Page 99 of Away We Go

Like a complete weirdo.

“You smell nice,” I whisper. “I mean, I’m so excited to be here.”

Great save, Cherry.

He smirks and lets it go, motioning for me to walk in front of him. We walk towards the water, bypassing a few of the ‘smaller’ yachts before drawing to a halt in front of his yacht.

“Wow,” I breathe out, wiping my suddenly sweaty hands on the front of my jean shorts and wishing I’d worn something fancier. The yachts onBelow Decklook a lot smaller on my TV screen.

“Captain Alex,” Nicky greets the man with a weathered face and kind smile. “It’s good to see you. This is my friend Cherry.”

I only just stop myself from bowing, offering a handshake that I hope isn’t damp, instead.

“Hi.”

Captain Alex grins at me. “Welcome aboard theSeraph.”

“Wow,” I say again, slipping off my shoes and walking onboard. Not only is the yacht magnificent to look at, but it also has a pretty name to go with it.

“Seraph?” I ask Nicky as I accept a glass of champagne from a stew, waiting to greet us. She introduces herself as Rachel and she doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to befriend her and ask herallthe questions.

Nicky pushes his sunglasses up on top of his head, his eyes roaming all over me. “It means Angel.”

“Huh.” My eyes dart around this way and that, dying to see everything at once. “Pretty.”

“Yes.” He agrees, watching me closely, his expression unreadable.

Full. Body. Shudders.

“Can we look around?” I ask through a shaky breath.

He clears his throat and motions around him. “Of course.”

Rachel takes me on a guided tour of the yacht. It’s so similar to theParsifal IIIfrom one of my favourite reality shows, I find myself looking around for the camera crew ready to capture all my hijinks and shenanigans.

“We’ll bring your luggage onboard. Will you be staying in the Master with Mr Dimitrios?” Her face is blank, the complete opposite of mine, which I’m sure is sweaty with bright red cheeks.

I look around for Nicky to save me from this embarrassing conversation, and when he’s nowhere to be seen, I turn back to Rachel and handle it myself. “I’ll take this cabin here,” I say, pointing to the twin room to the right of me.

“Very well.” She doesn’t blink at this, leading me back up to the top deck where Nicky is waiting for me. He’s leaning against the boat railing, and instead of looking at the stunning views all around him, he’s looking at me.

“What do you think?”

I skip to him, my knees a little wobbly from the midday glass of champagne. “It’s ah-maz-ing! How do you not use it more often?”

From what I’ve heard from Matt, Nicky rarely takes trips on his yacht, to the point my brother wondered why he bought it in the first place.

“I don’t really have the time,” he shrugs. “These three weeks in the mid-season is the only real break I have to enjoy it. In the off-season, it’s winter and not the best weather to go sailing.”

This makes sense and feels like another reason Nicky sometimes seems so disillusioned with Formula 1. He has all the rewards from his success and little time to enjoy them.

“Well, we are going to enjoy every second of the next two weeks. Being here is like a dream come true.”

He smiles and pulls me close to him, tucking me up in front of the railing, putting his big body behind me. It feels like the best sort of cocoon I could ever imagine.

“I like the sound of that.”

We stand together in silence, looking out over the water. I don’t know what Nicky’s thinking, but I’m lost in how perfect this moment is. The calm water in front of us, Nicky’s warm solid body behind me, and two long weeks looming ahead.

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