Overboard (10 page)

T
he two men
carried their shuffleboard sticks to where an old couple was playing. Tucked back into a corner of the ship, the area was secluded and perfect. Duncan hoped no one would notice them for a little while.

Instead, the old woman playing shuffleboard called Sebastian by name and waved them over.
Everyone
loved the man.

Not that Duncan could blame them.

Sebastian’s easy charm made him a hard man to not love. No matter how awkward the cruise proved to be, Duncan needed to make sure that they were still together at the end of it. He wondered how big a fool he was for starting to trust a man with Sebastian’s playboy background.

This can’t end well.

“Is this your grandma?” Duncan asked, trying to sound cute.

“Of course not.” Sebastian hugged the woman. “This is my new girlfriend.” The woman blushed prettily and patted her fluffy grey hair.

“My name’s Edith. And Sebastian wouldn’t be able to handle me if I let him try.”

The old man, who had to be her husband, snorted at them.

“Oh hush, Emil. You ain’t got nothing to be afraid of. If I haven’t strayed for fifty years, there must be something keeping me with you.”

Emil threw back his shoulders and proudly lifted his chin. “Damn straight. You young punks thinking of playing some shuffleboard?”

“We’re thinking about it.” Sebastian pushed the shuffleboard stick across the ground a few times. “We don’t know any of the rules, but it seemed like a fun way to spend part of the day, at least according to the old episodes of
The Love Boat
. Can you two show us the rules? Maybe Edith and me against you two crabby old men.”

Edith giggled but took her husband’s hand and went to his side. “Emil and me are a team.”

“Guess it’s you and me,” Sebastian said, poking Duncan with his stick.

“Careful with that thing,” Duncan said under his breath. “I’ll have to spank you if you can’t keep it under control.”

Sebastian poked him again.

They played for a couple of hours, laughing as Emil grumbled at them while they learned the rules. After the first couple of games, everyone but Emil stopped keeping score. Duncan laughed every time Sebastian suggested the score was heavily in their favor. Emil would pull out the little notebook he kept in his front pocket and show the tally.

“Oh, I must have missed a couple of your points,” Sebastian would joke.

“I guess they stopped teaching addition to your generation,” Emil would say after everyone agreed on whatever score Emil had calculated.

Emil and Edith worked together flawlessly as a pair. They played their shots in ways to set up the other. One would get a good spot and the other would effortlessly drop their puck in a place that blocked Duncan and Sebastian, or just smash one of their pucks harmlessly off the board. And they did it mostly without any words. Duncan wanted that kind of connection with someone. He tried to figure out if there was a chance of a connection like that with Sebastian.

Duncan and Sebastian celebrated the occasional points they received as if they had just won a big tournament. Duncan favored the chest bumps. It pushed their bodies into the fullest contact without looking too gay.

He frequently reminded himself not to kiss Sebastian or grab his ass. Eyes could be anywhere. Subtle was the key for the day.

After they celebrated another rare point, Edith said, “You two make a cute couple. It’s nice to see you guys so comfortable. I wish our grandson was half as open.”

“Excuse me?” Sebastian sputtered. “You think...? No. Not us. Just friends. Coworkers, actually. We have a business together.” Duncan noted that Sebastian’s voice got deeper as he continued. “Construction.”

He sounded adorable when he was flustered, but Duncan couldn’t let himself laugh and give away the lie.

Edith squinted.

Emil snorted. “I’ve been around the block a few times. Made all kinds of friends. If you two aren’t together, you should be.”

Edith nodded and threaded her fingers into her husband’s. “Emil’s right. You’d make an adorable couple. You, so big and gruff and burly. And you, so pretty and smooth and...pretty. You haven’t even tried anything? Even once? Boys will be boys, after all. What happens on a cruise ship stays on a cruise ship, right?”

Duncan sputtered some gibberish about the weather and the heat making him tired.

Sebastian recovered more quickly. “I think what my friend is saying is that we had a great time playing with you. Thanks for showing us the ropes. We’re going to have to take a break and get a drink though. We can’t possibly keep up with you two hustlers. Hopefully, we’ll catch up to you again.”

When Duncan turned to leave, he forgot all common sense and reached for Sebastian’s hand. He wanted to hold hands as and be as comfortable as Edith and Emil, and for a second forgot to worry about others seeing them.

Fortunately, Sebastian remembered and slapped his hand away.

Behind them Emil said, “See? Told you. Bet they drive a Prius with a rainbow bumper sticker.”

“Good for them,” his wife said.

“Indeed. But they can’t play shuffleboard worth a shit.”

Duncan felt that he was spending his entire vacation running from person to person to avoid being outed. He wanted it to end. What was the worst that could happen if they told people before the wedding? They would either be okay with it or they wouldn’t. If they weren’t, fuck ’em.

He’d need a drink before being able to tell his parents, though.

“I need a bar. Something with vodka.”

Sebastian did a double take. “Heavy stuff? In the morning? What’s up? Don’t let Edith and Emil get to you. They’re harmless.”

“Not them. Something else. Come on. I’ll tell you after a couple shots.”

Duncan turned down a narrow hallway. Sebastian grabbed him and turned him the other way.

“Why can’t I figure out where I’m going?”

“Seems like you have something else on your mind.”

“Fucking A. Get me to the bar.”

D
uncan asked
for another shot as soon as the bartender set the first on the counter. He chugged the first shot and tapped the counter nervously while waiting for the second.

“You want anything?” he asked Sebastian.

Sebastian frowned. “What’s going on? You should slow down. Getting drunk on this ship is a good way to slip up. We are already being too sloppy.”

“Don’t give a fuck anymore,” he rumbled after drinking the second shot.

Sebastian placed his hand on Duncan’s arm. “Yes you do. Don’t be silly. What happened?”

Sebastian ordered a Mai Tai.

Duncan stared into space until Sebastian had had a chance to take a sip through the twisty straw.

Watching Sebastian’s lips wrap lightly around the straw, and his eyes close in satisfaction as he swallowed the cold drink, confirmed things for Duncan.

Things would be all right. What was the worst his family could do? Either they’d accept him or not. It wasn’t like he spent a lot of time around them anyway. There really wasn’t anything to lose.

Duncan first needed to find a way to tell Sebastian and make sure he was on board with the decision.

“I’m not sure what happened. Just a little spooked by Emil, I think. If he can tell...”

The rest of Duncan’s thought was cut off by an abrasive voice behind them.

“No fucking way. Small world. What the hell are you doing here?”

They both turned.

The short, stocky man standing next to his sister must be the future husband. Duncan cringed inwardly at the guy’s slicked back hair and the crease down the front of his blue jeans. Who ironed their blue jeans?

“Jason O’Toole? Wow.” Sebastian looked like he wanted to say more. He glanced at Katey and held his tongue instead.

“Who’s your butt buddy?”

“Whoa.” Sebastian said.

Duncan had never seen Sebastian so stunned.

Duncan stepped toward the asshole, ready to beat the shit out of him for the insult, but his sister moved faster.

“Damn it, Jason. What the fuck is wrong with you? You can’t talk to my friend like that. You shouldn’t talk to anyone like that. I know you’ve been sick, but what the fuck?”

“He’s a friend of yours?”

“Any friend of my brother’s is a friend of mine.”

“Ah, your long-lost brother made the cruise.”

Katey shook her head.

Duncan knew that look. His sister was about to explode.

Duncan sat back on his barstool. Something important was happening and he couldn’t put his finger on it. Something other than the argument. He regretted the shots, which were starting to slow his thoughts.

Jason held his hands up to fend off Katey. “Yo. Sorry, man. Both of you. Must be cold-feet wedded-bliss nerves or something. Or blue balls. Can you believe Katey is making me sleep in a different cabin until we get married? Like anyone is going to believe either of us are virgins. Fuck it. Buy me a drink, Sebastian, and we’ll pretend it never happened.”

“Buy you a...” Sebastian started to complain.

Katey shoved her fiancé. “Knock it off,” she said with a forced laugh.

Turning back to Sebastian, she said, “He’s just warped sometimes. But he’s just playing. Don’t take anything he says seriously. I keep telling him he has to get to know people better before he says shit like that to them.”

“Guilty as charged. I’ve been working with this improv class back home. Sometimes I just get these ideas in my head for scenes and just go with them. The round’s on me. I’ve got the money, right Sebastian? It’s almost like you’re paying.”

“Are you still in character?” Sebastian asked icily.

“Oh man, that’s priceless. Another fairy drink for you or you going to butch up this time? Just kidding. I know you aren’t going to butch up.”

Duncan recovered enough to break the silence that stretched between them while the bartender got the drinks. “So what do you do? I need to make sure my sis is going to be taken care of.”

“Don’t worry, bro. She’s got no complaints. Right, Kate?”

Duncan quickly looked away when Jason pinched his sister’s ass.

What was his sister thinking with this guy? Perhaps he was trying too hard to impress his new family. He didn’t look nervous, but what else could explain his behavior?

Duncan was happy that
his
boyfriend had no trouble fitting in. Everyone loved Sebastian immediately. He was just so friendly. He made people feel better about themselves instead of trying to knock people down.

Jason was a snake. He seemed like the type who would lie waiting for any vulnerability and then pounce and make his victim feel like shit, just for a laugh.

Duncan worried for his sister, but reminded himself again that he didn’t know the new guy and he couldn’t just come around and call his future brother-in-law a piece of shit, even if he smelled like he might be one.

Duncan realized that Sebastian hadn’t been much less of an ass when they first met, either. Maybe Jason could change, too.

Katey looked at her watch. “Crap. I have to go check some wedding things. Can you guys behave? Maybe try to act like family.” She talked to them all but her words were clearly just for her fiancé. She turned and ran away without waiting for an answer.

“So what do you really do?” Duncan repeated. He offered to clink cups of beer with Jason to try and soften the words.

“I manage big projects.”

“What kind?” Duncan hoped that his smile didn’t look like a snarl.

“Construction. New construction, remodels, that type of shit. That’s how I know this guy. I just did his basement.”

Finally, it clicked into place. Jason. Small world. Sebastian’s hand settled on Duncan’s leg before he could stand up and kill his sister’s future husband.

Duncan’s ears pounded. Jason had stolen his money. Duncan wanted to beat the money out of him and then shove it back in so he could beat it out of him again. The squeeze from Sebastian just barely held him in place.

“Yeah,” Sebastian said. “The project went great, but I’m not sure what I was paying Jason for. He never once came out.”

“You hire good people and find a way to pay them as little as possible and everyone is happy.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll burn through all the talent? I mean, that guy that actually ended up running everything on my project; won’t he just go off and do his own projects?”

“That dude? No way. No cojones on that one. You wouldn’t believe what I ended up paying him. Chump change and not a damn thing he’s gonna do about it. He just doesn’t have the business sense that we do. He’ll be a grunt forever.”

Sebastian’s glare joined Duncan’s.

Jason backed up a step when he noticed. “Sorry guys. You just don’t know what it’s like out there in the real world. You have to bust your nut just to make ends meet. You think Kate would be marrying me if I was just some grunt construction worker? The money is nice, but I think she likes that I’m in charge of shit even more. I can take care of her. She’s gonna be set for life.” He play-punched Duncan in the chest. “You’ll see. We’ll make you an uncle many times over and your sister will never need anything ever again.”

Jason finished the rest of his drink.

“I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got some things to do while the ball and chain is distracted, you know what I mean.”

Duncan threw his plastic cup, still half full, at Jason’s back but missed. Jason, oblivious, continued on his merry way.

“What the fuck just happened?” he asked Sebastian. “Tell me this is a nightmare and wake me up.”

“Sorry, hon.” Sebastian pressed his palm against Duncan’s cheek.

Instead of pushing him away, Duncan placed his hand on top of it and let his fingers thread with Sebastian’s.

“What am I going to do?”

“I don’t know. I’ll help out however I can, but I don’t know. You want my suggestion?”

Duncan would have laughed at the suggestion even a few days earlier, but Sebastian had quickly become his most trusted friend over the last couple days.

How sad is that?

“Of course. Help me get through this.”

“Your sister looks happy, right?”