The moment the horse instructor got Hudson on his horse, Ty could see exactly how he felt about the situation. His shoulders were tense and his knuckles were white from gripping the reins for dear life. Ty easily pulled herself up onto her own horse and directed it towards Hudson as the instructors listed off the last of the directions.

"Relax," she said calmly to Hudson as she brought her horse alongside his. "I've been overseeing this excursion for years and I have never seen one of these horses spook or go faster than a trot. They are trained for this."

"Sure," Hudson said through gritted teeth, and his body remained tense. "I can't believe you talked me into this."

"Hey, I said you could stay with the bus."

"Then proceeded to taunt me by flirting with Hank."

She shrugged. "But a shirt with my face on it would be adorable."

The instructors motioned for everyone to start moving and words became too much for Hudson as all his focus shifted back onto the horse he was sitting on. Ty gently tapped her horse into motion as all the other horses started to follow the lead instructor.

It wasn't until one of the instructors doubled back that Ty saw that Hudson hadn't moved. She smiled as the instructor came alongside Hudson and slowly tried to pry the reins from his frozen hands. He would be fine. Ty had seen these instructors handle scared riders before. She motioned her horse forward to join the rest of the group.

Ty didn't see Hudson for the rest of the ride. He stayed far behind the group with an instructor dedicated to keeping him and his horse moving, while Ty moved about the group playing photographer. By the time the Hamilton Party returned to the bus, Ty had taken approximately five thousand photos and added a couple hundred more as everyone gathered together in front of the water for a group photo.

It wasn't until everyone was climbing back on the bus that Ty noticed that Hudson was only just returning, his horse walking at a snail's pace while an instructor rode beside him, holding Hudson's horse's reins. The instructor helped him climb down from the horse and Hudson looked like he might get down and kiss the solid ground beneath his feet.

Ty smirked as he approached the bus's door. "Was it as bad as you thought it would be?"

"Worse," he said dramatically.

She rolled her eyes. At the pace he had been moving it would have been like riding a toy horse at the mall. "Well, I hate to add bad news to the day that is going so terrible for you but unfortunately you missed the group photos." He paused. "Everyone didn't want to miss the chance to document the glory of the Hawaiian shirts," she explained.

He mulled over that info for a moment before he shrugged. "Maybe horseback riding isn't the WORST thing," he said before he climbed on the bus.

When they returned to the downtown part of the island, the group was given two options: stay on the island and enjoy the luxury shopping and dining for the afternoon or they could return to the cruise ship immediately with Ty and Kenny. It didn't surprise Ty that all the girls wanted to shop and they pulled half of the guys along with them. It also didn't surprise her when Hudson appeared by her side as she headed to the taxi boat.

"What's next?" he asked.

"Well, The Bali has a lot of exciting activities going on this afternoon. We have a dance class in the ballroom, karaoke in the ocean lounge, shuffleboard on the sun deck, and a cooking demonstration in the cafeteria."

"That's nice," he said, brushing aside all the options. "I was talking about what's next for us?"

Ty gave him a flirty smile. "I didn't know there was an 'us'."

"Us?" He looked at her playfully. "The Oxford Dictionary defines it as 'a term used by a speaker to refer to himself and one or more other people'." He pretended to count the two of them. "I think the term fits this situation."

"Got it," she nodded. "I was thinking of the Webster Dictionary definition which defines 'us' as 'one person life-guarding while the other person does something else.' You can understand my confusion."

Hudson grinned. "I always thought it was strange how the dictionaries define the same word so differently."

"Me too. But in our case, the Webster Dictionary is right on."

"You have to lifeguard?"

"They don't pay me to flirt with the passengers," Ty joked.

"Could have fooled me," Hudson said with a cheeky grin.

She laughed and gave a conceding nod. He wasn't wrong. "That's just a perk of the job."

"I guess I'll be spending the afternoon at the pool then."

"Why?" she asked dumbly, happy to let him spell it out.

"Kenny said the bar by the pool has great pina-coladas."

"That's the only reason?"

"No." Ty started to smile smugly until he added, "The guys mentioned a game of volleyball." A pleased smile spread across his face as she shoved him away.

"Whatever. Enjoy your volleyball game."

"Hudson you're going to join us for Volleyball?" Hank asked, coming to walk with them.

"He is," Ty answered for Hudson. "He said he can't wait. But he said he doesn't remember the rules. Can you explain them to him?"

Hank happily obliged and Ty gave a taunting smile to Hudson before she hurried to catch up with Kenny.

The moment Ty's feet hit the cruise ship she was moving. Kenny was in charge of directing the part of the Hamilton Party that had returned to the ship with them while Ty changed into her lifeguard uniform and raced for the cafeteria. She didn't have long until she was supposed to be up on deck to give Nico a lunch break. She reached the beginning of the buffet when Anders appeared behind her

"Tonight. Ten PM. Level three," he said mysteriously.

She nodded, as he started adding things to her tray. "What's the name of the game?"

"Sardines."

She grinned. That was one of her favorite games. Anders organized employee game nights whenever he could and whoever wasn't working was invited to play. "Did you tell Nico?" She added a second hand to the full tray to keep it steady as they found a table and sat.

"Not yet. He was a little occupied this morning with the Hawaiian shirts."

"You heard about those?"

"I'm pretty sure all of the Cayman Islands knows about them. You should have seen Johnny. He was actually speechless."

"No!" she said, scandalized at the very thought. She didn't know anyone who loved the sound of their own voice more than Johnny.

Anders nodded. "Nico had to explain what was going on because all Johnny could do was grin like an idiot."

"They were quite a sight behold," she admitted. "If I had known all it took to shut Johnny up was a horrendous Hawaiian shirt I would have a closet full of them."

Anders chuckled. "The effect didn't last long. Nico barely got to explain before Johnny was talking again, trying to convince me this was the mother-load and I should get in on the betting before everyone else."

"What was there even to bet on?" She frowned, trying to figure out how Johnny could turn bad fashion into a bet as she quickly ate her food.

Anders shrugged. "I didn't listen that long. He pulled out that stupid bracket and I left." Ty shoveled the rest of her food into her mouth and stood. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm on lifeguard duty this afternoon."

"Will you see Nico?" She nodded. "Tell him about Sardines."

"Aye, aye!" She saluted Anders as she grabbed her trash and left the table. She was just out the cafeteria door when she ran into Jules.

"Ty!" Jules said. "Just the person I wanted to see."

"Mission accomplished," Ty said, continuing to walk.

"I heard about your morning!" Jules sang, quickly catching up to walk with Ty.

"You did?" Ty looked at her questioningly, unsure which part of

Ty's morning Jules was talking about. It was only one PM but Ty felt like she had lived through several mornings between breakfast with Hudson, the Hawaiian shirts, and horseback riding.

"Kenny said you and Hudson went for a romantic horseback ride on the beach." Jules's wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Ty laughed loudly. Knowing Kenny was the source of Jules's information told Ty a lot. Ty liked working with Kenny and especially liked that he stayed out of the employee gossip. Kenny had probably told Jules that they had taken the Hamilton Party on the horseback riding excursion and Jules had come up with the rest of the story.

"It was super romantic," Ty said and Jules's eyes grew big with excitement until Ty added, "Hudson is terrified of horses and I spent the whole time taking pictures of the bridesmaids. We're planning a September wedding."

Jules's whole demeanor fell. "But Nico said he saw you with Hudson..."

"Speaking of Nico, I gotta go relieve him from life-guard duty," Ty cut in. If Jules was talking to Nico then Ty did have cause for concern. "You know how hangry he can get. I don't want him punching a customer. Again."

"Wait! Nico's punched a customer before?!?" Jules asked, the very thought easily evicting all thoughts of Ty and Hudson from Jules's mind.

"Punch is a strong word..." Ty amended. "I don't know if I can really even say anything since I wasn't there. You should ask Anders. He's in the cafeteria."

"Anders," was all Jules said before she turned and headed back to the cafeteria. Ty would have felt guilty pawning Jules off on anyone else but she knew Anders could handle Jules. He was excellent at playing the silent game.

When Ty reached the pool deck she found Nico trying to referee a game of water Volleyball.

"No! Everyone can't go after the ball!" he shouted. "Call it! Call it!"

Ty grinned as no one listened and a clump of ten-year-olds dived for the ball. Nico was so focused on the game he didn't notice her until she had climbed up the lifeguard tower and was hanging off the side.

He was about to say something to her when he suddenly shouted, "Call the ball!" He sighed in defeat when, again, no one listened.

"You put in a gallant effort," she said, patting his back reassuringly.

"It's like they've never played water volleyball before," he said, shaking his head in disgust.

It only took Ty a moment of watching the kids play to know that in fact, none of them had probably ever played volleyball. It looked less like an organized sport and more like whales flailing about. "Cheer up ole' buddy," she said. "I got one word that will make everything better."

"Coffee?"

"Sardines."

A happy smile spread across Nico's face. "Did someone say," he dramatically whipped off his sunglasses to stare at her, "Sardines?"

"Me." She pointed to herself. "I just said that."

"When? Where?"

"Tonight. Ten PM. Level three."

"Excellent," Nico said, forming his hands into a steeple like he was an evil genius.

There was always a mix of different people that showed up for game nights but Anders, Ty, and Nico were always there. When Anders had started the game nights over a year ago, it became apparent very quickly that the three of them were the most competitive.

They were usually the first to arrive and always the last to leave, usually because they are arguing over who was the winner. Everyone else showed up to have fun, but the three of them showed up to win.

"Level three?" Nico asked. Ty nodded and could see the gears begin to turn in his head.

"Well, I better get lunch," he said eagerly, hopping down from the lifeguard tower. "Later." Ty watched him go and would have bet money that he was going to spend his lunch break scouting out hiding spots on level three. It's what she would be doing if she got any free time between now and ten PM.

Ty climbed into the lifeguard seat and slipped her whistle around her neck as one of the ten-year-old volleyball players landed on another player. A fight quickly broke out and Ty was down from the tower, blowing her whistle and ending the game. Ty remained by the pool until all the kids had walked off in different directions.

When she headed back to the lifeguard tower she found Hudson lounging in her seat. She put her hands on her hips and a pleased smile spread across his face.

"Please, make yourself comfortable," she said.

"Thanks!" he said, slouching lower in the seat and resting his head back, his face to the sun.

Ty climbed the tower and looped her arm around the armrest as she hung off the side. "Comfortable?"

"Incredibly," he said, even as Ty could see his neck was at an awkward angle. "All I need is that famous pina-colada. Would you get me one?"

Ty laughed loudly and shoved his arm, forcing him to sit up. "Last time I checked you have two legs. Get your own pina-colada."

"What happened to the famed customer service the Faraday is known for."

"It's on a lunch break."

"I can wait."

"A permanent lunch break. Out." Ty gave him another shove but this time he didn't budge.

"Hey, what type of service is this?" Hudson said. "First you coerced me to ride a horse and now you are forcing me out of my seat." He clucked his tongue in disapproval as he shook his head. "What would your boss think?"

"You're still mad about the horse ride?"

"I could have died."

She laughed. "There was not a single moment you were on that horse that your life was in any danger."

"You couldn't guarantee that," he argued. His responses were quick but they came with a smile, telling Ty just how much he was enjoying arguing with her.

"It's like a ninety-nine percent guarantee."

"You'll have to do better than that."

"Okay," Ty said, an idea coming to mind. There was risk involved and she wavered on the fence. But then Hudson gave her a playful smile and pushed her to take the risk. "The employees are playing Sardines tonight. You should join us."

"Sardines?" he said, mulling the word over. "The game?"

"No, we're just going to eat sardines until someone barfs. Yes, the game."

"You want me to play with everyone?"

She gave him a flat look. "No, when I said you should join, I actually meant you shouldn't."

"That's what I was picking up on!" he laughed but grew serious. "Sardines. I haven't played that since middle school."

"I never said my co-workers were mature. If you don't want to play just say so."

"I want to play," he rushed to say. "Anything that isn't drinking with Hank and Bianca is a win for me."

"That's what I thought," Ty said. She had overheard the group talking about spending their evening bouncing between the few bars on the cruise ship. A coordinator wasn't needed for that activity which meant Ty wouldn't be working, which meant Hudson couldn't use her as a reason to leave the group. "But if you want to spend more quality time with Hank, I understand," she added.

Hudson started to fake cough. "Oh no. I think I might be coming down with something. I guess I won't be able to go out with everyone tonight."

Ty smiled. "I've heard Sardines do wonders for a cold."

**********************************************************************

安全な旅行 (Japanese)

That's it! Raise your hands if you are joining the sardines game! 💬🗯💭🛟

Okay, I'm glad everyone is in. It's a terrible game to play by yourself... I mean, I heard that it's a terrible game to play alone... It's just you... Sitting in a corner waiting for someone to find you... The light slowly changing and no one coming... No one wanting to find you... I mean I imagine it could be like that for someone playing alone... So sad.

Hahaha! Sorry, before you decided I've lived a tragic childhood this never happened to me. I have nine siblings finding a place where no one could find you was impossible.

My brain just does this one thing where I start off an author's note saying something then I run with that idea until I've hit a cliff's edge, jump off and keeping falling with it.

So yeah, don't worry my emotional damage comes from a completely different place.

Sorry, I have a dark sense of humor, I feel like I should have warned you about that. Or if you've read Mr. Write you would already know this.

Okay, I'm leaving before I make this weird... too late.

Vote, comment, follow!