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. Ha, ha, very funny.Come on! He feigned annoyance but was allsmiles as I tugged him along. You reoutta control. I stopped momentarily and smiledback at him I could barely see throughthe shroud that was my hair. I know.Isn tit fantastic? Other than bright flood lights at theends of each deck station, there was verylittle light on the deck itself.And for those first few seconds until my eyes adjusted, Icould barely see my own shadow.Charliehadn t been lying about it being one of thebusier times of the day there were morepeople in their life vests and safetyhelmets wandering about than I had seenso far.Several individuals were workingwith large wrenches on a piece ofmachinery that I couldn t have named ifmy life depended on it; others wereloading barrels into a crate, while somewere stringing cable.It was really quiteeerie the way they had that ability toignore me.Reading me, Charlie said, It s a goodthing, trust me. I do. My eyes searched his, but Isaw some sadness there I didn t care for.It made my own heart twinge with hurt tothink of him in pain, so I smiled and triedto change the subject. What is this called? I gestured to theback of the ship.Without the Internet or alibrary, I was going to have to do researchthe old-fashioned way.Charlie smiled and smacked himselfin the head. You ain t never beenboating, have you? Only in books. His smile grew wider and he turnedme around, wrapping his arms around mytorso and resting his chin on top of my head.From an alternative perspective Ithought we must have looked like a totempole.He reached his hand out and touchedthe side of the ship s back. This is thekeel.The I reached out and ran my fingertipsover his, making him stumbleincoherently.So it would seem that hewas allowed to touch me but I wasn tallowed to touch him? I would have to testthis hypothesis further.After a brief interval he cleared histhroat. The body of the ship is the hull.The keel is designed round it. I leaned back and rested the weight of my head against him.I felt him swallowand his heartbeat increased.His breathingbecame shallow. What about the port andbow and all of that good stuff? I wastesting the limits, putting his temperamentand my good sense at risk.What if hedidn t want to take that chance with me?What if he didn t want me? Ah, um, port is facin forwardcenterline; anything to your left is port.And then bow is just the ah& front of theship. He closed his eyes and sighed sodeeply I felt his stomach clench againstme.As he exhaled I could smell the cloveand musk of him.I suspected it might set me off, cause me to do something stupid.Iburied my face in the soft stubble of hisneck, nuzzling the warmth and solacethere. Addie? His fingers danced on mine,in my hair, the edge of my face. Yes? W-would you be real mad at me if Itried to kiss you right now? I smiled and looked up at him, everyone of my senses buzzing. I would bemadder if you didn t. He wrapped one hand in my hair andthe other around my hip to pull me close.And in one of those instances that lasteternities and only immortals are aware of, our lips anchored on the shores of eachother.We separated only when the need forair became unbearable.Even then, Iclutched onto him as though he were thecenter of the universe and rested myforehead against his for leverage myentire world was spinning.He sighed in my ear. Oh, what aveyou done to me? For the first time in my life I didn thave the proper answer.This wasn tsomething I could study for, a formula Icould memorize, or a textbook I couldrefer to.Instead, all of my reason and factswere failing me, and the blossom of an emotional experience was taking hold.Ilaughed to myself, maybe I was in moretrouble now than ever.Charlie smiled against me. What s sofunny? I pulled away, despite everything mybody was telling me.It was good to knowthere was still a little self-controlremaining after all. Here I was only coming out herehoping to see some constellations. I heard Charlie snicker. I ain t seennothin but stars since you got here. My neck craned upwards at theglimmering specks of fire in the sky.Iimagined that was how the tiniest pearls at the bottom of the sea would sparkle
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