Page 74 of In the Same Boat

Nico smirks, as if he might have been thinking it, but is obviously far too cool to say it. He’s so cool about all of this. I genuinely believe he’s enjoying it. Then again, maybe I am – just a bit though.

‘You look beautiful today,’ Nico tells me.

‘Aw, thanks,’ I reply – compliments are easy to take when you know they’re all part of the act.

‘I woke up, just before you, and I looked at you for a few seconds, marvelling at how beautiful you are…’

My breath catches in my throat – hopefully in a way that no one else notices. It’s all part of the act, it’s all part of the act. I need to keep reminding myself because, wow, that was so fucking charming. I think if anyone else said that to me, and meant it, I’d melt into a puddle on the floor.

I glance over at my mum, but she’s not uncomfortable, she’s not cringing, she’s smiling – and it’s maybe her biggest smile yet. She seems happy for me – for both of us. Both she and Hank actually seem really fucking pleased with this, now that I’m thinking about it.

We’re not making them uncomfortable, we’re reassuring them, confirming that all of this is just fiiine by all of us – well, it’s not. Our plan isn’t working the way we hoped it would.

We finish our food so I offer to clear away the plates – asking Nico to help me. Alone inside the living area, I break the news to him.

‘We’re not doing enough,’ I tell him.

‘We’re not?’ he replies.

‘They think this is sweet,’ I blurt. ‘Both of them. I think we’re making things easier for them…’

Nico rubs his chin.

‘Yeah, that’s not ideal,’ he replies. ‘So, what’s our next play?’

I glance out of the window at them. Mum looks happier than she has all holiday, and Hank doesn’t just look happy, he looks smug too.

I tap my fingertips lightly against the edge of my coffee cup while I think. Making them uncomfortable by being all over each other clearly isn’t enough, it’s not working in the way we intended. So, we need to make them uncomfortable in a different way.

‘We step up our game,’ I tell him.

‘How?’

‘Your dad suggested we all go swimming today,’ I point out. ‘I think, if we’re in our swimwear, cloaked by the water, if they think we’re like really, really all over each other… they’ll have to tap out, right?’

Nico laughs.

‘If you think that will work, I’ll give it a go,’ he says. ‘But my dad did see us in bed together, and I think he thought it was adorable.’

‘We need to murder adorable,’ I insist, scaring myself a little. ‘Less sweet, more spicy.’

‘I think I’m going to let you take the lead on this one,’ he says.

‘Happy to,’ I reply.

Because if there’s one thing I love, it’s problem-solving. We need blue-sky thinking, more out-of-the-box solutions. And if the worst comes to the worst, even more desperate measures.

17

SAMMIE

It’s a poor do when you’ve got to go out into the middle of the open water to get a bit of privacy – or to do a bit of plotting – but here we are.

Hank suggested we take the boat out, to ‘stretch her legs’ and so that we could have a bit of a swim and a sunbathe away from the marina.

‘Just for a few hours,’ he said cheerfully, before demanding Nico take the wheel because he’d already had a drink. ‘A little cruise, anchor somewhere nice, have a swim. Make the most of the weather.’

But now here we are, Mum and Hank happily sitting on the deck taking in the rays, while Nico and I are out in the open water trying to come up with a better plan than waiting for a shark to eat us.