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Prologue: Jess

When I was in high school, irlfriends and I used to have sleepovers where ould dream up these romantic scenarios in which ere swept off our feet by a handsoive us the world We’d watch roestures and romantic bits While we had a sense that these dreams were unrealistic fantasies, there had always been a part of us that hoped maybe fairytales did come true

Of course, real life has proven that fairy tales only happen in thein a ship board roht reat when I won this trip as the hundred and seventh caller on the radio contest, butthis ith hireatest luck of all

I ed by the pool We struck up a conversation, and while sparks were zapping inside of me the whole time, I didn't think it was the saray eyes, and there was an air about hiested he caue, and just being nice, as we sat drinking virgin drinks by the pool

Later that night, I ran into hiether, and then going dancing I wasn't a wo up with men I didn't know, but had he asked ested that he come into mine, I would've let hi to soak up the experience

The next day, I tried to be nonchalant, but the truth was I was looking for hi in line by the fruit section, when I saw hi to another woh it was silly to be He wasn't mine

Disappointed, I turned back to fillup a urt

"You always sleep in late?"

I junized it "I'm on vacation"

"Yeah, but you should enjoy it, not sleep through it"

He was right of course Once I had my food, he poured himself more coffee and came to sit withto before, but of course I didn't want to give away that I was jealous, so I didn't ask

After breakfast, we parted ways again, until we both showed up at the pool It wasn't until we ran into each other at the bar that night that we each ad for the other because ere enjoying each other's company After that, ere pretty much inseparable

We toured all the spots in Mexico together, and during the ti out at the pool, play shuffleboard, and we even spent so for nu at the blackjack table Walking aith 150

There was no doubt that I was feeling extremely attracted to him, but at the same time ere on a cruise ship, where in a couple of days ould dock back in California and go on our oays Knowing this, while at the saical memory, it was my idea that we didn't share many personal or real-life details As a result, we only knew each other by our first naood at nue, what heI didn't know if he came from a family with money, or if he'd invented some sort of app that had made him rich

He didn't know any more about me than my name, and my interest in fitness and health It was like we had both stepped off the spinning world of reality, entering into a bubble of ic and wonder for the week

But now that the a

s co to an end, I wasn’t ready to step out of the bubble and back into reality The yearning to spend more time with hi if ical moment back into the real world Would he be interested in that?

Then I consider that in the real world, the day is not filled with fancy buffets, snorkeling in the ocean, and dancing the night away Real life is filled ork, and bills, and other ic between us back to the reality of life It was a schoolgirl dream that I kneould never come true

So, my only option was to oal was that this night, the last night, he and I wouldn't be sleeping in separate beds Sure, we’d kissed a lot and groped each other some, but ays stopped to avoid any potential eht now, I didn’t care if I fell head over heels and left with a broken heart I couldn’t end this trip without having one night with him