"Ah~ It hurts..."

Diana groaned as Wren pressed ice wrapped in a towel against her sprain with the cold making her wince.

They were inside one of the beach shacks... specifically one of the women’s changing facilities.

The building had several private rooms for changing, and Wren had carried Diana into one of them to treat her ankle away from prying eyes.

He glanced at his phone screen sitting on the small desk. 7:10 PM. The ship would be departing at 8:00 PM sharp, which meant they needed to leave soon.

Nobody would be crazy enough to run to the ship in the last five minutes before departure unless they actively wanted to be left behind on the island.

As of right now, they were completely alone in this room. Wren pressed the iced towel properly against Diana’s swollen ankle, adjusting the pressure.

He dabbed the ice around the injury expertly, moving in small circles to cover the entire swollen area.

His movements were practiced like he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Mmm... that’s cold," Diana let out softly, shifting slightly as the ice numbed the throbbing pain.

Wren moved the ice pack to a different angle, applying gentle pressure to reduce the inflammation.

"Hold still. I need to get the swelling down before I wrap it."

"Nngh..." Diana groaned again as he pressed a particularly tender spot with her fingers gripping the edge of the bench she was sitting on.

He continued dabbing methodically, checking the swelling from different angles. After about three minutes, he pulled back and examined her ankle critically.

The swelling had calmed down significantly... it was still puffy but much better than before.

"Okay, that’s good enough," Wren said, setting the ice pack aside.

He reached into the small bag he’d purchased from one of the beach vendors as they came down and pulled out proper medical bandages... the elastic compression kind designed specifically for sprains.

He positioned Diana’s leg carefully, supporting it at the calf with one hand while he prepared the bandage with the other.

"How are you so good at this?" Diana asked, watching him work with obvious skill.

Wren began wrapping the bandage around her ankle, starting at the ball of her foot and working upward in overlapping layers. Each wrap was positioned with care with the elastic material firm against her skin but not constrictive.

"Leah’s sprained her ankle a few times before while wearing high heels," Wren explained as he worked. "She’d twist them on uneven sidewalks or stairs so I naturally learned how to do this properly since I had to wrap her up more than once or she wouldn’t stop whining."

"O... Oh," Diana said quietly, a blush spreading across her cheeks as she watched his hands move.

’He took care of Leah like this too.’ She thought with a small pang of something... jealousy maybe? hitting her chest. ’He’s so gentle with everyone... but especially with me right now.’

Wren continued wrapping, making sure the compression was firm but not too tight. He wrapped in a figure-eight pattern around her ankle and foot with the bandage crossing over itself to provide maximum support to the injured joint without cutting off circulation.

Each loop was positioned perfectly to stabilize the sprain and prevent further damage.

He checked her toes periodically. "Tell me if your toes start tingling or going numb... that means it’s too tight."

"They’re fine," Diana assured him softly.

His touch was methodical but also caring. The way his fingers brushed against her skin as he secured each layer, the way he kept checking to make sure he wasn’t hurting her, the gentle pressure he applied... it all made her heart flutter.

It was nice to see that he cared for her this much. That he was taking such care with her injury, being gentle and thorough despite the urgency of their situation and the time pressure of getting back to the ship.

"I’m sorry..." Diana said softly, looking down at him as he worked.

Wren didn’t pause in his wrapping. "You shouldn’t apologize for an accident. Mistakes happen. You should focus on not stressing your foot anymore so it can heal faster. No walking on it tonight... keep it elevated when you’re in your room."

Diana swallowed with her throat suddenly tight. She looked down at the top of his head as he secured another layer of bandage.

"This wouldn’t have happened if I’d been looking at where I was going," she admitted quietly with her voice barely above a whisper. "Instead of... watching you and that girl together. On the trail while we were heading down the summit."

Wren’s hands paused for just a moment in their wrapping, then continued their work. He looked up at her with his eyes meeting hers curiously.

"Were you jealous?" he asked simply, cutting straight to the heart of it.

Diana’s face turned completely red. Her cheeks burned hot and she looked down at the top of his head, unable to maintain eye contact with those knowing eyes.

"Y-yes," she stuttered out in a small voice. "A little bit... I was only jealous a little bit, okay? I wanted us to be climbing buddies too. I wanted..."

The words tumbled out before she could stop them with her usual composure crumbling. If he had been pulling her up the steep sections of trail instead of that mystery girl, if he’d been the one holding her hand over the tricky rocks, if he’d been checking on her at every rest stop, if he’d been smiling at her the whole way up the mountain... she would have loved every second of it.

Being paired with Zoe was fine... her daughter was capable and they knew each other well. But it would have been so much better with Wren.

Wren smiling at her encouragingly, Wren steadying her on difficult sections... even Wren standing close to her at the summit while watching the sunset.

Just the thought of it... of having his attention focused solely on her for those minutes made her face redden up like a ripe tomato. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart and collect herself.

Wren secured the current layer of bandage and began the next wrap. "Are you sure you aren’t obsessed with being with me?"

Diana choked on air.

"Obsessed?" she stuttered out, her eyes widening. "W-why would I be obsessed?"

’It’s not like I envision him being there always for me,’ she thought frantically. ’Or maybe I do... and so what? It isn’t like I—’

"Well, I guess you’re right..." Wren said with a slight smile.

He tightened the bandage slightly to secure it, then reached up and kissed her gently on the forehead.

Diana’s entire face went scarlet. Her breath caught in her throat. The kiss was soft and sweet and unexpected, and it made her heart pound so hard she could hear it in her ears.

Wren pulled back and looked directly into her brown eyes. "Are you still jealous?"

Diana puffed out her cheeks cutely, like a petulant child.

"Y-yes..." she admitted.

She’d been holding him. That girl had been holding onto Wren’s arm on the trail, standing close to him at the summit, taking pictures with him. Her hand trembled slightly as she raised it and pointed at her own lips.

"She was holding you, so you should..." Diana’s voice was barely above a whisper. "Kiss me on my lips in exchange."

Wren chuckled softly. He slowly, carefully pushed her injured leg to the side in a way that wouldn’t hurt it, creating space between them then he leaned forward and captured her lips completely.

Diana’s lips tasted amazing... soft and warm with a hint of the chapstick she wore this morning. Wren softly placed his hands on either side of her face, cradling it gently as he melted into the kiss. Diana kissed him back even more intensely, pressing forward with her tongue meeting his.

There were soft wet sounds as they sucked on each other’s tongues, exploring each other’s mouths and Diana’s breathing quickened.

Instinctively, she reached her hand down toward his crotch. She could feel from this angle that he was already hard for her with the evidence pressing against his trouser. Her fingers had just brushed against...

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Wren’s phone alarm started ringing loudly from the desk.

Diana flinched at the sudden noise. Wren immediately pulled away from her face, dropping his hands from her cheeks. She looked dazed and confused with her lips still parted while she breathed heavily.

"Well..." Wren said. "We have to get back to the ship. Come on."

Diana looked at him longingly for a moment, clearly wanting to continue, but she nodded reluctantly.

Wren reached over and silenced his phone, then slipped it into his pocket. He turned back to Diana and carefully lifted her up in one smooth motion with one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back.

"Hold on tightly," He said.

Diana wrapped her arms around his neck immediately, pressing close to him. Her face was still flushed from the kiss.

Wren opened the door of the private room and looked around carefully. The hallway was empty and there were no sounds came from any of the other changing rooms. Everyone else had clearly already left to return to the ship. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He carried Diana out through the main door of the women’s changing facility, heading toward where the Celestine was docked.

The beach was mostly empty now in the fading light with just a few stragglers packing up.

After Wren left, carrying Diana in his arms, the door of the changing room directly next to the one they’d been in creaked open slowly.

Dani stood in the doorway.

’I knew it,’ she thought, her lips trembling slightly. ’Wren is secretly having a relationship with Diana...’

She’d heard everything through the thin walls. The groaning, the conversation, the confession about jealousy, and especially those kissing sounds. There was no mistaking what had just happened in there.

’So what do I do now?’

Blackmail him? The thought crossed her mind immediately, but she dismissed it just as quickly. It was Wren. She couldn’t blackmail him... she wasn’t a bad person, and more importantly, she actually liked him but she did want to have a similar relationship with him.

Dani wanted him to look at her the way he clearly looked at Diana and she wanted him to kiss her like that, without him making fun of her height or treating her like a kid.

So what could she do with this information?

’Ah, I have nothing,’ Dani thought with a deflated sigh.

She waited until Wren had made significant distance toward the ship, then quietly exited the changing facility herself.

Dani jogged to catch up, timing it carefully so it would look natural. When she was close enough, she called out breathlessly.

"Wren~!"

She made it seem like she’d just run out from a completely different area of the beach.

Wren turned back toward her with that smile and raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you doing out here? Everyone went back to the ship already."

Dani shrugged, trying to look casual despite her thoughts. "I came to get a snack from that vendor I really liked, but the place had already closed for the day."

"Oh," Wren said simply, adjusting his grip on Diana slightly.

Diana stayed quiet, her face still red with her arms wrapped around Wren’s neck. She looked thoroughly kissed and disheveled.

"How was today for you?" Dani asked, falling into step beside them as they walked toward the ship.

Wren smiled. "I enjoyed every single bit of today. Though we’ll probably be stuck on the ship for the next few days without another port stop."

"How do you kno—" Dani started to ask.

DING!

The ship’s intercom system crackled to life with a loud chime that echoed across the beach and dock area.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen... This is Captain Jonathan Hawlone speaking from the bridge of the Celestine."

Everyone on the beach and dock area stopped what they were doing to listen to the announcement.

"I want to inform all passengers that it is currently seven-twenty PM local time. We will be departing Coral Bay Island at precisely eight o’clock... that’s in exactly forty minutes from now. Any passengers still outside the ship at departure time will, regrettably, be left behind on the island. I repeat: any passengers not aboard by eight PM will be left on the island. This is not a drill or a joke... we maintain strict schedules."

There was a brief pause, and they could almost hear him consulting his notes.

"Please also note that our next port of call will be Azure Crest Island, which we will reach in approximately two days of sailing. Following that stop, we’ll have one final destination at Ivory Island before completing our voyage and returning to the mainland. Please ensure all personal belongings are secured and that you return any rented beach equipment to the appropriate vendors before boarding."

Another pause for effect.

"On behalf of myself and the entire crew of the Celestine, I hope you’ve thoroughly enjoyed your time here at Coral Bay Island. The weather was exceptional today, and we trust you’ve made wonderful memories during your visit. Please board at your earliest convenience and prepare for departure. Safe travels, and we look forward to continuing this journey with you all. Thank you."

The intercom clicked off with a soft static sound.

"Oh, you were right," Dani said, looking at Wren with renewed respect. "Two days at sea before the next island."

Wren grinned.

They approached the ship’s VIP entrance... a private gangway that was much less crowded than the main passenger entrance where two butlers in crisp white uniforms stood guard at the base.

"Good evening, sir, ladies," one butler said with a professional nod, stepping aside to let them pass.

They climbed aboard the Celestine, entering through the luxurious VIP corridor with its polished wood paneling and soft carpet. The air conditioning was a relief after the beach heat.

Once they were inside and the door had closed behind them, Wren adjusted Diana in his arms.

"I’ll take you to your room and get you settled. Remember... keep that ankle elevated tonight."

"Thank you," Diana said softly.

Dani forced a smile. "I, uh... I have something I need to do. I’ll see you guys later?"

"Sure," Wren said easily. "Thanks for walking back with us."

They waved at each other and went their separate ways... Wren carrying Diana toward the elevators that would take them to the passenger room levels, and Dani heading toward the main stairwell.

Dani was walking toward her own room, lost in thought about everything she’d overheard, when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

She pulled it out and saw a text from Priya.

[Pri-Pri: Girlll, you need to come up to my room like right now]

Dani blinked at the screen. ’Why the hell is she texting me?’

But regardless of her confusion, curiosity got the better of her.

She changed direction and headed up the stairs, passing by a few other passengers who were returning from the island. She climbed two more levels and walked down the carpeted hallway until she reached Room 691.

She knocked.

"You can come in..." Priya’s voice called from inside.

Dani opened the door and stepped into the room.

Priya, Leah, and Zoe were all sitting in a circle around the coffee table near the balcony door. They all turned to look at her simultaneously, matching grins on their faces.

"Oho~" Zoe said with a smirk. "So you came to join us for Truth or Dare, huh Dani?"

Dani blinked. ’Truth or Dare?’

Priya hadn’t mentioned anything about Truth or Dare when texting her. The message had made it sound urgent, like something serious was happening.

The short woman glanced over at Priya, who was snickering behind her hand, clearly proud of her deception.

Dani glared.

"You bitch."