodies a comfortable one as they leaned against me in the bed.

“Well, if you do it you get to kiss him again,” Cassidy said. “And don’t try telling me you don’t want to.”

“Cass,” Cattie scolded her lightly.

“What? I’m giving you permission. Kiss my fiance as much as you want.”

“That’s not fair to Heather,” Cattie said. “The only reason I kissed him like I did last night was because she put me in that position.”

“What about the other kisses?” Cassidy prodded.

“They were friendly,” Cattie said. “Just friendly.”

“Mhmm,” Cassidy hummed knowingly.

“Stop,” Cattie said.

“Fine, fine,” Cassidy sighed. “We really should wake him up though. And you need to go wake up Heather.”

“I’m awake,” I said, blinking my eyes open and yawning. “Cattie, don’t let Cass bully you.”

“I won’t,” she said and I noticed she pressed herself a little more firmly against me.

I kissed the top of her head, then did the same for Cassidy. “OK, you two. I would love to stay like this all morning, but I need to pee and I’m hungry as hell.”

Cassidy was the first to actually move, stretching and rolling out from under the covers. Cattie stayed a moment longer like she was trying to absorb the warmth from me.

“You OK?” I asked her.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Cattie said, sitting up. One of her bra shoulder straps had slid down and I moved it back up for her. “I was just really comfortable.”

“Seriously, Cattie,” I said. “Any time you want to cuddle, just let me or Cass know.”

She blushed and tried to hide it by reaching for her nightshirt and pulling it on. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. “See you guys at breakfast.”

“Mhmm,” Cassidy nodded. She was still sitting on the bed topless.

Cattie scooted out of the room quickly, closing the door behind her, and Cassidy quickly tried to get in next to me again.

“No, hold on,” I said. “I really do need to pee.”

Once I came back from the bathroom, Cassidy was grumbling to herself as she got dressed. She’d realised she was hungry too.

Breakfast was an assortment of fruit, prepackaged yoghurts, and a steaming pot of oatmeal. Becca had arrayed it over in the Singles Boat kitchen, which was set up almost exactly like our Couples boat. Cassidy got into a conversation with Terra, JC and Heels when I got up to get some seconds, so rather than try to shoehorn my way back into the conversation I decided to wander. Due to the number of people crammed into the one boat several of the girls had gone back to their rooms and I stopped in the open doorway of the first one.

“‘Hey, how did the shoot come out, Leia?” I asked.

Leia and Ginnie were sitting on the edge of their bed picking at a plate of fruit between them. Leia, her pastel hair pulled up into a couple of fun buns, smiled sweetly at me. “I only went through a few of them, but they turned out pretty good. Can’t really know until I get them onto a computer to do some editing, but I think they’ll be a hit.”