Page 56 of The Hitchhiker in Panama
I sighed and gripped my phone in my lap with both hands. Was it worth it to put my foot down? I decided not.
“Hey, Eivind?” I called down. “Could you come out here?”
People and plates shuffled around as Eivind made his way up to me.
“My dad wants to talk to you.”
Eivind watched me for a moment and nodded. He took the phone from me and held it up to his ear. “Hallo?”
I strained to try to hear what Dad was saying, but he was too muffled for his words to make sense.
Eivind looked at me. “Yes, sir.” He nodded. Eivind pulled the phone away from his ear and grabbed my hands with his. I realized I’d been wringing them. “Go downstairs, darling.”
“But—”
He pulled me in and kissed my head. “It is fine. Go eat, okay?”
“Okay,” I grumbled.
I sat back at the table with the rest of the crew and finished my dinner. By the time Eivind came back down, his food was cold. Marcella offered to reheat it, but Eivind said no and slid into the booth next to me. I passed his plate over and he gave me my phone back.
He took a bite and chewed, thinking for a moment. “Your dad is a little scary.”
“What? No way! He’s, like, a normal guy. He’s not a cop or military or anything.” I paused and fortified myself with some beer. “What did he say?”
“He asked if we were sleeping together.”
“What? Oh my God, no. What did you say?”
“I told him the truth.”
“WHAT? EIVIND.”
Eivind started laughing.
“Are you serious?”
He laughed so hard he couldn’t respond to me.
“Okay, you’re kidding, very funny.”
“I am not kidding.” Eivind was still laughing, but he put his head in his hands. That was when I realized he was laughing hysterically . . . maybe even manically. “I told your dad we are sleeping together,” he said with disbelief.
I gasped. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”
Eivind ran his hands up over his head and then back down his face. “It is fine. He said he was glad I told him the truth.” Eivind grinned at me and suddenly I was suspicious.
“Whatexactlydid my dad say?”
“He said that he appreciated learning the truth from me directly instead of finding a used condom on your bedroom floor.”
“Oh no.” I groaned and put my head on the tabletop. Then I remembered that the rest of the crew was still in the salon, listening to our conversation. “I was a stupid, horny sixteen-year-old, okay? It was a rough patch with my dad, but I’m not anymore.”
“Not horny anymore?” Eivind teased.
I shoved him with both hands, but he barely budged. “I’m notstupidanymore. Well. I’m less stupid, but that’s all we can hope for anyway. What else did my dad say to you?”
Eivind’s hand was warm on my skin as he rubbed my back. “He would fly anywhere in the world to help you if you needed it. And also fly anywhere in the world to cut my balls off if I hurt you.”
