A giggle escapes my throat. ‘That’s what you want to talk about?’

‘Well, yeah. You didn’t come up with anything better. Hey, why are you always laughing at my questions?’

‘Because you ask things like “What’s your favourite colour?” and “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and I feel like I’m in elementary school.’

‘Well, what did you want to be when you grew up? A mom? A wife? The president?’

‘Hmmm, I think if you asked six-year-old me, Madam President. But unfortunately, that ship has sailed.’

‘OK, so if Madam President is off the table, what about a mom or a wife?’

‘Women can be much more than that you know,’ I say, giving him a stern look.

I watch the profile of his face and see his cheeks scrunch with a smile. ‘Touché,’ he says.

I think about my answer. ‘I don’t want to get married as much as I want to be confident in my partner. I don’t care about marriage itself, but a lasting commitment with someone is something I really want. If I had that, I would love kids.’

Hugh is silent, staring up at the night sky.

‘What about you?’

He sighs. ‘I want that too, I think. I’m worried I’ll be really bad at it, if I’m honest. My mom and dad weren’t so great at the marriage thing . . .’

‘That doesn’t mean you won’t be.’

‘I’m not good at being in love.’ Hugh’s voice sounds thicker than it did a moment before. I wait for him to continue. ‘I’m not good at saying it,’ he says finally, ‘I can act on it, but I can’t tell someone. It’s hard for me. I feel so . . . naked. The only person I told was Sophia, my ex and that —’ He cuts himself off.

We both listen to the sound of the waves slapping the side of the boat. Everyone else has long since gone to bed. It feels like we are the only two people left in the world.

‘I’m not good at it either,’ I admit finally. Something about the stars, or the reassurance of the thump of the waves, or the smell of Hugh’s body wash, or maybe just being in the middle of a huge ocean, miles from home, masquerading as someone else, makes me feel like being completely honest. ‘In fact, I’m terrible at it,’ I say in a small voice.

‘What makes you say that?’

‘It’s just . . . I think I let things with my ex drag on for too long.’ I shift some weight from one shoulder to the other. ‘It ended up that everybody got hurt.’ We’re both on our backs, gazing at the stars. I hardly listened when Aaron pointed out the constellations earlier, and now I wish I had, just to have anything else to talk about.