Page 93 of Off Plan

My phone buzzed in my pocket like the man had heard me.

Fenn:Hey, I’m taking Beale on a grocery run off island after Big Rafe and I finish our afternoon tour. Anything you need?

I chewed on my bottom lip. Whether I was ready or not, Rafe’s visit meantsomethingwas about to change. The crazy, beautiful thing Fenn and I had would either morph into something better and more secure, or… or it might cease to be at all.

I knew in my heart that I’d never feel as much for anyone else as I felt for him. I didn’t want to miss a single second of the time we had together. I didn’t want to regretanything. So in the end, I took a page from Fenn’s book.

When in doubt…

Me:Yeah. Get condoms and lube.

The three dots appeared and disappeared on the screen for so long I nearly called him.

Me:Ordinarily I’d have some here at the office

Me:But I gave them all to Mrs. McKetcham

Me:And I’ll be damned if I go and ask her for some just so I can have sex with my boyfriend

The dots disappeared altogether for a long moment.

Me:Unless you’d rather not. We haven’t talked about this recently. That’s fine!

Me:I know you wanted to take things slow.

Me:You could reply anytime now!

Me:Yes, no? Maybe?

Those fucking dots circled and spun for another ten seconds, then finally…

Fenn: Yeah, baby. Got it.

I held the phone against my chest like that might stop my heart from pounding out of my rib cage.

Then I closed the door, locked it, and called my best friend.

“Tobias,” I said the second the call engaged. “I need you to tell me everything you know about anal sex.”

Chapter Fifteen

Fenn

There weretimes when I almost liked my job.

“I just have to tell you, that was so fun!” A brunette teenager with braided hair grinned up at me as I waved goodbye to her family after our afternoon tour. “Thank you for making this incredibly boring day a little more exciting.”

I met the eyes of the girl’s mom over her head, and the corners of her lips quirked up.

“Jessica’s been researching this island and the treasure since she heard we were coming here,” she said, hands bracketing her daughter’s shoulders. “She wasnotexcited about spending spring break here when she could’ve been home with her friends, but her dad and I overruled her.”

“Families,” Jessica said crisply, “are annoying.”

Wasn’t that the damn truth?

I smiled back. “Thankyoufor asking some good questions about Jacob and Resolute’s history. You’re very insightful.”

“Did you know, there’re, like, hardlyanybooks on the Whispering Key treasure at all? It’s odd. But there was a website with all kinds of theories and scanned images of documents and stuff. And when I read about Resolute and Jacob saving each other’s lives, and surviving together for so long I, like, totally shipped them.” She flushed pink. “So, you know, I choose not to believe Resolute did Jacob wrong in the end.”