Page 9

Stella

My head poundedas I cracked open my eyes, and the bright light coming through the porthole drilled into my brain. Why did I drink so much yesterday? I swore there was a drink in my hand from the moment we stepped foot onto the boat.

I vowed to myself in that moment, I wouldn’t drink today. I wasn’t sure my head and body could take another drop.

Looking over to the bed on the other side of the room I shared with Pen, I found it empty. The sheets were thrown all over the place, so I assumed she’d slept in it. I hadn’t made my way back to the group after I came down to my room. Instead, after I used the bathroom, I fell onto my bed and promptly fell asleep.

My need for coffee had me climbing out of bed despite how miserable I felt. Slipping out of my dress from last night because I couldn’t even bother to get undressed, I put on a pair of Capri yoga pants and a t-shirt, and pulled my hair up into a low ponytail. I didn’t care what everyone else was wearing. All I wanted was to be comfortable while I was miserable.

Finding my darkest pair of sunglasses, I slid them on and headed out to find my friends. Keeping my head low, I trudged out to where we seemed to spend most of our time. All the girls were already eating breakfast and having mimosas when I stumbled out into the daylight t ocean breeze.

A round of cheers erupted as I took my seat beside Pen, making me cringe. “Please,” I held my hands up, “I have the worst hangover.”

“We were worried about you when you didn’t come back last night,” Scarlett said quietly.

That was sweet. I didn’t think they’d notice me gone.

“We sent Pen here to make sure Remy hadn’t taken advantage of you, and she found you sound asleep.” Reagan wrinkled her nose at me like I was going to make or break their night. I was sure they did just fine without me.

“Sorry, once I got to my room and got all warm, exhaustion hit me, and I just wanted to go to bed.”

Pen leaned over with her lips curled up at the ends. “Did anything happen with tall, dark, and handsome last night after he walked you to our room?”

I wanted to tell her of my stupidity, but I kept quiet since I knew the rest of the table would hear me. Instead, I only shook my head.

“I thought for sure something would happen when you pretended to stumble,” Reagan laughed.

“I wasn’t pretending,” I practically growled at her. “All the alcohol from the day rushed to my head. I probably would have fallen down the stairs if he hadn’t escorted me down.”

I was not in the mood to deal with Reagan’s shit this morning.

A flash of me rising up on my tippy-toes and brushing my lips across Remy’s last night hit me. Ugh! How embarrassing. Now I’ll never be able to face him.

Pen pretended to drop her napkin and then whispered from underneath the table. “I think you’re holding something back, but I’ll wait until we’re alone to get it out of you.”

My only response was to give her big eyes.

Ophelia came out then with a steaming cup of coffee. It was like she read my mind, or maybe she saw the way I cringed at the sunlight.

“Thank you. You’re a godsend,” I said over the rim of my coffee before I took a long sip.

“Would you like anything for breakfast?” she asked as she started to pick up the plates from everyone else.

With everyone already finished, I wanted something fast. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’ll have a spinach omelet.”

“No problem at all. I’ll let the chef know.” Ophelia smiled at me before she asked. “What do you want to do today?”

“We want to play on the toys,” Zelda answered. “I want to ride one of those jet skis and hit the waves.”

“We can do that. I’ll have the crew get them out. Would you like the slide as well?”

I could picture myself going down the slide and then losing my bottoms, only to never find them again.

“That sounds like fun,” the rest of the girls chimed in.

I guess I should have put on one of the tiny bikinis Pen had gotten me to be ready for today.

With every sip I took, my head pounded a little less, and by the time I was done with my second cup of coffee, the world was tolerable again. Relaxing back in my seat, I let out a contented sigh.