Page 15 of Knot Going Down (OlympicVerse #3)

LUCAS

T his was supposed to be a very different trip, but I find I’m not as upset about the change in plans as I should be.

It’s a beautiful group—though an unlikely one.

I’ve always found people beautiful, all types of people, each human so unique and interesting and different from the rest, but this group truly sparks my curiosity.

They don’t seem like they go together, and it makes me curious how they all ended up here with Emily.

“You’re staring,” Ava says, sidling up next to me as we wait on deck, our life vests puffed up like lemon-colored flotation sausages. She still looks effortlessly cool, like a glossy fashion magazine ad shot at sea.

“There is much to look at.” I smirk.

She follows my gaze toward Declan, Knox, and beautiful Emily, still wrestling with their vests like they’re trying to disarm explosives.

Declan I’m sure can put on a life vest with ease, but Knox seems hell bent on creating difficulty for him.

Officer McLaren looks like he lifts enough weights to fight Poseidon but trying to force Knox into the flotation sausage is one jammed zipper away from being a brawl.

I’m glad Gunner is snoozing on the couch back in our room and isn’t being wrestled into a floaty vest, too.

“It is like watching a parent put shoes on a toddler,” I whisper.

“Maybe he should give Knox a sticker chart for good behavior,” Ava replies.

I murmur my agreement before deciding to prod a little. “So, you are a swimmer, yes?”

“Yes.” Ava looks away, lifting her chin higher.

“Perhaps you can show me a few strokes while we are here? I am better on land than in water.” I give her what I hope is a cheeky wink.

“What is the stroke… like this?” I try to swing my arms in a circular motion, but with the life vest on, and unable to raise my hands as high as I intend, I end up smacking the woman next to us in the chest.

Ava laughs, the noise deep and full like a low sounding church bell. Not the kind of tinkling laugh Emily has, but just as captivating.

The cruise employee at the front—serious, sunburned, and visibly over us—glares like she’s daring someone to interrupt her again.

I flash her the most innocent smile I can muster.

She’s not impressed. Her lecture about life vests and the dangers of doing childish things on a boat continues with grim enthusiasm.

I lean close to Ava. “She loves us already.”

“No. She looks like she’s five seconds away from throwing one of us overboard.”

“The joke is on her. I float like a majestic sea zucchini.”

Ava purses her plump lips. “Sea zucchini?” Even though she’s looking at me, her gaze roams my face, like she’s afraid to make eye contact.

“The—” I try to think of the word. “ Como você diz …the thing.” Wrapping my hands around the invisible marine squash, I try to mime the word I’m looking for, then stop as I realize it looks like I’m giving myself a handjob which earns us another disapproving scowl from the cruise lady.

“How do you say the… with the green? Cucumber! Sea cucumber!”

Ava snorts, and her little laugh is worth my difficulty remembering the word and my embarrassing pantomiming act.

English is my third language after Spanish and my own Portuguese.

Well, my Spanish is more… transactional?

I can speak it better than I can read it, but my English gets far more use in my professional life.

Being able to make Ava laugh in any language makes my chest swell with glee.

The cruise ship employee glares at us again, so I attempt seriousness.

Having secured Knox, Declan adjusts Emily’s vest like he’s handling a priceless artifact.

Emily laughs, pink-cheeked and flustered.

I glance sideways at Ava. Her expression is carefully blank, but I catch a flicker of something that matches the twist in my own gut.

“So, Emily and Declan,” I whisper this time, leaning close enough to feel assaulted by the flood of perfume Ava is wearing.

It reminds me of the way my grandmother would try to hide her body odor with the strongest perfume she could find.

Somehow, I doubt Ava’s natural scent could be anything but delicious, even if she seems to want to cover it up. “How long have they been together?”

“Oh, um, it’s new. She says it’s not serious.”

As if she knows we’re talking about her, Emily tilts her head and smiles at me over her shoulder.

“What are we whispering about?” Knox slides up on my other side with the confidence of a man who’s just finished looting a yacht. Tan, relaxed, probably hiding at least three secrets beneath his flotation device. He’s a very attractive criminal.

“We were judging everyone’s life vest technique,” I answer, gesturing to my flotation sausage.

“So far, Declan has an angry scuba dad vibe,” Ava says, turning back to study Emily and Declan with a smile a little less genuine than it was before. “And Emily is doing a nice lost tourist from Kansas.”

“The pretty doe eyes truly sell it,” I add.

“Love that for her.” Knox chuckles as he slings his arm over my shoulder, our life vests bumping together. I have always craved touch, especially from alphas, so I melt easily into his side, despite having only met the man a little over an hour ago.

“Heard there’s a limbo contest on deck five later,” Knox says. “Loser has to eat one of those weird lukewarm shrimp cocktails from the buffet.”

“I will accept that challenge. But what will I get when I win?” I give Knox a flirty eyebrow wiggle.

I don’t have a type exactly, but Knox is the kind of guy I’ve gone for in the past. Confident, funny, flirty. His bad boy charm is, well, charming.

“Huh, it can’t be anything too good, cause I’m pretty sure I’m gonna lose against a bunch of athletes like you.” He gives Ava an appreciative look, gaze traveling up and down her body.

“I’m not playing.” She tries to cross her arms over her chest as best she can in her flotation device before giving up and rolling her eyes.

“Oh, come on. You’re not gonna show me how low you can go?

” Knox winks at her, while bumping his hip against mine.

“There’s pretty much no chance you’ll be eating shrimp.

My hips weren’t made for bending backward.

They were made for awkward shuffling, pretending to be a good dancer, and leaning casually against things with smoldering eyes. ”

“Why bet when you know you are going to lose?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“The fun of the game.” He releases his arm from my shoulder and gives me a quick slap on the ass.

There’s nothing sexual about it, just playful.

But it has my mind conjuring all kinds of wicked things.

Who can blame me? It’s been far too long since I’ve had sex, and now I’m surrounded by four of the most attractive people I’ve ever met who must pretend to be my pack.

“It’s time for the emergency drill.” The cruise lady cuts in, voice sharp and too loud.

I think she saw the ass slap. Great emphasis is placed on emergency in case we didn’t feel the full threatening weight of dying lost at sea in our flotation sausages.

“You will find your muster stations on your keycards. You’re required to report and check in. All members of your party.”

She pauses to make direct eye contact with us.

“We are very responsible,” I assure her, flashing my most charming grin.

She doesn’t blink. Doesn’t smile. Nothing.

Cruise lady needs something frozen and blended with a little paper umbrella in it to lighten her up.

A horn blares loud enough to startle a few nearby seagulls. Ava gives an adorable little jump that makes her wobble on her stilettos. The group scatters to our muster stations as quickly as a mass of cruise ship patrons can, given half the boat is probably already daydrunk.

I pull out my keycard and compare with Ava. “Looks like we are together. Lucky you.”

“Or cursed.”

“I am choosing to believe this is destiny. Maybe we will get a private tutorial on lifeboat deployment.”

“Or they put us all together because we’re in the same pack, remember?

” She reminds me of our story, but I haven’t forgotten.

I’m enjoying our game of pretend. This isn’t the pack I thought I’d be here with—we aren’t a pack at all—but I find myself liking this little group Emily has introduced me to.

And I very much enjoy trying to coax out Ava’s smiles.

Emily and Declan fall in with us as we move toward our muster station. A salty breeze kicks up, carrying the scent of sunscreen, fried snacks, and a faint whiff of someone’s body odor. I eye the hairy-backed man in front of us, the likely body odor culprit.

Betas don’t have the same overwhelming presence to our scents the way alphas and omegas do, but I wish I could smell something of Ava.

Instead of just that overpowering perfume.

Maybe it would be too difficult to scent her even without it.

She’s a beta, and there are a lot of people around.

Especially with Back Hair desperately in need of deodorant.

“Do you think they’ll make us actually practice the drill?” Emily asks.

“I hope so. I’ve always wanted to dramatically leap into a lifeboat.” Knox flings his arms about for emphasis. “Preferably while shouting, ‘Save yourselves!’”

“I am voting Knox our team captain,” I say, seeing if I can push my luck and get a reaction out of Declan the way I did with Ava.

It’s already clear that Knox irritates the officer.

Which I guess is understandable considering they are on opposite sides of the law.

But it seems like more than that, like something personal.

Declan shoots me a quick glare that warms my insides. It could be fun to get under the DEA officer’s skin.

“I accept,” Knox replies solemnly. “But only if I get a whistle and a clipboard.”

“And duct tape across that mouth of yours,” Declan huffs.

“There are more entertaining ways to keep me quiet than duct tape, Officer.” Knox’s saucy tone earns him one of Declan’s best scowls.

“I want one of those neon flags to wave,” Ava adds, diffusing the tension almost like the sexual innuendo between the two alphas has her panicking. “Something to really capture the chaos if we sink. Very stylish panic.”

She brandishes her arm waving her invisible flag, and the tiniest hint of something like blackberry finds my nose, but there are too many people by our muster station to tell if the scent is coming from her.

We reach the designated checkpoint, and the staff starts checking our names off a list.

I nudge Ava with my elbow. “Will you truly not do the limbo with us?”

Ava purses her lips, but her little smile peeks through. “No, I plan to fake seasickness. It might get me out of evening karaoke, too.”

“You are having fun. Admit it.”

“Just trying to make the apocalypse festive,” she sighs, tightening the strap on her flotation sausage. “If this boat goes down, I’m grabbing the drink package and a life raft. In that order.”

“Disaster buddies?” I hold up my pinky the way children do when making a promise. “Us betas gotta stick together.”

She flinches, eyeing my pinky with skepticism before her gaze flicks to my face. Slowly she loops her little finger with mine. I squeeze it tight as my smile grows.

“So, game plan if we hit an iceberg? Do we throw Declan or Knox at it to see what happens?” Our iceberg odds are low given that it’s approximately a million degrees outside, but she gives me a smile as we start to scheme outrageous emergency plans.

I don’t look down to see it, but her pinky stays wrapped around mine. My beautiful disaster buddy.