“I can—” his eyes flicked up to hers again, and only once they were looking at each other did she consider her phrasing. “I can what?”

There was a great pause, and she could hear the sound of him swallowing hard, even over the chaotic street noise surrounding them. At this, she made a point of clapping him on the shoulder, the way a little league coach might encourage a player, eyes still on his with piercing intensity.

“You can come back to the boat after I do. Have a good night.”

Freshly showered and padding around in her fluffy white bathrobe, Alex finally felt normal again. The others had decided to go out after all, and that meant she had the boat to herself for at least a few precious hours. She couldn’t untangle the thorny feelings in the pit of her stomach, but she could at least scrub the sensation from her body, nearly scalding herself with hot water until she felt almost nothing at all. There was a candle lit on her bedside table, and a cup of chamomile tea sitting neatly on a saucer. The room felt so adult and reasonable, a respite from the anticipated stress of having to face everyone come morning.

Paul had texted her off of the group chat to tell her that some of the group wanted to explore the town in Taormina tomorrow. She was invited, of course, but they just don’t want any more drama for a minute. She knew what that meant: she was invited, but not wanted. Paul gallantly offered to plan a little excursion for the two of them, instead—an attempt to soften the blow of her second-class status—but she declined. Reading a book on the deck would be just fine for her.

From the room next to hers, the unmistakable sound of a drunk Danial cut through her spa-like quiet. She heard him slam the cabin door behind him, clicking across the room in his leather shoes. Every step of his process was audible: tossing his jacket on the floor, setting his wallet on the armoire, sitting down to slip off his loafers. She could hear the hiss of him opening his sparkling water and pouring himself a glass, followed by a bottle of medication opening and a pill being shaken out, almost certainly a preemptive ibuprofen to stave off his inevitable headache.