Double Fault

Chapter 47

"Pierre get out of my ear," I whispered back to him at the dinner table.

He poured me another glass of wine and winked at me. "Just another glass for confidence. Can't have you nervous mate."

"What are you talking about it."

"You could at least try to keep your eyes off Florence. She's seats away from us, just try to be a little less obvious if you don't want us talking about it."

I kicked him under the table. "I'm just trying to enjoy the first night of celebrating our bachelor and bachelorette," I said defending myself.

"Is that what your calling downing shots and champagne before Florence even got on the boat," he said raising his eyebrows at me.

I didn't respond to him, instead I chugged my entire fresh glass of wine in front of him. I put the glass down in front of him, wiping the red wine that I'm sure dribbled down to my chin. "Another pour Gaston."

Pierre filled my glass up and laughed at me. "You wanna join us for our morning workout?"

"I plan on being hungover, thanks though."

Pierre rolled his eyes and turned to Kika starting a separate conversation. I didn't want to ever admit it, but he was beyond right. I was nervous in every way possible. The trip alone had me nervous, now sharing a room had set me off.

It was a mix though. Anxiety, fear, excitement, anticipation. I was feeling all of them being this close to Florence, and I couldn't wait to spend more time with her maybe when I wasn't drunk. My goal was to eliminate any interactions that I could ruin by saying something dumb.

When I had a filter being sober, I planed to tell her all that I've been feeling these last few weeks. How much I miss her, how I was dumb to try and use someone else to fill the hole when she left, how much I want to support her and her career. The list was endless, I just didn't know when was the best time to tell her all these things. One thing I was for sure of, definitely not tonight.

My plan to avoid Florence just for tonight quickly failed when dinner ended and the deck turned into a dance floor. Max had put on a playlist full of dance songs. When a slow song came on, I realized I have never been on a trip with 9 couples. It was fascinating watching everyone shift from dancing together to turning to their partner. Then all of the sudden it was just Florence and I standing off by ourselves on opposite sides of the dance floor. My feet got brave as I moved towards her and from what I could tell she was walking to me too with a shy grin.

She looked incredible as always, and I learned after our first boating trip it was my favorite version of her. She had on a casual dress that fell off her shoulder showing a portion of her swimsuit. Her hair was longer than I remembered, the salt air making it wavy. She of course had no makeup on, her cheeks slightly pink from the sun and looking naturally beautiful.

"I guess this means you have to be my dance partner," Florence sighed as she walked up to me.

"I never turn down a dance, especially not from you Florence Bonsee."

For the first time in months I felt her arms wrap around my neck, the feeling already familiar. I let my arms wrap around her lower back as she blushed at me.

We danced in silence for a moment, her head eventually leaning on my chest as we rocked slowly to the song.

"Do you think they did this on purpose?" I asked.

Florence giggled looking up at me. "In some ways yes, I also just think we're getting old."

"How so?"