Royals

Chapter 21

I woke up tangled with Joey's body.

His arms were wrapped around my waist and our bare legs were woven together.

I broke free from his grip, and slowly sat up in an attempt to tame my headache. When I rubbed my eyes, I noticed that my face was free of makeup. And once I thought about it, I realized my hair was damp, too.

When I climbed out of bed, I noticed a rumpled pair of shorts on the ground. They must have fallen off while I was asleep, so I put them on and walked to the door.

As soon as my hand touched the doorknob, Joey's eyes shot open.

"Morning, beautiful," Joey groggily voiced.

I extended my arm towards him, "Good morning. Care to join me for breakfast?"

"Of course."

"You might wanna put some pants on," I suggested.

He scratched the side of his head as he examined the room, looking for pants. "My hair feels kind of damp," Joey observed.

"So is mine."

Joey frowned, "I wonder why."

He led me down a long, narrow hallway and into the kitchen. We sat down near Penelope and began to munch on the buffet in front of us. I eyed a clock and noticed that it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. What time did we go to bed?

"Pen, do you know where my costume is?" I asked in between bites.

"We ditched them when we went night swimming," she supplied.

"Ah," I said. "Well that answers my next question."

"Does that sound good?"

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, realizing I must've spaced out.

"We're going to the beach so I can teach you how to surf, and then we're gonna meet Penelope and Eddie. Sound good?"

"Um, just to clarify, did I hear you say that we would be surfing?"

"You didn't think I would forget, did you?" he shot back with a smirk.

"We should go to Boomers this weekend!" I excitedly squealed.

Penelope and Joey shared a confused look before asking in perfect unison, "What's that?"

"It has mini-golf, go-karts, laser tag, a roller coaster, and an arcade!"

Joey's eyes lit up with exhilaration, "We're going. No questions asked."

I was a little worried about excluding Lillia and Jake from our plans, but I knew Jake would refuse to come, leaving Lillia in a tough situation. So, figuring it was for the best, I kept my mouth shut and stuck with the schedule.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I was alone in my hotel room in a sundress when Joey knocked on the door. Apparently , he explained, Jake and Lillia were in the room when he got there.

"I tried apologizing, but Jake covered his ears and sat on the balcony," he disclosed, sadness creeping into his tone.

"I'm sorry," I full-heartedly said, rubbing his arm in comfort.

I let him throw his suitcase on my bed, and he got dressed in the bathroom. Within minutes, we were walking to the surfboard shop.

"Alright. You're good to go," the clerk announced as he handed me a surfboard.

As Joey dragged me toward the sand, my legs wobbled with nervousness. Would Joey even know what he's talking about? I've never even seen him with a surfboard before.