The champagne goes straight to her head, leaving her feeling light, airy, and loose. All vibes and no strife. She’s been nothing but a giant ball of functional frustration, flipping between despair and scheming so fast, it was beginning to wear her down. Being able to dance, worry-free and almost happy, to her favorite music on a beautiful boat in the middle of a magnificent lake almost made up for it. Grace was right. Trying to have a good time feels so much better.

She’s in the middle of a rather sensual move involving quite a bit of balance and divine intervention supporting her knees when the music suddenly stops. A boat similar in size to Malcolm’s approaches them from the left.

“Hey, neighbor,” someone from the intruding boat calls.

Both Malcolm and Summer opt for being friendly because of course they do. Joy slinks away to the back of the boat alone. Champagne bottle empty, she grabs some water to give her body a break. Her drinking rules are absolute: cut all the alcohol with water or alternate between the two. She’s mid-drink when inspiration for another picture strikes.

Standing close to the edge, Joy poses with a dead look in her eyes, the invading boat in clear view behind her. Perfect. She’s lightly editing when Fox quietly joins her. He leans in close but not too close. Sensing what he wants, she shows him her screen.

He snort-laughs, just as subtly as before in the car. “Nice.”

“Thank you.” Pleased, Joy uploads the photo, and then tugs on one of the straps of Fox’s life vest. “Are you really getting in the water?”

Joy’s had an ongoing love affair with the ocean since she was five, but lakes are a different story. There isn’t much that can convince her to swim in one this far away from the shore without proper diving gear.

Fox frowns. “Hopefully not.”

“Then why the jacket?”

“I don’t really know how to swim.”

Joy resists the urge to laugh. Admitting that clearly made him uncomfortable. “But Summer said you two were going to boogie board behind the boat?”

“Hmm.”

Fox’s non-committal grunt suits him so well, Joy almost teases him about it, but decides to save that for later. “I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life, but if you can’t really swim that’s probably not the best idea.”

“She shouldn’t go by herself.” He says it like it’s an obvious fact, glancing Summer’s way. She’s standing like a captain, with one leg on the gunwale, the other on the bench seat, and her hands on her hips as they continue talking to the strangers.