Page 36 of Going Overboard

‘Because you didn’t have any,’ he replies. ‘It’s not my fault people think we slept together.’

I guess I didn’t help put that rumour to bed.

‘No one is going to believe I’d date someone like you,’ I tell him, not meaning it to come out as offensively as it does.

‘Ouch,’ he replies with a chuckle. ‘Why not? I’m a catch.’

‘Crabs are a catch,’ I reply. ‘I just mean… you’re very… I’m more… I don’t know.’

Brody leans against the counter, his arms folded, looking way too entertained by all of this. At least he’s decided not to take any offence.

‘I mean, it would be sort of fun, right?’ he says. ‘Our exes are here, they’re together, that sucks. Don’t you want to mess with them? Us just being in that room is going to ruin their whole trip.’

I laugh.

‘That does sound nice,’ I reply.

‘It sounds really nice,’ he agrees. ‘And I’m sure we can be believable. We can pretend to love each other. Nikki was really good at it, with me, so I’m just going to channel her.’

I laugh, just a little. It’s interesting to see Brody’s vulnerable side for a second. And I suppose we are in the same boat.

‘So we’re madly in love?’ I check.

‘Deeply,’ he replies. ‘And if they don’t buy that, well, we’ll just say it’s a sex thing.’

‘Will they really believe that?’

‘They will if they see me,’ he jokes – at least I think he’s joking.

‘How far are we willing to take this?’ I ask.

‘How far are you willing to go?’ he replies as he approaches me.

The door beeps – a telltale sign that someone is about to open it – so Brody pushes me back on the sofa and throws himself on top of me.

‘Oh my God,’ Todd blurts. ‘I forgot my ID card. If you’re going to do that can you at least do it in your room? We all have to sit on those sofas.’

He grabs his card from the coffee table and leaves again.

‘See, easy-peasy,’ Brody says with a laugh.

He’s still lying on top of me, his face inches from mine, the weight of his body pressing down on me like a seriously sexy weighted blanket.

And then he jumps to his feet, switching it off, just like that.

Wow, maybe we can do this.

‘You are possibly enjoying this way too much,’ I say, standing up, smoothing out the creases in my outfit.

‘Maybe,’ he replies. ‘We’ll see.’

‘We’re not seriously doing this, are we?’ I say again, giving him one last out.

‘We have to,’ he says with a shrug. ‘Just like we have to go do this safety bullshit.’

‘Remind me not to rely on you in an emergency,’ I tell him as we head for the door.

Okay, so this feels like going completely overboard – no pun intended, I promise – but what else can I do? We’re just going to have to give it a go.

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