Page 19 of A Fierce Princess

“Hey,” I say smiling. He kisses my forehead.

“Where’s my drink?” he asks.

“Get it yourself, bro. This isn’t the Queen Mary,” my brother says to him.

Auggie laughs. “Well, fuck you very much too, brother,” he says as he claps Chris on the back and walks down into the kitchen. He re-emerges a minute later with a beer in his hand. He takes a long sip of the drink and sighs. “Much better,” he declares. He sits down and looks around at everyone. “So, what’s on the agenda today?”

Logan comes over and introduces himself. “We were planning to head back out this afternoon and sail to the furthest point on our trip. It’ll take us till morning, and then we can slowly make our way back to Nassau,” he explains. Chris and I understand completely because he showed us everything on the map, and Auggie clearly doesn’t give a shit. We all venture up on deck after Logan’s tutorial.

“Yep, sounds good, mate,” Auggie says to Logan as he swigs his beer. Watching Auggie swig a beer from a can is thoroughly amusing. I’ve almost never seen him with a can of beer, minus a few breaking-the-rules nights at camp.

Nico emerges from the boat where he must have snuck on while I was busy hugging Auggie.

“Anna,” he greets me.

“Hey, Nico,” I say to him.

I sit down next to Auggie as Nico sets a cooler down next to us. He lifts the lid and tosses me a can of beer. I make a face, and he laughs.

“Come on, Anna, try it,” Auggie teases.

I roll my eyes and force myself to drink the cool liquid. It’s actually not as bad as I thought it would be, but it’s still not my drink of choice.

I hand my beer to Chris as he sits down on my other side. “All yours, brother,” I say to him as I pat his leg and stand up, walking toward the helm.

“Show me how to steer this thing,” I say to Logan.

He grins. “Have you sailed before?” he asks me.

I nod. “Yes, at camp, a long time ago. Occasionally, a friend with a boat will let me steer it, but that’s about it,” I say.

He shows me what to do, standing with his front against my back and his hands over mine. I can smell his cologne and my mind goes to places it should not. Just when I’m thinking I need to get out of his grasp, he steps back from me. I both grimace at the loss of his body touching mine and at the need for him to stay away, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

“You’re doing great, Anna!” he says enthusiastically.

He stands by my side and shows me where to direct the boat as we head out into open waters. I stay there enjoying the power I have over the direction of all our lives for just a few minutes. It steadies me and gives me the strength I have been searching for over the past week.

At dinnertime, I finally give up my captain duties and head down below to eat.

“You did really well today,” Logan says to me as we dig into a lobster mac and cheese.

“This is amazing, Vicky!” Auggie moans as he helps himself to a third serving.

“Thanks!” she calls from the galley. “It’s actually my grandmother’s recipe.”

“Well, your grandmother can cook for me any day, and so can you,” Auggie says. “Mia, make sure to get this recipe before we leave.”

Chris glares at Auggie. “Get it yourself. Mia is enjoying some time off,” he says.

Auggie laughs. “Oh, right. Is that what you call it?” he says. Chris punches him in the arm, and Auggie glares back at him.

“Will you two cut it out?” I say loudly. They both turn and look at me. “I mean it. I’ll call Dad.”

Chris cracks his neck and goes back to eating, and Auggie flicks me off. I smirk and wink at Mia who smiles her appreciation at me. I nod at her. I like Mia. She comes from a fairly normal family. Her parents are both doctors as is her sister. How exactly she came to work for my brother…well, it’s a bit of a mystery to me, but nonetheless, she seems like a great person, and she definitely can keep my brother in line. I notice her hand on his knee under the table, and I wonder if that’s the only thing keeping him from pummeling Auggie.

I turn in early after a round of cards following our meal. I win two out of three hands and call it a night.

I toss and turn for quite a while until sleep takes me. I wake early again the next morning. After a quick shower, I grab a coffee and head out to find Logan at the helm again. I look around and see a few islands in the distance.

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