Sailor Proof by Annabeth Albert
Chapter Eleven
Derrick
One bed.As I listened to Calder and his friends recount some tale about life on a different sub, my brain kept wandering back to that little cabin and the single bed waiting for us. I wasn’t ruling out sleeping upright in one of the chairs. I’d made do with worse. And anything to avoid the temptation that was Arthur. The firelight kept reflecting off his hair, making it gleam like polished copper. But what truly captivated me was his smile, and I couldn’t believe I’d never noticed it as much before. But he had a smile for everyone—the baby riding in a striped sling, the dad toting said sling, the little girl asking for seconds on s’mores, his mom bugging him about his sign-up sheet for the talent show, and more. They all got a brilliant Arthur smile.
But when he glanced my way, he frowned, and I hated that. The one-bed thing was undoubtedly wearing on him too, and I wished I knew what to do to earn one of those smiles for myself. He’d been so free with them in the car, and I wanted to get back to that place.
“Hey, we’re going to play cards after this.” Calder clapped me on the shoulder as the crowd at the campfire started to disperse, camp staff handling the fire extinguishing, parents rounding up sleepy kids and older adults making their way slowly back to the cabins. “Ollie’s going to come to our cabin after the kids are settled. You in?”
“You wanting more of my money?” I forced an easy tone. This might be a solution to my dilemma, even if I wasn’t entirely in the mood for another beer and more battle-bragging story swapping.
“You know it.” Calder grinned at me, undoubtedly giddy at the memory of all he’d won off me over the years. He was an absolute shark at cards, and it was only because he was otherwise so damn likable that any of us continued to play with him. “Figured you might need the break from Arthur anyway.”
“Eh. He’s not so bad.” Unbidden, one of the songs we’d sung on the drive crept into my head, soundtrack to a music video montage of the surprising amount of fun we’d had together. But for some reason, I was reluctant to confess to the playlist he’d made just for us and to the way we’d sung and laughed. “Nah. It was...okay.”
“Well, at least you’re not miserable.” Calder collected the empty bottles from where we’d been sitting on a low log bench. “That’s good. So, gonna let me rack up some winnings?”
On the other side of the now-extinguished fire circle, Arthur gave his mom a tight hug before starting on the path toward the cabins. I don’t like being ignored in plain sight, that invisible feeling. Why didn’t Calder and Ollie and the rest of them ever invite Arthur to hang out? The last of my beer soured in my stomach. It might all be pretend, but I still didn’t need to be a heel, add to Arthur’s invisible feeling.
I could be a better boyfriend than that.
“Actually, I’m tired.” I did an exaggerated yawn and stretch. “All this rest and time off is catching up with me.”
“Okay. Get your beauty sleep.” Laughing, he stooped low to check for more trash before waving as his group headed toward one of the larger bunkhouses.
“Don’t let Arthur’s chatter keep you awake,” our mutual friend Max tossed back over his shoulder. Calder and I were the only ones who knew the relationship was fake, and Max added a suggestive wink that made my skin heat. Lord but I wanted to wear Arthur out.
“Will do.” Talking. We should talk. Long speeches would be good because it would mean we weren’t kissing. Fuck. I was so screwed, and yet I still let my legs carry me back to the cabin where I let myself in to find Arthur lounging on the bed, phone in hand. A low fire flickered in the stone fireplace, giving a cozy glow to the whole room.
“You’re way earlier than I expected.” He glanced up from the phone and didn’t sound particularly thrilled about this development.
“Sorry.” I kicked off my shoes near the door.
“No, I’m not complaining.” His smile was way more tentative than usual and made my stomach do this weird flippy thing like right before we started a descent in the sub. “I figured that you’d end up playing cards with Calder’s crew late into the night.”
“Nah.” Trying to figure out where I should put my body was hard. The bed still seemed like shark-infested waters, but continuing to stand was awkward too. I settled for leaning against one of the two high-back chairs. “I was bushed. Thought we could watch TV or something.”
Arthur laughed and made an expansive gesture. “No TV.”
“What?” Hotels and rental houses always had televisions.
“It’s a historic camp,” Arthur explained patiently. “Part of the appeal to my mom and other organizers is the ‘digital detox’ aspect.”
“Well, hell.” I sank into the chair, which was overly stiff in that old-fashioned furniture way and not at all suitable for sleeping. Double hell.
“Not too late to go join the card game.” Still smiling, Arthur pointed to the door.
“No, it’s okay, we can just...” I glanced around like an answer might pop out of the gleaming woodwork.
“I’m not gonna jump you, Derrick. Chill.” Bounding off the bed, Arthur knelt in front of his bag. “And you’re talking to the guy who can’t hold still. I don’t do bored well, and I’m not joining the dawn meditation crew anytime soon. I packed accordingly.”
“Oh?” Stretching my neck, I tried to see inside his bag.
“Yeah. Always travel with a geek. I can use my phone as a mobile hotspot so we can watch something on my tablet.” He tossed a small tablet on the bed. “And because streaming can be iffy out here, I’ve got a digital chess set for either solo or two-player action. And this Spanish dice game. Two card games that admittedly are nerdier than poker, but Calder isn’t the only one who can play to win.”
More boxes joined the tablet on the bed, and I could see a notable assortment of snacks peeking out of his bag as well.
“I’m impressed.” Pushing up out of the chair, I came over to the bed and picked up the largest of the boxes. “I get sick of poker and its variations, honestly. Let’s see the chess set.”
“Cool.” Arthur beamed like I’d admired a new puppy. “You play?”
“Yeah.” Chess felt safer than huddling together to watch something on the little screen and definitely safer than anything else we could get up to on the bed. To that end, I carried the box back to the table between the two chairs. “I used to play with my grandmother. She was a fierce competitor. Always played white and didn’t have patience for non-standard sets.”
“No superhero chess for her? Or Lord of the Rings? I have one with all the characters instead of the usual pieces.” Arthur took the other chair. The table was narrow enough that the chairs almost touched. Leaning forward so that his hair nearly grazed my skin, he spun the board around. “And here, you can be white this time. My treat.”
“Thanks.” I slid open the compartment under the board that held magnetic pieces that worked with the digital board. “And yeah, Grandma liked to play by the rules. But we had a good time.”
“That’s nice. I learned chess initially from my grandpa—Dad’s dad who learned chess back when he was in the navy. None of my brothers really took to the game, though, and the way Calder talks, you’d think sailors were only capable of poker.”
“Ha. Not hardly. Plenty of chess players in the military. I’ve had any number of good games with crewmates, but few rival my grandmother for sheer mettle.” The memory of those Sunday afternoons with her, learning the rules, hearing her stories, and eating ginger cookies made my chest ache and my voice wistful.
“She sounds great. Where did you grow up?” Arthur asked as he set up his side of the board.
“Northern Illinois, Great Lakes Region, not too far from a big naval training center. Grandma was a civilian contractor for years there, then retired to this fifty-five-and-up community on one of the smaller lakes nearby. Wasn’t supposed to have had me there, but the manager made an exception when I landed on her doorstep.” I wasn’t going to get into that whole tale right then, so I brightened my tone as I summed up my childhood. “It was...interesting growing up without many other kids around.”
“Wow. I can’t imagine. There were always other kids around for us. My brothers. Cousins. All the kids on base housing and nearby neighborhoods. Always someone to play with, especially if you made friends easily like Calder, Oliver, and Roger did.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. His tone and the things he’d left unsaid underscored that there was more than one way to feel lonely. The way the Euler boys were spaced, Roger was the oldest with Oliver his ready sidekick, then Calder close enough to hang with the older two, but Arthur was enough younger that he’d probably been frequently left behind. “I’m sorry you didn’t have it as easy.”
“Eh. It’s okay. I got really good at entertaining myself, hence coming prepared for this trip.” He set his last piece down with a flourish.
“Well, I appreciate your planning ahead.” Neither of us seemed inclined to linger too much in the past, so I turned my attention to the game at hand. Arthur was a stylish player with a number of bold, flashy moves, some of which seemed more designed to get a laugh than to advance his cause.
“Damn.” He shook his head as I collected one of his rooks to add to my growing pile of his pieces. “You’re good.”
“So are you.” Our hands brushed as he quickly countered my move with one of his own, nabbing one of my few remaining pawns. His unpredictability coupled with his skill made him fun to play against, and I wasn’t sure whether it was the fast-paced game or his nearness that had my body humming. Likely both, and holding my own against the resident genius was a rush that had me whooping like a new recruit when I finally pulled out the win.
“Nicely done.” Still smiling, Arthur seemed almost as pleased about my win as I was. “Should we play next for who is sleeping in the tub?”
“No one is getting the tub.” I groaned and stretched. Somehow over the course of the game, I’d stopped fighting so hard against the inevitable. And no way could I go from a friendly game filled with stories of other matches we’d played over the years to banishing the guy to the tub or the floor. “You were right.”
“I was?” Arthur’s eyes went wide.
“We’re adults and we can share a bed. Platonically.” Swallowing hard, I glanced over at it. It seemed smaller by the second.
“Excellent.” Arthur fist-pumped like he’d scored some major prize, and I had to laugh at his unbridled enthusiasm.
“I love how easy to please you are.”
“Yeah?” Voice going softer, Arthur tilted his head like he couldn’t quite figure me out. That was okay. I couldn’t figure me out either.
“Yeah. I wish everyone could be as optimistic as you.” I was so used to all-business sailors who got their jobs done on automatic and who kept their heads down, but people who found joy in small moments were more of a rarity in my life. “The way you let little things make you happy...it’s a great quality.”
“Thanks.” He licked his lips. His very full lips. Every contour of his mouth was burned on my soul, and I watched his mouth with a new hunger as he continued, “I think that’s the nicest compliment someone has given me.”
“You deserve it.” My voice was too husky. What the heck was happening here? I wasn’t sure, and what was worse, I didn’t want to stop it either. “I’m not one for empty praise.”
“I know.” Arthur held my gaze until the air in the room thickened, electricity crackling between us like dry lightning on a humid day. “Derrick?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you still buzzed from earlier?” he asked softly, not the question I’d been expecting.
I blinked. “Did I not just kick your ass at chess? My tolerance is for shit after being on the boat so long, but it would still take more than two beers to get me tipsy.”
“Good.” Nodding firmly, he shifted in his chair, bringing his hair close enough to sniff again.
“Why?” I whispered, more than a little afraid I knew the answer already.
“I want you sober when I do this.” And with that, he leaned the rest of the way in, the scant few inches separating us closing as he brushed his mouth across mine.
