The Boiling Point | ✔️

21 | at sea

a/n: I don't know if y'all prefer longer or shorter chapters, guess it's a personal preference, but just giving a heads up that this is the end of the extra long chapters that started around the party. also thank you in advance for reading, please remember to vote! 

SUMMER 

Hey, the Villas are taking me out on their boat for the day, so I'm not sure what time I'll be back in town. Might be pretty late but I'm still down for tonight if you are. Let me know where you want to meet.

I must have re-typed this text to Ashton a dozen times. Considering how much has changed overnight, it's kind of silly to get worked up about, but I don't want to seem too eager. And now it seems too formal.

I add a PS: sorry you missed out on that shower... I thought about you the whole time.

Sent.

We're driving to the coast through a winding forest road, and I've never seen so much greenery in my life. Even an hour outside of Cloverbrook, everything is lush from the rain that seemed to sweep across the entire state.

I thought I was dead when Mrs. Villa knocked on my door earlier. Like my whole culinary school existence hung by a single thread connecting that door and the boy climbing out my window. I fed her a hasty lie about accidentally locking my door, and her annoyance surprisingly vanished. Turns out, she had come to my room to apologize.

To me.

Well, not in so many words. But she admitted we got off on the wrong foot. That Mr. Villa had convinced her I was nothing like Kelsey, and how she had pre-existing assumptions because of that experience. When Mr. Villa came up and suggested a day on his yacht, how could I refuse? I've been here for a month and this is the first time Mrs. Villa has actually considered seeing me as a part of the household and not an irresponsible student.

Taking the opportunity to get on her good side was a no brainer.

We arrive at the marina in the next hour. The sun is scorching, the sky a solid blanket of blue. I'm a little in awe of the small luxury yacht we board. Now I understand why Mr. Villa had been talking it up on my first night, it's definitely something worth bragging about. I'm given a tour of the decks and the stylish interior; plush couches and a flatscreen, a sleek bar, hot tub, even a bedroom.

After about half an hour at sea, we're sitting outside with a mouthwatering brunch Mr. Villa had pre-ordered from a local restaurant before we left. Pastries, fresh fruit, coffee, juice, bacon, bagels—you name it.

I didn't realize how hungry I was until now. Sex with someone will do that to a person. Sex with Ashton will amplify it to a million and leave you with a voracious beast of an appetite only a feast can quell.

"Darling, I am so glad you had the idea for this today," Mrs. Villa says, her ginormous sunhat flapping around in the ocean breeze. "It's like a last hurrah before you leave."

"You're leaving?" I ask as I pour myself coffee.

Mr. Villa nods, his blue polo shirt sparking up his eyes even more than usual. "Back to New York for a few weeks. Can't leave the business for too long."

"I should know this already but, what is your business?"

"Villanova Publishing," he says, buttering a slice of toast.

I clench my jaw shut so the coffee doesn't spill out. That's one of the most esteemed publishing houses in the country. I literally have dozens of novels on my shelf back home with that crescent moon logo. I'd recognize it anywhere. Anyone would recognize it.