Page 43 of Weathering The Storm

Nick

Like usual, there’s no alarm needed. The blip of my handheld radio vaults me out of sleep faster than anything else—a sound I’d respond to while comatose.

Please let it not be for me, I beg as Seth stirs too, his hand traveling up and down my back, his cock waking up against my lower stomach.Just a few more minutes.

“Captain, Captain, Perry.”

Fuck.

“Nice while it lasted,” Seth says groggily, rolling out of bed and helping me sort through the pile of clothes on the ground.

My radio drops out from under a jacket, and I fumble for it, pulling on my sweatpants as I press the button and try to answer the call inconspicuously. “Go ahead, Perry.”

“Can you come confirm if we’re dragging anchor? Not an emergency yet, but we might need to reposition.”

“Okay, start her up. Let out some more scope on the chain. I’m on my way.”

“Copy.”

I pull my hoodie back on over my head, slowing to run my fingers through my snarled hair and check my face in the mirror for… I don’t know what. Some sort of flashing sign that’ll tell the whole world Seth has fundamentally altered something inside of me?

Because it’s so damn obvious to me that I’m not the same man I used to be. I can see my first mate all over me. My cheeks and forehead are pink, my eyes are brighter, and my lips are roughened by beard burn. I look like I paddled a canoe through a cyclone in search of spiritual enlightenment—and found it.

I watch Seth in the reflection, pulling on a pair of socks. Tan skin disappearing once more beneath winter clothing, his bed-rumpled hair sticking up. “You don’t need to get up.”

“It’s fine. It’ll go faster, and I’m already awake now. Plus, I think I heard Jorg and Orlov go into the crew mess. I should probably figure out some bullshit to assign them. Get them out of the way.”

Seth yawns, his lips tilting into a heart-meltingly sleepy smile. Happy to do whatever will makemehappy. And now, I have clarity about exactly what that is.

Falling asleep beside him, if only for a little while, made me happy. Going out with him and the crew made me happy. Lying beside him on the deck and watching the northern lights made me happy.

But having to cut our night short so no one saw us holding hands? Counting the seconds every time I smiled at him in public and wondering how long was too long? Inventing an excuse to sneak out of his room so that our crew doesn’t find out we’re together?

Happiness shouldn’t have to pay that price.

Fuck what anyone at the docks has to say about me. I don’t care if the older captains call me slurs behind my back or flash condescending smirks to my face. I don’t care if it means I lose my crew and have a bitch of a time replacing them.

Seth is what matters. I’ve spent too many years wishing I could be with him to not give him my all.

“You don’t have to.” I’m even more confident about the decision as the words leave my mouth. “Not for my sake.”

Seth’s smile fades. “You want to tell them?”

“Only if you want to.”

He leans in and kisses me, hard, before pulling back and searching for something. Confirmation, I suppose. Maybe he’ll find a trace of anxiety, but I know for a fact he won’t find doubt.

“Let’s go fix an anchor then,” he says, and pushes the door open.

Orlov and Jorgensen are at the table in the crew mess, a mountain of chips, cookies, and drink cans between them. Whatever Jorgensen’s saying, it dies on his tongue when he sees us. The rest of his story buried by a gulp of half-chewed Doritos. Orlov looks up once, takes us in with the same reaction he’d have to seeing a crab on deck, and reaches back into the chip bag.

“Hey, Cap’.” Jorgensen waves with two orange-dusted fingers, eyes wide as a sculpin. “Didn’t know you were down here.”

Why are you down here?being the unspoken question, but we can put that to rest in a minute. For now, there’s no time to dwell.

“Go ahead to the windlass,” I tell Seth, already climbing up the stairs. “I’ll signal if we need to reset further into the cove.”

“Copy.”