Page 21 of Not that Sea-Rious
“We wanted to get up early so we could grab breakfast out by the pool and get prime seating,” Joyce explained.
Well, there went Marissa’s hopes to catch a few more hours of sleep.
Placing her cup on the table, Carolyn leaned forward.“Youhaveto tell us about it.”
It?Oh dear God.She flopped onto the couch beside Carolyn.
“There isn’t much to say.”Marissa attempted to skirt the question as she reached for the lone empty mug and the coffee carafe.Caffeine would be the only way she’d make it through the day.That, and a nap.She definitely needed to get more rest.
“Don’t lie to us,” Tina said flatly.“You’re doing the walk of shame.”She gestured to Marissa’s wrinkled outfit from the day before.“Give it up.We’re not judging.”
“Yeah,” Joyce chimed in.“Remind us old married ladies what it’s like to have a wild night with a sexy stranger.”
“Who are you callingold?”Carolyn snapped.
Joyce flittered away the bride-to-be’s mock outrage with a flick of her wrist.
After pouring her coffee, Marissa added cream and sugar.She fell back onto the petite couch with a groan.What she wouldn’t give for her massage to be scheduled for that morning.
All her friends’ eyes were on her as she brought the mug to her lips and took a sip.She purposely kept her gaze lowered and her mouth shut as she enjoyed the first hints of caffeine in the early morning.They couldn’t really expect her to be coherent before her coffee.
“Seriously?”Carolyn whined.“You’re going to deny the bride’s request during her bachelorette party?”
Marissa rolled her eyes.“Fine.We got my card replaced,” she said and showed her new room key.“Then we went around the boat drinking a bit and talking a lot.He’s from Florida, owns his own business as a consultant, and is traveling alone—”
“Nothing shady about that at all,” Tina muttered with her mug to her lips.
“Shh!”Joyce hissed.
“Get to the good stuff,” Carolyn implored.
“Let us live vicariously through your vacation fling.”Joyce all but swooned.
Marissa snorted a laugh.“I don’t know if I would call it afling.”
“A few hours does not aflingmake,” Tina added, and Marissa nodded in agreement.
“Leave me to my dreams,” Joyce chirped.
“You’ve read too many romance novels,” Carolyn said through a snicker.
“Well, Tina has a point.”Marissa gestured in Tina’s direction.“A one-night occasion is hardly anything.”Her cheeks warmed, leaving her no doubt they were pink, as she prepared to share the rest.“But it isn’t eventhatjuicy.”She was such a liar, but she downplayed it because it was the ladylike thing to do.“We couldn’t even…” She paused, trying to find the right word.
“Bone?”Carolyn offered.
“Doink?”Tina suggested.
“Fuck?”Joyce asked.
Everyone turned their focus to the toddler’s mom, who had just dropped the f-bomb, with their mouths hanging open.Blinking, Marissa couldn’t help but laugh.Of all the people who used foul language, it was the preschool teacher.
Joyce waved her hand in a slapping motion at her friends.“Stop.Let her tell us all the sweet and sappy details!They didn’t get to the horizontal mambo because they were too busy staring into each other’s eyes and confessing their deepest hopes and dreams to each other as the sun came up.”
Tina stared at her.“Seriously.Have you met a man in real life?”
“Wait,” Carolyn interrupted.“Is that really what happened?”
Marissa shook her head.“No.Not exactly.I mean, we spent a lot of time talking but nothing that deep.Just ‘get to know you’ stuff.He’s hilarious.”
