Full Steam Ahead (Sea Swept #1) Read Online Free Page A

you know?”
    I punch his shoulder in support. “Good luck, man.”
    “Look who I found!” I hear, and turn to see Parker, one of the Kappa girls. Her red curls bounce as she grins and loops her arm around Georgia’s shoulders. Guess my roomie didn’t manage to escape after all.  
    Georgia aims a frozen smile at all of us, focusing on no one in particular. Everyone makes room for the two of them as we all make plans to stake out part of the deck surrounding the Sunshine pool, which has a swim-up bar.
    “You’re not in your bathing suit yet,” Parker says to Georgia. “Want me to come with you while you change?”
    “Actually, I thought I might take a nap,” Georgia says. Her voice is smooth like light honey, not sharp the way it was earlier with me. She seems composed, restrained as usual, except … I frown. Are her hands trembling?  
    “No naps!” Parker threads her arm through Georgia’s. “You’re going to get changed and then hang out with Yas and me. End of discussion.”  
    They head off towards the elevators with the other members of our group who haven’t changed yet. The rest of us troop out onto the Lido deck around the Sunshine pool. I claim a lounge chair by taking my shirt off and dropping it on the white slats, along with my towel and room key and such.
    The water looks amazing, and so far it’s relatively empty. I rectify that by jumping in. Pete follows, cannonballing into the pool and making his girlfriend Chloe and two other Kappa girls squeal in surprise at getting splashed.  
    “Hey there,” I hear behind me, and turn in the water to see Samantha, a Kappa junior with legs a mile long. I can’t see those legs under the water, but I do see her sultry smile as she floats over. She’s already found a paddleboard.
    “Hey yourself,” I say easily, then start to turn away.
    “I’m so glad you came on this trip, Jace. I kept wanting to hang out more all semester, but it never seemed to happen.”
    It never happened because I’ve been avoiding her, hoping she’ll get the hint. Samantha is stunning, but she wants a boyfriend, and I don’t want to get involved. Hooking up would only make things more awkward at Greek functions, so I’ve been ducking her.
    “I’m glad I came on the trip too. You know what? I need a drink.” With that, I dive to swim to the other side of the pool and climb the ladder, bypassing the swim-up bar for the one across the deck so that Samantha can’t corner me. By the time Georgia returns—and I hate to realize that I’m watching for her—I have a beer cup in hand and have met two attractive bikini-clad girls from Florida State University. They and their friends seem thrilled to meet me and the rest of the Alpha guys, and I start to relax under their appreciative glances and casual flirtations.
    Georgia looks good in a black two-piece, though seeing her in it makes me realize how much weight she’s lost. A year ago, she had the kind of curves that made a man unable to finish a sentence. I hate it when girls starve or vomit themselves thin—and in retrospect, that’s totally what she was doing earlier today—to fit some stupid ideal, and I wish she hadn’t. But girls like Georgia always care more about appearances than being real.
    Realizing I’m spending way too much time thinking about my snooty roommate, I remind myself that she’s no longer my type. Unfortunately, my body isn’t getting the memo.
    With her reddish-brown hair sleek again instead of fetchingly frazzled like it was earlier, Georgia appears as she usually does: prim, gorgeous, untouchable. There’s no hint of the miserable-looking girl puking in the plastic trash can in our stateroom an hour ago. Instead she’s all sun goddess, and I can’t help thinking about how we’re going to be sleeping in the same cabin for six nights. What does she sleep in? Please, let it be something slinky.
    Then again, this is Georgia I’m talking about. She probably has silk pajamas, so modest