Page 32 of Best Vacation Ever

There’s no escaping it, though. Jealousy has laid it all out for me. I actuallylikeKellan and want to be more than his readily available secret booty call. But there’s no way he feels the same way. He basically said as much a few minutes ago, and he’s already back at it with Kiara, making a joke about how he fell off the tube.

Dylan helps me back onto the banana, and I vow to ignore Kellan for the rest of this dumb activity, and hopefully the rest of this trip.

Otherwise, I’ll do something stupid, like tell him I want to be with him, and not only ruin this trip, but also my life.

NINE

Day Two of Cuba

Lori

Something’s changed since last night. I’m letting my guard down a bit, so I don’t feel quite as awkward around Dean now.

I mean, I dumped a carton of yogurt on him at breakfast this morning, but that was an accident! Plus, he was a good sport about it and laughed it off, so I don’t think my face turnedasred as it might have.

We hang out and talk in the shade until it’s our turn to go snorkeling. The boat they use is a tiny, special kind of boat that mostly uses wind power instead of an engine, and the part we sit on is an elevated mesh net, so we can feel the water underneath us. Our combined weight makes the mesh dip a little in the middle, pulling us toward each other until we’re touching almost everywhere. I attempt to focus on the cool splashes of water instead of the heat from everywhere Dean’s body touches mine, but it’sveryhard. He catches me staring at the part of his thigh that’s pressed up against mine, and I quickly glance away, praying my face isn’t bright red.

We make small talk until the boat comes to a stop. The resort is nothing but a tiny speck in the distance, and the water is a more vibrant aquamarine than it was near the shore. There are a bunch of similar boats all spread out in the same area, and a lot of people are already in the water.

On my hands and knees, I lean over the edge of the boat, which is almost flush with the water’s surface, and peer into the ocean. Through the crystal clear water, I see millions of fish swimming around.

Our tour guide and boat driver, Matias, tells us that fish love bread, which is news to me, and he pulls out a bag. He breaks off a piece and throws it into the water near me, and instantly, aswarmof fish attacks the piece of bread.

Startled, I yelp and leap back, conveniently falling right onto Dean’s lap.

From what I can see, these aren’t the cute little bright tropical fish you see in pictures. Some of them are, but most are gray and huge.

I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.

“Having second thoughts?” Dean teases me, his hands burning me where they’re resting on my thighs.

I’m still sitting on him like a total freak.

“Uh, no. No way.” I scramble off his lap and out of his personal space, even though he didn’t seem to mind.

“They won’t bite,” Matias reassures me, throwing some more bread in the water, and I watch, fascinated, as swarms come up to the surface.

“Let’s go then.” Dean’s smile is wide as he puts on the goggles, snorkel, and flippers that Matias gave us earlier.

He sits on the edge of the boat, his feet dangling in the water as he peers back at me, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

“Are you coming?”

I’ve never been this close to enormous fish before. Some are bigger than my arm.

“Um, yeah. In a second.”

Dean slips into the water and bobs beside me. “What are you waiting for?”

I have no idea. Maybe for there to be fewer fish in this general area?

I sit on the side of the boat like Dean had earlier and let my feet dangle in the water.

“I’m waiting to . . . acclimate.”

Dean raises an amused eyebrow, his hands on either side of me grabbing the boat, his arms caging me in as we bob with the ocean current.

“Acclimate? Is that your way of saying you’re scared?”