A Royal Christmas Cruise: Stonewall Investigations Miami Page 12

  “Do you think it was him?” I asked. The steel panels of the dock trembled underneath us as we approached the ship.

  “I asked to see his phone. That’s what got him the most pissed. But he had shown it to me just before you walked over. None of the photos were of us. Plus, I remember seeing a birthmark on the man I was originally suspect of, back at the sweater party, but this guy’s hands didn’t have anything.” Shiro’s head dropped. “I don’t think we’ve found the leaker.”

  “That’s okay. We’ll keep looking.” I clapped my hands, not wanting this to destroy the mood. “In the meantime, let’s just have a good time. What’s on the agenda for tonight?”

  “Tonight?” He shrugged, a grin spreading across his face. As we walked into the atrium, the lights from the chandelier caught Shy’s eyes, making them glitter like gems. “Well, there’s the blizzard foam party happening in a couple of hours. I think Ace and Rex really wanted us to go with them.”

  “Let’s do it, then,” I said, having never been to a foam party before.

  “Perfect.” We stopped at the glass elevator. “So, about that aerial stunt move you pulled back there. I didn’t know I was dating James Bond.”

  The word slipped out of my mouth as easy as Shiro twirled over that man. I couldn’t take it back either. What was said was said. I looked into his eyes, feeling like I had just stuffed an entire sock into my mouth.

  “I’m into parkour,” Shy answered, a mischievous grin playing across his face. “And I’m into dating you, too. By the way.”

  “Good,” I said, trying to play it off as if I meant to say it in the first place. In truth, I wasn’t sure of what the situation between us really was. We had started off as a fiery kiss inside of a bookshop to then fall into a fake friendship which exploded into a real relationship in a matter of days. Did I think we were exclusively dating? No, of course not. Did I know I wanted to hang out with Shiro and Shiro only? Hell to the fuck yes I did. I loved falling asleep next to him and waking up next to him, and I loved everything else that happened in between. There was still more to discover about each other, that part was also clear, but wasn’t that the whole point of dating someone? I wanted to have that time of discovery, where I found all the gems inside his soul, even the ones that were cracked for whatever reason.

  The elevator opened. We got in and rode it up to the penthouse level, where we entered my suite, and we didn’t waste a single second in getting undressed and sealing this whole “dating” thing together.

  We showed up at the foam party wearing only our swim trunks. Shiro looked so good in his, a pair of small green trunks that showed off the curve of his ass, making him look like he had stuffed the shorts with two basketballs. My sky-blue trunks fit tight around my crotch, which I didn’t so much mind for tonight. I enjoyed the way Shy went slack-jawed when he saw me in them.

  At the door of the foam party, we got carded and were then handed our choice of a Santa hat or fluffy reindeer antlers. I went for the hat, and Shiro grabbed the antlers. He put them on, looking so fucking adorable as he half shimmied, half twerked his way into the party, music already thumping in the air.

  The blizzard party was staying true to its theme. Before we entered the foam pit, we had to walk through a dimly lit hall, made to appear like the inside of a cozy cabin. There were windows painted on the walls, and each window we passed progressively grew snowier and snowier, until the final window we passed was completely covered with snow. A door stopped our path, a sign above it reading “Have a Foamy Christmas!” The music pounded on the other side of the door. We looked at each other, smiling, ready to dive in. And, in another moment of “fuck it,” I leaned in and stole a quick kiss from him.

  It only lasted seconds, but fuck was it exhilarating. Kissing another man. Kissing Shy. It thrilled me to no end. I wanted to do it for longer, but I didn’t want to press my luck. Anyone could open that door and see us locking lips.

  “Let’s get foamy,” Shy said as he opened the door, the music hitting us first. Cardi B blasted through the speakers, vibrating through my bones. The ballroom was huge, and it was covered in fluffy white foam, reaching up to my chest as we walked into it, the both of us smiling like two kids in their first candy shop. The room was packed, with bodies grinding and bumping underneath the foam, accompanying heads wearing their Santa hats and antlers smiling in drunken glee. Laser lights of all different colors shot through the room, hitting the multiple disco snowflakes and being reflected into a hundred other directions. It felt like a high-end nightclub in Madrid.

  “Damn, this is crazy,” Shiro said, leaning in so I could hear him over the music. “Let’s get into the foam!”

  He grabbed my hand for a flash of a moment before letting it go. It was dark and I didn’t think anyone could even see our faces, much less take photos. I reached for Shiro’s hand, grabbing it, his eyes registering surprise before they crinkled at the corners because of his smile. We walked into the foam, cool against my bare chest. It felt like we were walking into a thick fog. It smelled slightly of pine and clean linens, the scent made stronger when Shiro playfully “splashed” some of the foam in my direction, a clump of it sticking to my chin.

  “It’s Santa! Holy shit, and your name is Nick.” Shiro covered his mouth with a hand. “Illuminati confirmed.”

  I laughed and pulled him in, feeling even more assured by the fact that foam now concealed us from chest down. People danced around us, moving to a throwback song, no one paying us any mind.

  “So then what do you want for Christmas, Shy?”

  “Hmm… aren’t I supposed to be sitting in your lap for this?”

  “Ho, ho, hoooo.” I reached down and grabbed his legs before lifting him up. He let out a surprised squeak, instinctively wrapping his legs around my waist. Even though we had spent the last hour hooking up, I still had a difficult time keeping my hands off him. “This better?”

  “Much,” Shy said, his arms holding me around my chest, underneath the foam. To anyone on the outside, they’d just see two friends talking close so they could be heard over the music, completely unaware that those two friends had their growing dicks pressing together.

  “Let’s see, I want a pony, but I can settle for something I can ride like one.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I said, playfully reaching around and letting my fingers rub down the center of his ass, over his trunks. “Anything else?”

  “Well… I guess, I wouldn’t mind finding a handsome prince under the tree.”

  “A handsome prince, huh? I think I can manage that one, too.”

  “Oh, and since we’re on the subject, make that handsome prince from Spain, and have him hung like a bull.”

  “I can definitely deliver that.” I pulled him a little closer, our bodies moving to the rhythm of the music. I barely even realized we were dancing together, Shy grinding on me as I moved us left and right. I wanted to lean in and kiss him, but I felt that would be too risky.

  Under the foam, Shy put a hand on my chest. He leaned in dangerously close. I could feel his breath against my lips. “Before we get too carried away, let’s find Ace and Rex.” He dropped his feet to the ground.

  We made our way through the foam, keeping our eyes peeled for the innocent-faced Ace and his burly boyfriend. We spotted Jada and Ken, but they were busy tongue wrestling against the wall, and we didn’t want to interrupt. It wasn’t much longer until we bumped into Ace and Rex, grinding up on each other like they were trying to start a fire for everyone to gather around.

  “Oh hey, studmuffins,” Ace said, bouncing off of Rex to give us each a foam-covered hug.

  “Hey, guys.” Rex hugged us, too.

  “We were actually gonna go get drinks, come with!” Ace motioned over to the side of the room where the foam seemed to end. There was a bar set against the wall, where a tall and full Christmas tree sat, its branches flocked with fake snow, its top glowing with a bright golden star.

  At the bar, we took stock of how w
et the foam had made us. It looked like the four of us had taken a dip in the pool. I ordered myself a Moscow mule and got Shy a vodka tonic. We cheered when Ace and Rex got their drinks, an excitement buzzing in the air, heightened by the great music and the better drinks.

  Ace leaned on Rex as we stood by a tall round table. “I invited Lou,” he said, “but he’s going to the outdoor movie by the pool, and then he’s breaking up with his girlfriend.”

  Shiro almost spit out his drink. “He’s breaking up with her?”

  “No, just joking. Well, less of a joke and more of me speaking my wants to the universe. I don’t know. Some girl in the suite next to us is really into horoscopes and crystals, and she told me I had to do that more often. Speak things into existence.” He lifted up his swirling red and pink drink. “So, here’s to that.”

  The group laughed at that.

  “Well, Lou could definitely find better,” Shy said. “She’s barely said more than five sentences the entire time we’ve been here. I think she’s trying to assimilate with her phone.”

  “That’s a very strong possibility,” Ace said. After hanging out with them for the past week, I had come to learn that Shy and Ace were the closest in the group. They seemed to have shared the most, and their experiences definitely shaped them into being close friends.

  “What have you guys been up to today?” Rex asked, his booming voice not having a difficult time to be heard over the music.

  Before I could answer, something had caught Shy’s attention. He nudged me with an elbow and tilted his head back, pointing his chin.

  I looked to where Shiro pointed. Luna walked toward us, having taken the route around all the foam, staying completely dry in her jeans and shirt. She held something in her hand, and there was an urgent look in her eyes. I’d seen it only a few times before. Once when there had been a credible terrorist threat on the palace and another when Eli had been found unconscious in the garden after eating something he shouldn’t have. Thankfully, both of those situations had good outcomes, but I’d never forgotten Luna’s face, one that appeared twisted in pain and set in stone at the same time.

  What could have…

  Another photo.

  14 Shiro Brooks

  Nick had walked away with Luna, who appeared as if she was acting as the bearer of some very bad news. I half expected her to pull out a scythe and say she was now the grim reaper and our time was up. Instead, she took Nick to the side of the room and showed him something on his phone. I tried not to pay too much attention to Nick and instead tried to listen to the story Ace was animatedly telling, but I couldn’t help myself, especially when Nick’s face lost all color and his jaw dropped, covered by a hand which quickly turned into an angry fist. Without even looking back, Nick stormed off, leaving Luna in his wake, trailing behind him with a jogger’s pace.

  “What? What happened?” Ace started to look around, trying to figure out what had caught my attention.

  Should I chase after Nick? Part of me wanted to, but I didn’t move from my spot. I just shook my head, as confused as Ace.

  “Where’d your boyfriend run off to?”

  The question almost knocked me off my feet. The way Ace had asked it sounded as if there was no arguing that Nick’s proper title was “boyfriend.”

  “He, um, he’s not—we’re not… I—”

  “Shy, come clean. You two are together. I can practically smell his dick on your breath.”

  I shouldn’t have been surprised by Ace coming out with an X-rated phrase, but here I was, guffawing in shock.

  “What? Is it someone else’s dick I’m smelling?”

  Rex laughed behind him. “Leave him alone. Look how red you’re making him.”

  “He’s getting red because he knows it’s true!”

  “It’s not true,” I said, feebly trying to keep up appearances even though my skin felt like it had caught fire. “We’ve just become good friends. That’s all.”

  “Yeah, good friends. And me and Rex are two nuns practicing for the big nun exam.”

  “A big… you’re crazy.” I hoped I could get off this topic.

  “And you’re hiding something.” Ace wasn’t going to let it go.

  “I’m not hiding anything.” But I was still going to try.

  “Then text Mason right now. Tell him you miss him.”

  Annnd, I was done trying. “Fine. Fine. It’s true. You’re right, Nick and I have been together. Kind of. It’s complicated, all right? But Mason’s no longer in the picture. We’re done. We’ve been done for a month and some weeks now.”

  “Yeah, I had a feeling about that. Especially since I had talked to him a few weeks ago and he already told me.”

  “What!” My head bobbed forward. “Are you serious? You knew?”

  “Yup. I just wasn’t going to say anything. I figured you would tell me when the time was right.”

  I rubbed my forehead, taken by total surprise. He hadn’t given any indication he knew. Ace had always been good at keeping secrets, but kudos on him for not breaking with this one.

  “And, booooy, can I just say one word: upgrade! You seriously went up a thousand levels with Nick, compared to Mason, for sure. I mean, Mason and me were kind of good friends in college, but with the few things you’d shared with me about you two, I knew you deserved much more. And Nick looks like much more times some.”

  My smile grew uncontained. “He’s a good guy. A really good guy.”

  “So why aren’t you chasing after him right now? Something bothered him. Go and soothe him.” Ace purred the last of his words, rubbing up on Rex and batting his long lashes at me.

  “Here,” I said, handing Ace my drink. “Finish this for me. I’m going to go find my prince.”

  “Oooh, already calling him a prince? Damn. He really must have dicked you down good,” Ace said, drinking out of both his drink and mine, the two straws in between his smiling lips.

  I figured I would break the whole “prince of Spain” thing to them a little later. I laughed and waved him off, saying bye to the pair before turning around and scanning the crowd, not spotting Nick or Luna anywhere. I didn’t think he would go back into the foam, and Luna definitely didn’t look dressed to party in a field of foam, so I wondered if they had left the room altogether.

  Outside of the party, the atmosphere was much quieter. My ears rang as I stepped out into the quiet hallway. There were a couple people walking over wearing their bikinis and swimsuits, ready to party. I went past them, heading down the hall, looking around for any sign of Nick or Luna.

  I was passing a lounge area when I spotted him.

  Nick stood against the green-and-red wall, his head in his hands. He looked so broken. Defeated. It crushed me. I went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, his eyes registering mine, his pulse matching mine, and then he shook my hand off. It felt like a slap. I didn’t know what to say, where to go, what to think.

  Nick walked around me, shaking his head, his hands turned to fists. “I knew it would happen. I was stupid. Stupid to think it didn’t matter.”

  “What happened, Nick? Talk to me.”

  “Better yet, here. Let me show you.” He held his phone out. I already knew what I was going to see, but I grabbed it anyway.

  There we were, pictured walking through the Christmas market. Nick had his arm around me and his lips pressed to the top of my head. A smile of pure joy was beaming on my face. Holiday lights twinkled in the background, a pile of wreaths just next to us. The thing looked like a Hallmark card. It was actually a beautiful shot, and one I would have been proud of under different circumstances.

  Instead of pride, my gut twisted in fear and dread.

  There was no denying this was the prince. And there was no denying he was kissing me.

  “The photo hasn’t been sold yet or leaked. That’s the only saving grace in this fucking disaster.”

  I tried not to take it personally. That he would use “disaster” when all I saw was �
�joy” in that photo. “Wait, then how did you get this?”

  “Luna. Someone had sent it to her by accident, apparently. It just said ‘here’s the photo for tomorrow’s edition. I want payment doubled.’ Luna didn’t recognize the number, and when we called back, it goes straight to a generic voicemail.”

  “Shit… But this could be it. Maybe this is how we find the person, then. They had to have Luna’s number if they sent it to her by accident. I can talk to someone who helps out at Stonewall. Her name is Anya; she’s an excellent hacker. She can figure—”

  “Don’t you get it? It doesn’t fucking matter anymore. None of it does.”

  “What? But we can stop it.”

  “And then what? It’s like a bucket riddled with bullet holes. You plug one leak and another one follows. Unless I throw the bucket away completely. Go back to hiding. Go back to hating every day of my fucking life.” Nick turned to me. His eyes were glowing, but not with the light I had fallen for. It was an angry glow, made more so by the stern set of his brow, wrinkles appearing on his forehead from the tension rising in his body.

  “You know what it felt like, waking up every day, knowing I had to put on my mask so that I wouldn’t upset my parents? So that I don’t upset the country? It felt like I woke up on a bed of glass. Every. Single. Fucking. Day.” His cheeks were growing red underneath his five-o’clock shadow. “And do you know what it felt like waking up next to you? Like paradise. It didn’t even matter if we were waking up in my room or on hammocks somewhere on the beach. As long as I could look to my side and see you, things felt right. No glass.”