Page 35 of Love on Deck
Jack looked slightly disgusted. “It’s only been a day.”
“Where are y’all headed?” I asked. “Anywhere fun?”
“Bingo!” Annie gave a little shimmy. “My friend Sharlene won two thousand dollars on her cruise a few weeks ago. It happens to ordinary people.”
“Impressive.”
Annie’s little hand wrapped around my arm. “Join us! It’ll be such a hoot.”
“A hoot!” I echoed, raising my eyebrows at Jack. His expression clearly said to reject his cousin immediately. I turned my attention back on Annie. “We’d love to!”
* * *
Bingo was more fun than I expected it to be. I’d always pictured older women with neon visors, and while that demographic certainly made up a large portion of the audience, there were so many others. Families, young couples, a whole section of college kids who probably weren’t coherent enough to accurately read the cards and thus posed little threat to us.
We bought our cards and daubers. I slid onto a bench seat beside Annie. Levi and Jack made up the bookends.
Erin, the cruise director, was giving her sales spiel on the bonus cards in the center of the stage.
“Have you done this before?” I asked.
“Never!” Annie said. “Hoping for beginner’s luck.”
Jack’s arm spread out over the top of the long bench seat, coming dangerously close to resting on me. It felt natural to lean into his side, which was surprising. That should feel anything but appropriate, and the more I reminded myself we were not a real couple and we had already established a rule of only necessary touching, the more I wanted to break that rule.
Annie’s attention moved over the top of my head to rest on Jack. “So how long has this been a thing?”
“It’s really new,” he said.
“But you’ve already reached cruising together status?”
“Just because of my sister’s wedding,” I said quickly. Didn’t need to give them the wrong idea of the depth of our relationship. “We are very much in the baby stage of dating.”
“Practically just got together,” Jack added.
Annie’s eyes sparkled. “Methinks the man doth protest way too much.”
She wasn’t exact on that reference, but it was close enough. She was definitely correct in assuming Jack was lying about something. I hurried to change the subject. “Are y’all from Texas, too?”
“Arcadia Creek,” Annie said proudly, like she expected me to know the town.
“Where is that?”
Levi whistled. “We’ll try not to take it personally that you haven’t shared anything about your hometown with your girlfriend, Jackson.”
Whoa. Okay, first off, no one ever actually told these guys I was his girlfriend. Second, hometown? That sounded so quaint. So Friday Night Lights or Hallmark Channel.
Jack leaned over a little, his arm pulling me tightly to his side. Was he trying to make up for our mistake by looking more couple-y or just using me as a shield? “Like Lauren said, we haven’t been together long.”
Annie still looked hurt. You’d think he refused to claim his family or something, not just the place they lived.
Erin the cruise director got louder. “Who’s ready to win a thousand dollars?”
The audience went wild, Annie included.
“Great! Come back tonight for the thousand-dollar game. Right now, $750 is up for grabs! But we’re going to start out with a $100 game. Pay attention to that orange card. Winner walks away with $100. Okay, first ball... I-17.”
“Tricky lady,” Annie mumbled.