Author's Note: I do not own any of MIOBI.
"So we got lucky with the boat," Austin said, leaning his head forward in between Payson and Emily. Both girls twisted in their seats to get a better angle on seeing him. The new position meant that Payson now also looked right at Luke who had taken a seat next to his cousin since Kaylie was still deep in Jamaica conversation with Jordan.
"I'm not sure what I liked best, the beaches, the food, the climate." Snippets of that conversation floated their way. Payson noticed Lauren leaning over from the row she shared with Jake to try to insert herself into Jordan and Kaylie's discussion, but Luke speaking up pulled her attention back to the closer conversation.
"You've always had good timing though, cuz," Luke said to Austin. "You rarely had a misstep on any of your gymnastics moves. You became a star right when several sponsors needed a new face to support. A coaching job opened when you decided to retire from competitive gymnastics. And then you got that really good deal on that-"
Luke stopped in mid-sentence as Austin started coughing. Both girls turned their attention to the dark-haired man whose face was turning red.
"Are you ok, Austin?" Payson asked.
"Honey?" Kaylie spoke up from the row behind him.
He waved a hand, shooting a quick look at Luke. "Good, just a bug."
Kaylie scrunched her nose, "Eww."
"Yeah," Austin chuckled although Payson thought it sounded a little forced. He turned back to Luke. "So are you done listing all my good timing moments?"
The edge of Luke's mouth quirked up, and Payson recognized the hint of an upcoming joke.
"You have an odd knack for being able to find a parking spot opening up just five spaces or less from the building every time."
Austin grinned and his shoulders relaxed. "Yeah, I swear we have to walk a half mile every time from the car to the building when I let you drive us somewhere."
Luke shrugged, "I'm helping you train for all the walking we'll be doing this week in the parks."
"Any other fun timing stories?" Emily asked, her eyes darting more to Luke than Austin.
"Well, I certainly don't have Austin's good sense."
"Oh, but the poor timing stories are more interesting, aren't they?" Emily's eyes twinkled, and Luke grinned back at her. Payson felt a tug in her stomach at Luke's friendly expression.
"Calm down, Pay," she thought to herself. "They're just talking. You don't need to be jealous. Anyway, you're not with Luke. He can flirt with whoever he wants."
"Well, there was the cell phone alarm incident," Austin supplied helpfully.
Luke sighed, "That was an awful week. I thought my boss was going to start driving by my apartment in the mornings to make sure I got to work on time."
"What?" Emily was genuinely intrigued. Payson knew the story but was also curious of how detailed a story Luke would tell.
"Go ahead," Austin urged. "Tell the girls about how your phone was out to get you."
Luke looked at Payson. Austin apparently didn't know that she was already aware of the problems Luke had experienced.
"Didn't he tell Austin about us?" she wondered. "I thought he was close to Austin."
"I actually just heard this story about a month ago," Austin continued. "Last fall when it happened my texts from Luke were either about work or a girl."
Payson's heartbeat ratcheted up and she couldn't stop her head from turning to look at Austin who then gave her a sly wink. The wink only succeeded in making her cheeks pink up a little and now she was looking anxiously at Emily to see if her friend had noticed. Emily though was facing Luke.
"Well, it must be a good one for you to remember it several months later," she prodded.
"More like my co-workers just won't let me forget about it," Luke grumbled although his eyes smiled.
Payson snorted—Luke's officemates more resembled a close-knit family than coworkers; of course they had continued to joke about his week of nearly missing work each day. However, the snort drew Emily's attention.
"Have you heard this story?" Emily sounded surprised.
"Ah, yeah," Payson fumbled. "Remember, I had my summer internship at Luke's office so I know his co-workers and how much they care about each other."
Now Luke snorted. "You mean how much they enjoy knowing the details of everyone's lives?"
"Just as much as you do," Payson countered. Luke's eyebrows shot up.
"Are you accusing me of being a gossip?"
"No," Payson replied. "You actually were more of a listener than a talker when they were discussing events."
"But you were in on it," Austin pointed out, clearly enjoying razzing his cousin.
Luke glared at Austin, and Emily laughed. "So basically because everyone in your office likes to either talk or listen, Payson has gotten to hear a fun story but Austin and I are still in the dark? That doesn't sound very fair."
"I said it really isn't that great," Luke protested.
Emily's eyes twinkled. "How about you let me be the judge of how funny it is?"
Payson felt that twinge of jealousy again as Luke grinned back at the other woman and then started his tale. He had spent a long weekend in late July at a resort in Ibiza, Spain to celebrate the wedding of a college friend. Unfortunately upon returning to the US, he was not the only one dealing with jet lag; for some unknown reason, his phone kept resetting itself to the Central European Time Zone. Tired and a little sore from hours of dancing at the reception, Luke didn't realize the problem until the physical therapy office called fifteen minutes into his shift with the question of why he hadn't shown up at work. He had shown up with still messy hair and shoved his phone at Erik, their tech guru. Erik had smirk and changed the time before handing it back to Luke. The two men would repeat this exchange four more times that day with Erik's smirk eventually turning into a bewildered shrug.
"Ugh," Luke sighed, glaring at his phone as Payson put a file down on the counter.
"Still not working?"
"Nope and I don't know when it's going to be consistently back on Mountain Time."
"What does Erik say to do?"
"Buy a real alarm clock," Luke grumbled.
Payson chuckled, "Have something against alarm clocks?"
"Too many bad memories of being dragged out of sleep by that obnoxious beeping."
"I could call you each morning to make sure you're up," she offered.
Luke stared at her, "Really?"
"Why not? I'm up for my morning run and I have a longer commute to work than you anyway."
"It's not a bother?"
Payson sighed this time, the sound full of exasperation. "I wouldn't have offered if it was."
The first wake-up call was short, just long enough for Payson to make sure Luke was truly awake and moving, not about to flop back down on his pillow. There was also an awkward feel to that call. However, as the week went by, the awkwardness faded. Luke was a morning person and started joking with Payson on the third day. By the one-week mark, the two ended up talking for almost fifteen minutes. The conversation would have continued except Payson saw her microwave clock and practically yelled that she needed to go NOW to get her shower between her run and work.
"That was really nice of you, Pay," Emily said. The blonde nearly jumped at being pulled into the conversation and away from the memory. All three were looking at her.
She just shrugged. "I try to be a nice person."
"Saved Luke having to buy an alarm clock," Emily smiled but shifted the expression over to Luke. He was still watching Payson.
"And gave me some good morning company," he said slowly, a grin glowing deep in his eyes.
Payson smiled back, feeling a little warmth start deep inside. "It was a good week."
"But I bet it was a relief when your phone started working again," Emily said.
Luke nodded, his attention going back to her as he replied. "It's nice when technology does what it's supposed to."
The conversation then shifted to talking about technology woes. Payson mostly listened, observing how Emily kept engaging Luke. The small warmth inside sparked by Luke's smile was joined by another simmering, one that Payson recognized as a bit of confused jealousy.
As the boat neared Disney Springs, Kaylie interrupted their conversation to ask the boys their opinion on dinner choices, and Emily turned her attention to Payson.
"You were pretty quiet, Pay."
"You had control of the conversation," she replied softly, not trusting a higher volume to conceal the irritation she knew she was feeling.
Emily exhaled, "You know, if you would've just admitted that you're still interested in Luke, I wouldn't have to make you jealous."
Payson's head whipped towards the other woman. "What?"
"I know you, Pay," Emily replied, keeping her voice low. "In competition you were pretty much fearless, but when it comes to your personal life, you rarely make a move unless you are pushed."
"So you aren't interested in Luke?" Payson was still confused.
Emily smirked, "No more than he is in me."
Payson glared at Emily, but her friend just shook her head.
"Payson, I'm not the type of girl to go after a guy her friend has an interest in. I've been on the other side of that," she replied, her tone dark for a slight moment. "But I can see that Luke is a great guy and most women don't have you as a friend and won't feel any hang up pursuing him."
There was a small bump right then as their boat nudged against the landing dock, and Emily hurried to say her last words. "So you need to make a decision: either go after Luke or stop thinking you want him."