Page 30 of Away We Go

More subtext without context.

“Well, cheers to the team,” Serena chimes in, saving me by holding her wine glass—her very full wine glass—up and cheersing with the people around her. I follow suit, taking a big sip, and focus on surveying the food served up on platters in front of us. Selecting an array of sashimi and sushi, along with a small bowl of miso soup and a piece of fresh tuna steak, I get busy making my concoction of wasabi and soy sauce mix. It’s a delicate balance that one needs to get right, to avoid the risk of that nose-hair-singeing wasabi hit.

“It needs more soy sauce.” Nicky’s deep voice penetrates my concentration. He’s dragging a chair from the table behind us, wedging himself in the tight space between me and his teammate, while peering over my shoulder to watch me work.

“You think?” I add more sauce to my mix and stir it in with a chopstick. He’s right; the colour is now the perfect shade of greenish brown.

I swallow down the butterflies at having him so close to me, along with a piece of sashimi, and half-listen to the chatter around me. Everyone is doing their best to not side-eye us, and failing, and I wonder what Nicky was thinking, inserting his big body so closely next to mine. It’s like he’s waving an enormous flag around me, letting everyone know I’m off-limits.

I’m just not surewhyhe’s doing it.

“Too bad there’s no fortune cookies here,” he whispers into my ear. A smile tickles my lips at the reminder and I shake my head at him.

He returns my smile, his eyes squinting as he looks me over. I watch, my breath hitching in my lungs, as he leans forward, reaching over to tug gently at my long curls where they’re lying down my back, trapped between my body and the chair behind me. My heart stutters as his fingers leave a slow trail across my bareskin, lighting it on fire, and when he’s done, I risk a peek up at him, to find he’s not even paying me any attention. He’s chatting with Patrick next to him, oblivious to the carnage he’s just left on my nervous system.

A small huff escapes me and I turn back to where Serena is watching this all unfold, her eyes twinkling as they bounce between me and where his hand is now lingering on the back of my chair. Not touching me, but stillright there.

“Told you so,” she mouths at me. I take a deep swallow of my wine and place a hand over my racing heart. It needs to calm down before I have a heart attack and ruin whatever is happening here.

What is happening here?

“Should we go out after this?” Serena speaks up, pulling me out of my daze. The trays of food on the table are mostly empty and the crowd has thinned. We’ve finished a bottle of wine, just the two of us, and between the effect of Nicky’s hand near my skin and the high alcohol content of this expensive bottle of wine, I’m just tipsy enough to think this is awonderfulidea.

“We should go to the Skydeck. The giant Ferris wheel,” I suggest. I’ve been dying to get up in that thing since I laid my eyes on it.

She claps. “Oooh, good idea!”

We push our chairs back in unison and I turn to Nicky, like a flower turning to the sun. Like he’s my true north.

“We’re heading out,” I tell him, hoping he’ll offer to come with us.

His eyes bore into mine. “Are you good?”

I think I nod. Can’t be sure. I’ve lost all feeling in my body; the aftereffects of that gaze on me.

“Cherry?” He takes my hand in his, his fingers squeeze mine and I snap back to the moment.

“Yes, I’m good.”

He frowns, looking between me and a grinning Serena. “Okay, have a good night.”

I deflate somewhat and lecture myself not to be stupid.Of course he won’t want to come out with us. He’s probably got more important, less drunk people he’d rather spend time with.

“We will. Bye.” I wiggle my fingers at him and walk away from the table, feeling his eyes on me the whole way out.

“Wow,” Serena says as we burst out of the restaurant, clutching each other and giggling.

“Yeah, that was…” I stop. My train of thought is lost in my Nicky fog.

We start towards the giant Ferris wheel, the trip taking longer than it should as we walk in a zigzag motion that is suddenly hilarious.

“Hey, what’s he doing?”

I glance over my shoulder and sigh. I pull my friend to a stop and turn to face the man walking three steps behind us.

“James, you don’t need to be here.”

He grins. “Sorry, Cherry. I do what the boss tells me.”

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