Ship Wrecked (Spoiler Alert, #3)

by Olivia Dade

Make like Elsa and let it go, Maria

She was a midnight sun, drawing everyone into her orbit. She shone. She brightened everything around her. Including him.

Now she knew: Her initial instincts hadn’t led her astray. Peter could never make her happy, because he’d never make her his top priority. Her needs, her well-being, would always come second—at best—to his career. And unlike him, she cared about her own happiness, so she wasn’t settling for less than the sort of relationship she wanted. Even if that meant never having Peter in her bed again. Even if that meant potentially staying single for the rest of her life.

He sounded—lost somehow. But finding him wasn’t her responsibility.

But desire wasn’t consent, and neither was a hard dick.

His kiss demanded nothing and offered everything.

“My duty as an American forces me to buy Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups wherever I may find them. It’s a lesser-known part of the Pledge of Allegiance, and doesn’t invalidate my argument in the slightest.”

“Were those cheese curds supposed to squeak against my teeth?” She couldn’t hold back a tiny shudder. “Because the sound was incredibly disturbing.”

She smiled, and the sun might as well have reappeared on the horizon. “Someone like me.”

He scratched his bearded chin. “You, uh, clearly have strong feelings about this.” “I have the correct feelings about this,” she told him, and he raised his hands in surrender.

Or maybe she was being unfair. Maybe differing priorities didn’t mean differing amounts of love. That was how it felt, though.

“Peter. Sötnos.” She stroked his bristly cheek, her attempt at a smile quivering with sadness. “It’ll never be enough money for you. Enough security.” Because he’d never have enough reassurance that his dream couldn’t be taken from him like his mother’s had. He’d never have enough proof that he’d made it, no matter what his father said or believed. His heart was still empty, even with her in it. She couldn’t fill it. She wasn’t enough. Again. Why was she even still talking? It didn’t really matter what she said, did it? He didn’t understand her position, and he wasn’t compromising his.

easing his pain was no longer either her responsibility or her privilege,