Sail Away [COMPLETED]

Chapter 17 - "No...I..."

"Funny Johnny!" Ty laughed.

'Hudson kissing Ally? He hadn't ever tried a joke this dramatic before,' she thought

"I'm serious," he said, but those words meant nothing coming from him.

"Sure," she said, entertaining him for a moment. "Are you trying to trick me into placing a bad bet? Cause you know I'm smarter than that."

"No. They really did kiss," Johnny said. His excitement turned to curiosity as he focused on her more. "They were dancing together and then they kissed. I saw it."

No amount of words coming from Johnny would have ever made Ty actually believe that Hudson had kissed one of the girls. But Johnny's serious manner was making her start to wonder if he was telling the truth. He was horrible at keeping a straight face when telling a joke. She quickly smiled knowing that Johnny was watching her. She didn't need him to be suspicious about her relationship with Hudson.

"Ty!" Nico called from behind them and she knew she had exactly one second to figure out how to play this off.

She knew in the moment it didn't matter whether Hudson did or did not kiss Ally. What mattered was how Nico and Johnny saw her handle it. If she played it off like she didn't care then it would keep Nico from worrying about her and give her time to figure out what really happened.

"This is fantastic!" she said, switching on her smile. She slapped Johnny excitedly on the arm. "Tell me I can still get in on the initial bets before they start pouring in. Everyone is going to be so stunned!"

"I know!" Johnny said, easily catching her enthusiasm and returning to his initial excitement. "No one saw this coming from Hudson! And don't worry, you can still get in on the first bets. I'm just making them now!"

"Ty!" Nico called again. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around as Johnny returned to the bar.

"Nico! Johnny already told me," she laughed. "How could you try to keep me away from all the good bets? Are you still mad I won the bets by the pool the other day? That is low." She playfully shoved him.

"No...I..." Nico started, clearly thrown by her reaction to the news. He frowned as she beamed back at him.

"Sure. You weren't trying to keep all the good bets for yourself," she teased, brushing aside his worry. "Let's pretend I believe that." She winked at him before following after Johnny.

She had the ten steps to the bar to unpack what Johnny had said. She still didn't believe him. Johnny had a tendency to exaggerate the truth and Hudson had spent the whole morning letting her know how much he liked her.

Her gaze drifted out to the dancing crowd as she searched for Hudson. It took her a moment to find him and when she did a hint of doubt hit her. He was smack-dab in the middle of the crowd, dancing closely with a girl. Ty watched for a moment, remembering how tipsy he had been when they had interacted earlier and she began to question whether she should reconsider what Johnny had said.

But her time to question anything ran out once she reached the bar. Nico was only a few steps behind her and she could feel his curious gaze on her as they joined Johnny's group. He was trying to read how the news was affecting her and she gave him nothing but enthusiasm.

It only took a few minutes for her to catch Johnny's energy and it wasn't long until she was in the middle of the group with Johnny adding to his betting categories with almost as much excitement.

When Ty wanted to she was very good at keeping herself busy so her brain didn't go to unwanted thoughts and that is what she did for the remainder of the night. Between the betting ring and managing the party, she kept all thoughts of Hudson kissing Ally pushed to the far reaches of her brain. It was only when the party had officially died down and the exhausted and drunk happy Hamilton Group started to trickle out of the lounge that she even thought about Hudson.