The Shippers(86)

“No, I—just thought it was going so well.”

“It was. And then it wasn’t. And then everything fell apart.” At those words, my eyes filled with tears, and Ashley steered me by the shoulders outside to the deck.

“JoJo,” Ashley said, “what is going on?”

I shook my head, but the tears spilled over.

“Talk to me!” Ashley said. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

I wanted to talk to her. Ashley was my number-one person for processing anything. But that was before the confounding variable of her, ya know, merging her life with Brody. Finally, I sighed. “If I tell you—you have to promise me you won’t tell Brody, okay?”

She shook her head like she couldn’t fathom why that would be a condition.

“Because this is very personal,” I said, “and very private. And it’s the kind of information you share with your beloved sister—but it’s not exactly something you’d share with a guy you dumped in high school who’s still irritated about it.”

“You guys are going to have to get past this,” Ashley said, like we were both equally at fault.

“I agree,” I said. “And I’m sure we will. But we’re not there yet. So if you could just keep all this to yourself, that’d be perfect.”

Ashley sighed and said, “Okay.”

But then, with the coast clear to share, I wasn’t sure how to begin. I let out a long breath and then said, “The thing with Finn is off because it turns out he wasn’t my first kiss after all.”

Ashley’s eyes went wide. “The playground kiss wasn’t Finn?”

I shook my head.

“Who was it?”

“It was Cooper.”

“Cooper!” Ashley shouted.

“Shhh!”

She shifted to a whisper. “The person you imprinted on was Cooper?”

“Apparently.”

“How did you find this out?”

“Cooper told me.”

“But Finn was supposed to do it!” Ashley said.

“He ditched me. And then Cooper came to find me and explain—but I guess then he felt sorry for me, and so he took Finn’s place instead.”

Ashley took it in. “All along … it was Cooper.”

“All along, it was Cooper,” I confirmed.

“But isn’t that a good thing?” Ashley asked. “You guys are fantastic together.”

“Yes,” I said. “Except.”

“Except what?”

“Except when he told me, I didn’t believe him.”

“You didn’t believe him?”

“I guess I just couldn’t shift my thinking that fast.”

“Did you fight?”

I nodded. “We fought. And then he kissed me to prove it. And then he stormed off the boat.”

“Hold on. Back up. He kissed you?”

I nodded.

“How was it?”

I tried to answer, but the words were half tears. “It was so good, I might never actually recover.”

“Ohhh, JoJo,” Ashley cooed like I was adorable as she pulled me against her shoulder and hugged me.

And then it all came tumbling out—everything I’d been wanting to tell her all along. Harmony’s lei, moving in with Cooper, sharing a bed, the hickey, the sunburn, the slow-dance contest—all of it.

“But this is awesome!” Ashley said. “You’re perfect together. Everybody agrees. The whole ship has been shipping you this entire time.”

“The whole ship has been shipping us?”

Ashley nodded—but then amended, “Except for Finn. And Mia Macall, of course.”

I frowned. “Who is Mia Macall?”

Ashley frowned back, with a slight air of What’s wrong with you? “My bridesmaid. The one I’ve been trying to matchmake with Cooper.”

Bridesmaid Two had a real name? “Huh,” I said.

“What?”

“I never knew her name.”

“The point is,” Ashley went on, “everybody else agrees. I was only Team Finn when I thought he was the first kiss. If Cooper is the first kiss, then I’m Team Cooper.”

I thought about it. “But guess who doesn’t agree?”

Ashley waited.

“Cooper.”

“He’ll get over it,” Ashley said. “He always does.”

But I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Not this time. I think he really hates me this time.”

“He doesn’t hate you. He couldn’t hate you.”

“Ashley,” I said, “I didn’t just accidentally get locked in a lighthouse back on Bishop’s Cay.”

“What does that mean?”

“I got menaced,” I said, “by a drunk dude. And I had to rack him and run to hide in the lighthouse. And then he locked me in.”

Ashley took that in.

“And I called Cooper and begged for help—while this guy was beating on the door, trying to get in,” I said, “and Cooper didn’t come.”

“That doesn’t sound like Cooper.”

I nodded. “I think he might be really done with me.”