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“You’re supposed to be the one answering the question,” he reminded me.

“Fine.” I glanced around the table, taking a moment to figure out the best answer. In the end, I went with my gut. “Sloane.”

“What the fuck, mate?” Sloane exclaimed as he slapped a hand to his chest, looking far too wounded for a hypothetical question.

“You’re too confident,” I said.

“And that’s why I’d survive!” he insisted.

“That’s why you’d die!”

“That’s solid reasoning,” Grady agreed, and Sloane looked personally betrayed by the comment.

The questions kept coming one right after another.

If you could haunt one person after you died, who would it be? Apparently, saying Rhodes’ dick wasn’t the right answer—at least to Rhodes it wasn’t. The rest of the table found it hilarious.

What’s the largest animal you think you could beat in a fair fight? I said human, they said it didn’t count, and Grady sided with me. It worked.

Who’s the scariest person you know? Everyone expected me to say Grady, which I understood why, but I still went with Jude. Sure, Grady could take down a guy, but Jude could learn anything just because he was bored. Every single one of them insisted Rhodes had to bring his brother around soon so they could meet him.

If aliens showed up tomorrow, would you volunteer to go with them? Absolutely not, but I was ready to volunteer Rhodes for that adventure, which led to another round of crazy stories about Rhodes and aliens.

If you had to hide a body, who at this table would you call? That one started a fifteen-minute argument.

Grant was the obvious answer until everyone pointed out that calling the head of security created a conflict of interest. Dawson insisted he had access to vehicles nobody knew about, which raised questions no one seemed interested in having answered. Sloane claimed he could get a boat within twenty minutes. Imogen simply stated that she could make sure no one noticed the person was missing in the first place.

For obvious reasons, I picked her.

Somewhere in the middle of the argument, I realized that I hadn’t been asked a single normal question. Nobody wanted to know where I grew up or what my parents did. They didn’t care about my graduation plans or how serious Rhodes and I were. They didn’t touch on the age difference or ask how we’d gotten together.

Instead, they wanted to know whether I thought ghosts should legally be allowed to haunt property they didn’t own. At some point, Sariah started including me in stories about Rhodes purely so I could help make fun of him.

Rhodes let it all happen without any real protesting or attempt to control the chaos. He sat beside me with his hand on my thigh the whole time, and every time I caught him looking at me, there was that smile on his face—the one for me. But there was something else in his expression, a kind of satisfaction. Like dragging me into this chaos and watching me find my place with them was exactly what he’d hoped for.

CHAPTER 59

Rhodes

Dinner dissolved slowly rather than actually ending. The laughter and debates never ended, but people eventually wandered off in twos or threes. They carried their drinks with them as conversations migrated to different parts of the yacht. Somewhere above us, Sloane could be heard loudly arguing with Grant—I wanted nothing to do with whatever that was about. Music played quietly through speakers, and every few minutes, another burst of laughter carried across the deck.

Theo and I lingered near the hallway leading to our room. I was a little drunk and pleasantly buzzing. From the flush on his cheeks, I could tell he was too. The giant lopsided grin he gave me was a big tell too.

“So,” I began quietly. “You survived.”

“Yeah.” His smile grew impossibly wider. “I’ve never been interrogated so much in my life.”

“You loved it,” I said, even as I worried I might be wrong.

“I did,” Theo admitted without hesitation. That tension in my chest eased considerably. I needed to hear him say it.

“They loved you too.”

“Of course they did,” he scoffed. He leaned against the wall for support, pointing to himself. “I’m fucking delightful.”

“Yes, you are,” I agreed with a laugh. I hooked two fingers in the waistband at his hip and tugged him closer. Which was a mistake because he wasn’t nearly as steady as I expected. His body crashed into mine, and I caught him, swaying with the impact. I held us both upright, though it was more of a feat than I expected. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders with a happy sigh. “Seriously, though. You had a good time?”

“Yeah, I did. I promise,” he whispered. I nodded, that last little bit of tension leaving my body. Apparently, it showed because his hands tangled in my hair, and he dragged his mouth to mine. I kissed him back, tasting whatever fruity drinks he’d had throughout the night. He smiled against my lips when I pulled him closer.