Mateo left Justin’s cabin and returned on deck. The race was over and the boys finally left the living area and joined the girls outside. 

„Hey Mat, where’s Eve?“ Josh asked, when he saw him coming closer.

„Oh really? Now you care about your girl again?“ Mateo teased. 

„I do, so?“

„She’s taking a shower after snorkeling.“

„Oh ya this… was it good?“ 

„Ehm… I can’t tell.“

„You didn’t snorkel?“

Mateo frowned. 

„Didn’t you hear me and Lucy talking about our concerns getting killed by sharks?“ 

„Ehm no… honestly I was engrossed in the race.“

Josh stood up in the next moment.

„Where are your going?“ Mat wanted to know.

„Offering my assistance under the shower.“ He replied with a dirty smile. 

Mateo was wondering if he should make him stop. But on the other hand, Eve needed to deal with the situation anyway. There was no chance to escape from that. 

When Josh opened the cabin door, he saw Eve lying in bed under the blanket, wearing her bathrobe. 

„Cupcake? Is everything alright?“ He asked concerned and came closer.

Then he sat down at the edge and caressed her wet hair. She was lying on her side and tried to avoid eye contact. Her bad conscience was almost killing her. She never felt ashamed like this in her life. It cost her a lot of strength to keep her emotions under control in front of him. 

„I have a headache.“ She said quietly.

It wasn’t a lie. After crying badly her head felt heavy and clouded. 

„I’m sorry to hear that. Can I do something to make you feel better?“ He asked calmly. 

„No, hon. Thank you. I just want to rest a little before we go out for dinner.“

Josh smiled lovingly at her. Then he got rid of his white t-shirt and his baby blue bermuda shorts. Just wearing his briefs he laid down next to her. He put his arm around her body and started spooning her. 

„Having a little nap before dinner is always a good idea.“ He said and kissed the back of her head. 

Eve grabbed his arm and pulled him even closer. Her eyes filled with tears again. She took a deep breath and tried hard to push her negative feelings to the back of her mind. 

Eric made a reservation in another Cuban restaurant for the night. Eve wasn’t in the mood dressing up again. She chose a denim skirt and a white crop top with nude sandals. Josh was wearing dark blue jeans and a light pink polo shirt. 

The group went downtown by taxi again. As usual in Havana the place was loud and crowded. They got a table outside at the terrace, surrounded by palm trees and colorful plants.

Eve sat down next to Josh. Unfortunately Jess and Justin sat down opposite of them. 

„How on earth will you survive that night…?“ Eve was thinking, while glancing at Jess.

She hated herself so much for making out with her husband. Jess didn’t deserve all of this. She treated Eve as a friend from the beginning, always being openhearted and kind. 

Eve looked at Justin next. He looked back shyly. Mateo sat at the front side, seeing them exchanging glances. 

„T, what’s wrong with you?“ Josh suddenly said.

He noticed that his best friend was in a bad mood. 

„I’m still processing the hangover from the prior night, I guess.“ Justin lied. 

„So, no cocktails for you, hm?“ Jess said cynically. 

„Come on, everybody knows drinking is the best thing to do to fight a hangover.“ Chris said. 

The waitress appeared in the same second. 

„Margaritas for everybody!“ Michael cheered. 

The drinks came fast. Eve was in the perfect mood getting wasted once again. Justin felt the same way. After everybody raised their glasses, both took very deep sips. Justin looked at Eve again and smirked. The situation between them felt so awkward that it became kind of funny. Eve noticed his smile but didn’t like it. He glanced at her again. Eve took her phone out of her clutch. She kept it on her lap and wrote a text, while Josh was distracted by talking to Eric.

„Stop staring. It’s making me crazy.“ [M]

Justin noticed an incoming massage and grabbed his cell.

„In a good or a bad way?“ [007]

Eve read his reply and rolled her eyes. 

„I mean it. Just stop.“ [M]

„Hey M…“ [007]

„?“ [M]

„One kiss will not ruin our friendship, right?“ [007]

Eve sighed. She wanted to be mad at him. She wanted to blame him for what he has done to her. But she couldn’t hate him. She knew she was responsible for the whole situation as much as he was.“

„It won’t.“ [M]

Justin smiled another time.

„I’m sorry for not feeling sorry…“ [007]

Eve looked at him with her eyes wide open. How could he not feeling sorry for all of this? 

„This was a giant mistake, Justin! And it will never happen again!“ [M]

„I know.“ [007]

„So… do we keep quiet?“ [M]

„That’s what Mat told me to do…“ [007]

„You think he’s right?“ [M]

„Dunno…“ [007]

„I feel awful.“ [M]

„I wished I didn’t make you feel awful.“ [007]

Eve looked at him again. Then she wrote back.

„What is going on in your head, T?“ [M]

„My head or my heart?“ [007]

She flushed. 

„Just tell me…“ [M]

„I already told you once…“ [007]

Eve’s heart accelerated. She was staring at the screen, not knowing what to do next. 

„Babe, is everything alright?“ Josh suddenly said and brought her back to reality. 

She looked up to him and gave him a shy smile. 

„I was just checking my messages.“ She replied. 

„What about your headache?“ 

„It’s gone. The Margarita works pretty fine.“ 

Josh smiled and came closer to kiss her forehead gently. 

Justin was watching the scene. Mateo was watching Justin. He was pretty sure that he was texting with Eve and curious what this was about. 

After dinner and another round of cocktails the group decided returning to the yacht. All of them needed to catch up some sleep before returning home the next day. 

„Can I talk to you?“ Lucy said to Eve when they entered the yacht.

Josh was walking next to Eve and gave Lucy a calm smile. Then he looked at Eve. 

„I’ll wait in bed for you.“ He said and kissed her head, before he left the girls alone.

Eve was irritated and stared at Lucy. 

„Did something happen?“ She asked curiously. 

Lucy nodded. Then she took Eve’s hand and went with her to the deck. It was dark outside and no one else was around. They sat down at the sun lounger next to each other. 

„So, what’s going on?“ Eve wanted to know. 

„You need to be brave.“ Lucy said and grabbed Eve’s hands. 

Eve stared at her with even more confusion.

„You’re scaring me Lu…“ 

Lucy closed her eyes and sighed. 

„I’m moving to Orlando.“ 

Eve’s heart stopped beating for a second. 

„Oh.My.God…“ 

„I know…“

Eve didn’t know how to react. Of course she felt happy for her friend. If Lucy wanted being together with Joey, one of them needed to move sooner or later. But she hoped it would have been Joey moving to L.A. instead. The imagination of not having Lucy close anymore caused a deep pain in her heart. 

„I don’t know what to say… I mean… it’s killing me. But I know this is the right thing to do…“ Eve finally replied. 

„It’s killing me as well to leave you behind. Making this decision was so hard because of you, Eve. But Joey just can’t move. He has too many obligations…“ 

„I know, Lucy. It makes totally sense…“

„You will be okay, right? I mean, you have Josh now. He loves you with all of his heart and you feel the same way about him. He takes care for you. Maybe you’ll miss me sometimes. But you’ll realize that you no longer need me being around because you have him now.“ 

Eve started crying. All her negative feelings came up again. She wanted to tell her friend what she’d done to Josh. But letting her know would make Lucy a partner in crime. And this just wasn’t fair. 

„I will be okay, Lu. And I promise to visit you as much as I can. I mean, Josh’s family is living there as well.You’re another good reason to spend more time in Florida from now on.“

Lucy sighed relieved and fell around Eve’s neck. Eve hugged her back tightly. 

„No more tears, okay?“ Lucy said after releasing her slowly. 

Eve nodded and forced a smile.

„So, when you gonna move?“ 

„I have some job interviews in the next week at several real-estate agencies. If something works out, it will happen pretty fast, I guess.“

Eve nodded again.

„Josh already knows, right?“

„He does. Joey told him when we’ve been on our sightseeing tour. But I asked him to keep quiet as I wanted to talk to you in person about this.“ Lucy answered. 

Eve looked at her friend for a moment, giving herself some time to process. 

„Are you happy, Lulu?“ She finally asked. 

„Yes, I am happy, Eve.“

„Okay. That’s all what matters to me.“ 

After her conversation with Lucy, Eve went to the cabin, being lost in thoughts. When she came inside, Josh was leaving the bathroom, just with a wrapped towel around his waist. 

„How do you feel?“ He asked carefully.

He stepped in front of her, took her hand and pulled her closer to his body. 

„I feel deeply sad but… of course I am also happy for them. I understand why Lucy made that decision. For you I would have done the same without hesitating.“ Eve answered. 

Josh smiled calmly. Then he raised his right hand and cupped her face. 

„We can go to Florida whenever you want. I didn’t mention it before, but I have an apartment in Daytona Beach. My brother takes care for it and rent it out to tourists as I usually prefer staying in my parent’s house when I’m in town. But we could turn it into our second home to have a place for just ourselves when we visit.“

Eve smiled lovingly at him. 

„Ya, this is nice. I like the idea.“

Josh caressed her cheek gently. 

„The only thing is… that place needs a redesign urgently.“

Eve smiled brighter.

„Are you hiring me once again, Mr. Chasez?“ 

„Well, yes. But I was hoping I can pay you with sexual favors this time.“ 

„Sexual favors?“

„Yes…“

„Okay, we have a deal. But I have pretty high expectations…“

„I can’t wait to satisfy those expectations…“