Standing next to the pink wisteria-laden fence in my parents' backyard, my bestie Breanna's arm draped my bare shoulders. We held up vaccine cards and passports. Quarantine had rendered our undergrad senior year a bust, but now that we had permission to travel, we planned to go out in style.

"Say, 'Cruise!'" Our moot Devon Bentley—a full six-feet-seven inches of fitness, fine-ness, and finesse—was taking shots for my Tiktok montage later.

"Cruise!" Breanna and I gleefully shouted.

"And... All done." With a girl-bait grin, Devon returned my phone.

"Thanks, Dev." I was hooked.

Fortunately, Breanna elbowed me and brought me back to reality. "Look at you two, being cute and shy and shit! Y'all better do more than bat eyelashes at each other this whole trip. Ha-ha! No, but for real." Miss Bossy Breanna switched from laughing to pointing a demanding finger at us. "I want to see this go from sneaky link to secure in two weeks, m'kay?"

I ducked to hide a smile. This was definitely not a sneaky link. Not yet. But as I passed behind Devon en route to the patio, his gaze followed my every move.

Devon Star Bentley was a thrill-seeker, unbelievably seeking me. Going on vacation with him was a stroke of luck. The real godsend was having my best friend along to help me determine whether a relationship with him was what I wanted.

Daddy paraded by with a tray of burgers fresh off the flame. "Yeah, Devon, I don't know who taught you to drown your charcoal briquettes in that chemical Firestarter mess, but stick with us, and I'll teach you how to grill like a pro in no time! I use nothing but hickory cords and magic," he bragged.

Yapping as if to agree, the family dog raced over and propped his paws on Devon's legs. Yes, Paco, reel him in and make him feel part of the family. I rolled my eyes at the obvious gambit. But Dev kneeled and gave the terrier a vigorous scratch, talking baby-talk to the spoiled little rascal.

Ugh! I saw myself falling for him. I noticed Daddy's heart melted too, although he pivoted before anyone else caught his tender-eyed goo-goo face. He and Mom were all over this courtship. They wanted me with the responsible kinesiology grad student. Granted, everyone but them seemed to realize Devon wasn't the marrying kind.

I damn sure didn't want them to see his flaws and sabotage my chances of dating someone I liked for a change. Master planners that they were, I would soon get a serious boyfriend—probably not Devon—the same as the apartment they had picked out for me. (Hated the place. Not even the excellent neighborhood made up for the dated appliances and waspish neighbors.)

So, before they rushed me off to the altar, this was my last playtime without their meddling. Sort of.

A "Congratulations, Graduate!" banner was draped over the sliding glass patio door. Mom flapped it out of the way when she stepped from the split-level house with a pitcher of iced tea. "Lexie, you forgot to pack your Bible, honey. I found it in the living room, but I put it in your suitcase for you. Are you kids ready for your vacay? What time will y'all meet at the dock in the morning?"

"No later than eight," I cut in. We didn't need to be there until nine, but my parents were dropping me off. They would be late to heaven if Saint Peter set a schedule.

Mom blew a raspberry. "They tell you to be there an hour early, but we'll get you there on time," she said. The smile I beamed at her was sugar and lemon peel.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cambridge," Devon's polite tenor voice interjected, "thanks again for this. Since you won't take my money, I'll find some other way to repay you for my ticket. In the meantime, the girls are in good hands with me. You have my word."

My dad said, "Oh, we trust you, son! You're family. Your father ran trucks for my operation for twenty years. Had no idea you would meet my daughter on campus, but that's how destiny works."

"Yeah, small world." Devon grinned tightly.

As Dad clapped his shoulder, the exchange earned a grumbling complaint from my younger brother, Preston. Pres was at the patio table, manning the sound system. He let a graphic rap song explode from the speakers, and Mom plucked the back of his neck. "Ow! Ma, it's not fair you paid for Lexie 'nem to go on a trip." He turned the music down.

That was the rub. My meddling parents had footed the bill for the Three's Company Cruise. They were finally treating me like an adult, letting me share a stateroom with my crush and my bestie without complaint. At least, that's what I kept telling myself. Their sudden faith in me probably had more to do with the fact that it was the only way to take advantage of an online travel deal.

"Will you be a hater your whole life, Pres?" I snuck him fifty bucks from my bra. "Relax, I'll bring you a souvenir. You already know when you graduate high school, we're gonna celebrate you in a big way, too."

"If he even graduates." Smirking, Mom grumbled about Preston's grades, while rearranging aluminum tins of mac 'n cheese and baked beans on the table. She announced she was going in to grab the cake and asked if I would say grace when she got back. Biting my lip, I nodded. Dad set down the heaping tray of barbecue to carry on an animated chat with Devon. Pres turned the radio back up.

Breanna pulled me over to the oak tree where we had carved our initials in the seventh grade. The curvy redhead sat on the tire swing, and I gazed at the tightly packed leaves rustling above her, rays of golden light piercing through foliage in some places.

"Girl, I don't want to ruin your party, but I have some bad news," she said.

"What? What is it?" My attention switched gears so fast.

Her septum ring caught the dappled sunlight as she threw her head back, laughing. "Wow, Lexie, your anxiety is on ten. Calm down. Technically, it's great news for you. Something came up at Dr. Mubarak's office, which means I'm not gonna be able to make the trip. I need to stay and take care of this." She brandished her phone as evidence. My shoulders slumped.

"Bre, my parents won't feel comfortable with me going without you."

"Who said anything about telling Craig and Melinda? Not me." Breanna crossed her arms with a snarky grin.

I threw my hands up. "Even if I can keep this quiet, you know why I invited you. C'mon! I need your expertise in men, Breanna. I have absolutely no experience with seducing anyone unless you count the endless romance novels I read."

"Lexie-Honey!" My bestie left the swing to clutch my shoulders and give me a tiny shake. "It is beyond time for you to flex your big girl decision-making muscles and make some moves on your own. I know you're worried about not being able to choose here and there, but you only tend to get stuck when you're bombarded with options. Well, you're spending two weeks with Devon Bentley. Alone."

Two weeks alone? We both studied the guy that I had been crushing on for three semesters. Devon had an athletic build. His curly hair sprang free in the wind, framing a chiseled face. The white Nike t-shirt he wore hugged his muscles and accentuated his smooth, dark skin. Black jeans and designer sneakers finished the look. Good god, he looked like a hazard.

"Mm," I cleared my throat.

"Mm-hmm! Pop off!" Breanna giggled.

I giggled, too, but it was so much easier said than done. I had only veered close to loving recklessly once in life as an inexperienced freshman. Secret chemistry had simmered between me and a math tutor. It had ended in the most explosive one-night stand. And then a ghosting. I had never gotten over the regret.

Devon finished his conversation with my dad and ambled toward Breanna and me. "Can I join this whispering session, or is it 'no boys allowed'?" His sparkling eyes flirted.

Breanna's eyebrows knitted together in a charade of regret. "I was telling Lexie about this text from a colleague, a work-related emergency. It can't be handled by anyone except me. I won't be able to travel with you guys tomorrow. Sorry, Dev."

"Guess it'll be the two of us," he said.

Oh, no. He sounded less than enthused. I fidgeted with my shirt and propped up a smile. No telling whether he believed in Breanna's 'work-related emergency' or not, but before I could give him an easy out and call off the whole thing, Mom yelled for us to come cut the cake.

A thought occurred to me. My parents would lose their deposit if I called it off. Devon seemed to read the distress on my face and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. For better or worse, he channeled, we were going on that trip together. Just the two of us.

~*~

I was unfashionably late to meet him the next morning.

At a quarter to nine, my parents deposited me at the dock. I headed them off at the pass before they offered to walk me through boarding. "I can handle my bags, Daddy. Gotta go, bye, thanks!" I hopped from the car, gave air kisses, and dashed. I refused to let them see Devon and I board the cruise ship alone.

After leaving my luggage for the porter, I spotted my crush at the front of the line, talking to some other guy in a pink shirt. I wanted to skip the passengers ahead of me and join him, but I shouldered my carry-on bag and remained patient. What was the rush? The meandering queue onto the majestic ship allowed me to see it in full. The cruise line website hadn't come close to capturing its grandeur.

Fortuna Neptune was a floating palace. It towered to the white fluffy clouds and took up most of the port. Behind it lay a sky the color of unbroken promises, and I couldn't pry my eyes from the dazzling horizon as I inched forward with the rest of the passengers.

At long last, the boarding process was completed. I entered the ship to find Devon, and a sudden weightlessness came over me. Walking (or gliding?) toward him, I managed to exude a breezy aloofness I didn't feel—as if running off to tropical paradises with fine ass men was a regular thing for me. This was the most daring thing I had done in my life.

The same way I had traded my preppy suburban good girl look for a risqué summer femme look, Dev had traded his normal athleticwear for a bohemian beach bum aesthetic. "I see you've been doing your curls, strong woman. I respect that. Would you like me to take it from here?" He gestured at my bag, and I gladly handed it over. "Oh, and I have a surprise for you!"

"A surprise? Give it to me," I laughed. Yes, I was playing Doja Cat in my head.

"Let's check out our stateroom first." He winked.

Oh my god, he winked. I sauntered after him. Daydreams of a two-friends-one-bed situation added extra pep to my step. I loved that trope. Before everything was said and done, whether I gave Devon my heart, I fully intended to give this man my body.

We navigated the busy ship in search of our room. I spared a passing glance at the ad posters for Three's Company, the host of our discounted trip. The LLC's stock photos of flirty vacationers in groups of threes, fours, even fives had a decidedly romantic slant. Was the swinger's vibe intentional?

The question left my head once we entered our stateroom. "Oh. My. God," I breathed in awe. Dev and I stared at one elegant king-sized bed for two placed prominently before a wall of windows. I hurried to open the curtains and covered my lips in surprise. The view was to die for. Light glinted off distant waves like quicksilver. "It's perfect," I gasped.

"I'm glad you like it," said Devon.

With a giddy laugh, I twirled around to take it all in. Despite the room's charming coziness, the sumptuously appointed space managed to boast a love seat and escritoire. A bar ran the length of one wall with a mounted television above it. The other wall had floor-to-ceiling mirrors that hid a shallow closet in which Devon stored our carry-on bags.

I opened the en suite and peered within. Instead of the tight quarters I expected, there was a jetted hot tub, a full shower, and comfortable toilet accommodations. Turning up the theme song in my head, I faced my crush with what I hoped was a seductive smile.

"Wow, I don't know if it can get any better than this, but I'm ready for that surprise now," I said. However, a soft tap at the door interrupted us, and I laughed at the terrible timing.

"There it is." Dev wrapped an arm around me and ushered me to the door. "The other day after you seemed weirded out about spending the trip alone with me, I enlisted the help of a good friend to make things less... awkward. Vic Diwata, this is Alexis Cambridge. Lexie, this is my friend—"

"Vic?" I squeaked in disbelief.

My jaw should have been in pieces for the way it dropped. I stared at the Filipino American Devon was introducing. Their crooked grin fractured at the sight of me, too. Not the math tutor I had fallen for but that I had ghosted bunking with us!

I pulled myself together and forced a laugh for Devon's sake, even though I knew he had picked up on the energy shift. As his happy grin slid off-kilter, his gaze bounced between us. "I hope I didn't misread you. I thought this might take some of the pressure off."

"Yeah! I mean, no, yeah! This is..." Flummoxed, another nervous laugh escaped.

Vic exercised manners and leaned in for a warm hugin lieu of a handshake. "Nice to meet you," they murmured. Well-played.