Nova

“It’s a cruise ship. It doesn’t exactly loop around,” Wilder countered.

“Well, then we wait for a better location.”

“No. The timing is perfect, the weather is perfect, and Little John is already there waiting with the boat.”

“Well, unless we can figure out how to get back on the ship, we’ll have to cancel it,” Landon said with a shrug.

“We’re not canceling something this epic.”

“Did you ask Penna what she thinks?” Leah asked.

“No,” Wilder answered, his voice sharp.

“We tried to, but she won’t talk about anything stunt-related,” Landon answered. “That’s why we didn’t want the cameras listening in. She’s having a hard enough time with all the shit that just went down; we don’t need it replayed for her when the documentary comes out.”

That little dead place in my chest I used to call a heart gave a little jolt. Leave it to Landon to say something all sweet and protective.

To keep myself from weighing in on whatever they were discussing, I devoured more of my burger. It was perfection, even with only half the amount of pickles I—

Wait. I slowly put my cheeseburger on my plate and removed the top. I’d eaten half of it and yet there were still three pickles there.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” Leah asked.

And where was my tomato? I’d left it on my plate. The déjà vu feeling hit me twice as hard, and against every ounce of my better judgment, I glanced over to Landon’s cheeseburger—and the two tomato slices that peeked out of the side.

Landon had given me his pickles and taken my tomato, just like every other time we’d eaten cheeseburgers together since we’d met. It was achingly familiar, right and wrong all in the same breath.

“We’re going to wakeboard behind the boat,” Wilder answered Leah.

Had Landon thought about the pickles? Or had it been some subconscious movement, like parts of him had simply readjusted to being next to me?

“What boat?” Leah asked.

“The Athena.”

Tomatoes immediately forgotten, my attention snapped to Wilder. “As in the cruise ship?” I asked, my mouth slightly agape.

“Yep!” he said with a grin. “It was Leah’s idea, actually.”

“It was a joke!” she exclaimed.

As the two got into a minor bicker over the outrageous idea, my mind worked overtime. Could it be done? Sure. With major effort, a lot of tries, and some really gifted athletes. But getting them back on the ship?

“You cannot be serious!” Leah hissed.

“Come on, Firecracker. It would be amazing,” he countered.

If they got off at the refueling stop, then they’d simply have to get back on while we were moving.

“What are you thinking?” Landon asked me.

I fought the instinct to answer him and looked over at Wilder instead. “Do you have a wakeboard for each of you?”

“Of course,” he answered, his eyebrows lowering. “What’s on your mind?”

“Do you have a power parasailing winch? Or could Little John get one onboard during the refuel?”

“He could get ours…where are you going with this?” Wilder asked.

“Holy shit, she’s brilliant,” Landon said, his voice full of the kind of awe I didn’t want to hear.

“Rachel?” Leah asked.

“You’re right,” Landon muttered, grabbing a pen from his pocket and putting it to his napkin. He drew quickly, careful not to tear the paper. “If we mounted it here,” he said, pointing to what I assumed was the back of the ship.

“Farther back. Remember the setup when we launched off the back of that ski boat in California? You have to land somewhere, and you have to get it high enough to keep it from rubbing,” I said, taking the pen and marking above where he had.

“But how would we get the lines…?”

I kept my eyes on the paper, refusing to look up into the hazel eyes I knew would swallow me whole. “You have to use it as the tow rope. The rider would then have to attach it to his harness.”

“We have the chutes on board,” Landon said. “But it would be a bitch to keep them dry. The first time we miss the initial rope, they’re soaked.”

I shrugged. “Wet chutes are prone to sticking and deploying slowly. But if it’s open, then you’re golden. The hard part would be the initial jolt.”

“Are they always like this?” Leah asked.

“Scarily in tune with each other?” Wilder clarified. “Yes.”

I snapped my hand back from the napkin like it had been bitten. Stupid girl. One mention of a stunt they couldn’t work out and I’d jumped right back in, helping plan out details like I’d never left. So much for keeping my distance.

I grabbed my tray with shaky hands and looked over at Wilder. “You two can figure this out from here?”

“Rachel…” Landon pleaded.

“I’ll see you later, Leah,” I said to my wide-eyed best friend, who looked at me like she’d never seen me before. Then I walked as calmly as I could, when all I wanted to do was run, and dumped my food into the trash can before placing my tray on the pile.

“I know what you’re doing,” Landon said from behind me when I’d almost made it to the door.

“Oh?” I asked, not pausing in my stride.

“You’re trying to ignore me. That’s your game plan? When all else fails, avoid the problem?”