I swallowed hard over the knot of guilt in my throat.
“You okay?” He placed his hand on the bunk above mine and seemed to hang there waiting for my answer. “Sirena?”
“I am fine.” I pulled my knees up to my chin and caught Rick’s eyes heat as my eyes traveled down the length of his body. Strong, tan arms flexed under my gaze which allowed my imagination to run wild, wondering what was under the white t-shirt until I was given just a hint of tan skin between his tank top and the very low place his board shorts sat on his hips. I bit down on my bottom lip, cutting off my gaze. A male’s chest was not unknown to sirens, it was what was hidden beneath the band of his shorts and lower that piqued my interest. I cleared my throat, chasing the dry, hungry taste from my mouth.
“I am going to change, and I will meet you up on deck.”
“How about you change, and I’ll wait for you outside.”
Heat blossomed inside me, spreading to places it had no business being. Someone, even if it was a human, wanted me, was waiting for me. The thrill of it, even if it was toxin induced, was something I didn’t think I would ever be able to let go.
Rick ran his finger along the soft skin of my cheek. “I love when you blush.”
Despite myself, I smiled. I dreamed. And I knew all too soon I would pay for both of those actions.
“Hurry up, I heard Tiki say we were about two hours out.” Rick slipped out the door, taking all those warm wishful feelings with him.
We sat on the bow of the boat, the three of us—Rick, me, and my guilty conscience—watching the coast of Vieques grow bigger and bigger. I listened to him talk about Roxy and her dreams. He filled me in on all the facets of his sister’s life and her friends. His voice took on a pained tone when he talked about San Diego, about the West Coast, and how very different the waters and the people were. His eyes went dark and stormy when I asked him if he would go back some day. I was too familiar with the look; my father’s eyes would take on the same wild features when we spoke about his past.
Particularly his brother, Edward.
My father would never speak of his family, or what part of the ocean they occupied, or how he ended up serving Critias. It was not unfamiliar for a minch to leave his pod and join his siren’s family. What was strange was that my father refused to speak of his life before my mother. I knew nothing of his life before her, and I had the squirmy sensation that lack of knowledge was my mother’s doing.
When it started to cool down, Rick grabbed my wrist and settled me between his thighs with my back against his front. He wrapped me in the warmth of his arms, and we stayed that way until the sun slipped behind us and the tiny lights of Vieques twinkled with the temptation to come home.
“Mr. Martin,” Tiki interrupted. “We’ll be docking in Isabel Segunda. I’ve made arrangements for you to stay at Hotel de Tres Sirenas.”
Rick’s arms tightened around me, as he shifted, turning to get a better look of Tiki. “Why’s that?”
“We need to turn the boat, restock for our journey back to the Keys.”
“And you can’t do that with us onboard?”
I did not have to turn to see Tiki shake his head.
“There’s no extra cost to you, señor. It’s part of the negotiated charter.”
Rick exhaled. “No, it’s not the cost I’m worried about.”
“Your sister?”
“Even in confined places, she tends to leave a wake.”
“As do all women.”
Rick’s embrace tightened. “You couldn’t possibly be talking about sweet Sirena.”
“I should go.” I started to push out of Rick’s arms; I had stayed here in this fantasy for too long.
“No, Sirena.” Tiki pushed me back into Rick’s lap. “Stay and enjoy yourself. Two of the passengers are still sleeping. The stop we made for them to play with the water toys tired them out. Your sister, Roxanne, is in the wheelhouse. She is a cunning lady, Señor Martin. Very anxious to get her hands on a captain’s wheel.”
I did not buy it, but that did not stop Tiki from adding layer after layer of platitude.
“We’ll be docking in less than an hour.” Tiki finally surfaced for air, turning his attention my way. Moonlight highlighted the glint of mischief in his eyes. The minute the Martins stepped off this yacht, they were doomed, and there was nothing I could do to save them. As if he knew what I was thinking, Tiki delivered the final blow.
“Sirena will help situate you in the hotel. It’s very, very beautiful. I’ve already taken the liberty of making a reservation for you to dine at an exquisite restaurant. Maybe even do a little dancing.” He put his hand to his chest and the other in the air while he did the salsa. “It’s all part of the service, Señor Martin.”
Tiki spun a night that even I wanted to partake in. That was our gift, creating illusions that lured humans to explore the exotic, daring them to push past their comfort, and when the time was right, we stole their souls.
9
Rick
A man could get his feelings hurt if he hung around Sirena for too long. My grip on the wrought-iron balcony tightened as I watched her leave Tres Sirenas. I followed her hurried escape along the Calle Morropo toward the dock. Either she was avoiding me, or Tiki was tugging on the knot leash he kept her on.
“Mermaid got your heart?” Roxy hollered from the adjoining balcony.
I shook off the spell I seemed to fall under every time Sirena was near. “What?”
My little sister shook her head and slipped into the bistro chair on her balcony. “You lean too far over the railing, you will go splat, brother. Gravity doesn’t care how pretty the girl you’re watching is.”
My heart lurched at how right Roxy was, both about how pretty Sirena was and how perilously far over the rail I’d leaned to watch her leave.
The metal swayed as Roxy kicked her feet up on the railing, wiggling her toes and triumphantly folding her hands behind her head. “Not too shabby for an impromptu graduation vacation, right?”
I scoffed.
“What?”
“The further into this odyssey we get, the more I wonder how impromptu it really was.”
“How do you mean?”
“Just be honest with me, Rox.” I pulled the chair on my side of the balcony underneath me and leveled my sister with a look. “You had a printout of Mom’s death record. We were coincidentally booked on an overnight dive charter that can accommodate you, your girls, and the wild seahorses that swam up your ass when you decide to extend the charter. And poof!”— my fingers flared—“the boat is docked out of Puerto Rico. No, no. It’s main home is Vieques! Rox. If you believe all of that is coincidence, I can see why Mom left me as executor until you’ve grown up.”
“Okay, when you stack it all up nice and jig sawed together, you’re right, it does look a little nefarious.”
“A little?”
Roxy’s head tick-tocked on her shoulders. “A lot, but Rick, that’s what happens when you let the universe take over and the tides pull you.”
I hated how much I saw she believed that fact.
“What happens when the tide pulls you the wrong way or the universe gives you exactly what you shouldn’t have asked for? Sometimes, there has to be a no.”
A toothy grin blossomed on Roxy’s face. “Luckily, I haven’t found that time.”
“Or you weren’t around to witness the aftermath firsthand.”
Roxy’s smile fell.
“I should have told Mom no on the dive. I should have made her wait until the morning. We should have followed proper dive protocol.” I hated how my voice wavered.
Roxy reached through the metal bars, grabbing my wrists. “I never blamed you. Mom knew the risks each dive brought. Whatever you’re carrying around, you’ve got to let it go. My life can’t be your shot at redemption, and the land can’t be your purgatory.”
Red roared to life behind my eyes. I yanked my hands out of hers, letting the chair clatter to the tiled floor
as I stood. “You need to stop.”
“And you need to live.” Roxy matched my standing position, hands on her hips and chin jutted out. “You think you’re the only one who’s suffering? You think you’re the only one grieving, Rick? I lost both of you that day. Your body just hasn’t gotten the message your soul is dead!”
Her words hit me with such force, such vitriol, and if I hadn’t been so firmly rooted in my anger, they would have decimated me where I stood.
“You’ve got nothing to say, do you? No snappy comeback. No brotherly proverb.”
I shook my head.
“That’s what I thought. Dead. Soul.”
My gaze darted back and forth over Roxy’s face. I hadn’t left her. Quite the opposite, I’d given everything up to take care of her. It still sat wrong with me that Beth’s family had agreed to watch over Rox while I finished my senior year up. I’d contemplated taking them up on their offer to check in on Roxy while I attended graduate school, but … that seemed too much to ask for—both from Beth’s family and of my sister. Roxy’s brown eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“You’re right,” I whispered. “We may have returned Mom to the sea, but I never left.” I swiped my hands through my hair. It was time to get real with my sister. Get real with me. “Thing is, Rox, I don’t know if I ever can.”
Roxy’s silence stretched between us, mouth tumbled open and in shock that I’d admitted she was right and I was wrong.
“How can I help?” she finally offered.
“I don’t know.”
“I do.” Beth stepped out onto the balcony. “You can start by removing that seashell you’ve had stuck up your ass the last year and be the wild, carefree, Rick that would shake his bon-bon at the drop of a hat. You like Sirena? Don’t answer that.” Beth held up her hand. “We all know you do. You’ve only ever lit up like that when it came to the ocean and diving, and maybe Sara Meadows back in the sixth grade.”
“Beth had it bad for you when we were in second grade,” Roxy filled in.
“Anyway,” Beth continued. “That look you had in your eyes then is the same look we see now. So, go get the girl. Live your vida loca! You’re in Puerto Rico. Have a mojito and make out with a hottie. Everything you’re punishing yourself over … it’ll be here in the morning, it’ll be here when we leave, and probably follow your fine ass back to Texas. I’m hoping it doesn’t because I miss your smile, Rick.” Beth’s shoulders pulled up. “I’ll be honest, it sucks skittles I’m not the one who puts it on your face, but I think all the women of College Station can agree. We miss the smile.”
“Wow. I never knew.”
“Shut up, Rick. Yes you did.” Roxy leaned over the railing and smacked my chest.
I chuckled. “Okay maybe a little.”
Beth’s cheeks reddened, but it didn’t hit me in the same place as Sirena’s blush. “I’ll do better, okay?”
A small grin broke on Roxy’s face.
“But you’re still finishing college before you sail off around the world.”
Roxy’s grin grew. “We’ll see.” She waggled her eyebrows and slipped into their bedroom. “Clean up, okay. Shower. Sirena probably ran away from you cuz you smell.”
* * *
“You sure she knows we’re here?” I twisted in the booth at El Quenepo restaurant down the street from Tres Sirenas.
“God,” Roxy whined. “You’re like a freaking girl stalking her first crush, Rick. Settle down. Tiki said she’d be here. She’ll be here.”
I stilled at the mention of Tiki. Everything about the dude struck me wrong, and I didn’t think I was the only one. I grabbed a chip and dipped it in the salsa. “Hey, what do you think of Tiki.”
Amy giggled.
Beth stuck out her hand.
And my sister slammed her palms on the table. “Rick! Seriously? You’re jealous of him? Dude, have you lost all your mojo?”
I reared back.
“Beth bet Roxy you were jealous of Tiki.” Amy filled me in on the exchange of money happening before she sucked down more of her margarita.
“Fifty bucks, Rick. You cost me fifty bucks.”
“You bet on my machismo?”
“Lack thereof, apparently.” Roxy folded her arms while Beth celebrated. “He said he’d give her the night off. We just sat down. Give the girl some time to get here. She’s probably not used to running at your beck and call.”
“I didn’t beck and call.”
“No, you had me—your little sister—do it.”
“Settle down.” Amy hushed, nodding to the front of the restaurant. “She’s coming. Y’all will scare her away.”
I slipped out of the booth, shooting a cautionary warning glare at the girls. My stomach fell, and I knew for certain Sirena wouldn’t be the one terrified; that honored belonged to me.
Sirena sidled up to the table and me with a timid little smile and a strapless dress that took my breath away. Her hair was down and hung to the middle of her back. It took everything in me not to reach out and twist one of the strands around my finger. Up in the bun, it looked brown with hints of red, but down, it was long strands of wavy amber. It looked like she’d taken a picture of a sailor’s sunset and dared God to match it.
“Hola.” She waved to the girls and then turned those big brown eyes in my direction. “I’m sorry I’m late. I didn’t have anything to wear.”
My tongue seemed to have lost all its ability to communicate.
“Don’t worry, Sirena.” Roxy saved me. “We were just getting drinks. You look beautiful. Doesn’t she, Rick?”
If my sister could reach, she would’ve kicked me in the shin. “Sorry, yes.” I bent down and placed a quick kiss on Sirena’s cheek.
Sirena’s sharp gasp of air said she was as taken aback by my gesture as I was.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I stepped back and let Sirena slide into the horseshoe booth.
Amy giggled—at my expense I was certain. “Did you go shopping?”
“Sí.” Sirena nodded, sending strands of her silky hair across my arm. “Yes, sorry.”
“Only be sorry if you don’t share the shop you bought that at with us.”
A smile broke across Sirena’s face, and I swear the earth shifted.
I cleared my voice. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Tiki told me to try a margarita.”
“Then I’ll grab you a mojito.” I waved down the waitress and ignored the looks my sister and her friends were sending my way.
Yeah, I didn’t like Tiki. I definitely didn’t like him telling my girl what drink she should consume. I placed her order and a few minutes later rambled off dinner for the table while Roxy and the girls folded Sirena into their girl-power posse. Truth, it gave me a chance to sit back and watch Sirena. Not in a creepy way—I hoped. She was beautiful, not just on the outside but listening to her ask about our home. Ask about Texas. She turned all that wonder in my direction when Roxy told her we owned land and horses outside of College Station. I’d never been so pleased about our barren, tumbleweed weekend home than I was at that moment—seeing her smile, memorizing the way the warm lights lit up her perfect tan skin. And those eyes. I’d follow her to the depths of the sea if she batted those beautiful baby browns at me.
Dinner was amazing, and when the last dish was cleared, I considered bringing Roxy and the girls on all my first dates.
Was this a first date?
In an hour, I learned more about Sirena listening to her and the other girls talk than I would have spending a month on the Iara. She’d lived around Vieques all her life with her sister and her mom. When Amy asked about Sirena’s dad, her eyes went stormy and distant. Roxy read the shift as quickly as I had. I guess losing a parent was something we both had in common, as well. Sirena had just recently started working with Tiki and the rest of the Iara crew, which made me wonder why Tiki acted like they went way back. Why he thought he had some sort of claim or control over Sirena that went bey
ond the normal yachting hierarchy.
By the time dessert came out, I’d gone from barely sitting on the bench to almost cradling Sirena in my arms, and that finger that had a mind of its own was busy spinning another strand around it.
Roxy pushed her plate of coconut flan away. “I’m stuffed. Seriously. I can’t even.”
“What did you get again?” Amy came after the leftovers on Roxy’s plate, and true to my little sister’s nature, she pulled the contents out of her friend’s reach.
“None of your business.”
“Roxy, you said you were stuffed.”
“Amy.” Roxy drawled out her friend’s name. “That’s not an invitation to sample.”
Sirena giggled, and I swore it sounded like and angel.
“So, you two aren’t going dancing?” Beth chimed in.
“That’s not what we said.”
“It’s also not what you’re going to excel at either,” I added in, earning me hard looks from all four ladies at the table.
“Those are fighting words, Rick.” Amy swiped a fork full of flan off Roxy’s plate. “Besides, Sirena knows a local’s only dance club.”
“Yeah?”
Sirena nodded.
“Then I’ll grab the check, and we’ll see if these girls’ dance moves are as grand as their appetites.” I placed a small kiss on the side of Sirena’s temple and felt the entire table seem to inhale sharply.
What is wrong with me?
I hightailed it to the front of the restaurant, both for the need to find our waitress as well as the necessity for some much-needed air. I leaned all my weight on the tiny counter, waiting for the hostess. I couldn’t keep my hands off Sirena. It was the most amazingly bizarre effect when I was around her. The air seemed lighter, sweeter. All the pain I’d been toting around for the last year just disappeared. It was so … intoxicating.
“Did you enjoy your dinner, señor?” The hostess interrupted my thoughts.
“Sí.”
I pulled out my wallet, and the girl at the front laid her hand on me. The heat of her palm seeped into my system. With each pump of my heart, a mysterious warmth traveled up my arm, seeming to paralyze me.
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