Page 12

"C annadee Island!" Taylor shouted from the docks, his hands on his hips, his stance spread wide. I chuckled as Darren and I passed him with our hands clasped. After last night, the guys and I had decided that morning that there was no more use in hiding our relationship. No one else on the cruise really seemed to care—probably because nobody knew us—so why should we let it bother us?

"What are we gonna do first?" Cody asked, stepping up alongside Dex. I looked over, noting the lack of circles under Dex’s eyes and the straightness of his spine. Somehow, he seemed brighter today, more relaxed. My ass was still sore, I recalled with a blush, but it was worth it to see the easy smile that came to his face as he glanced at me. I smiled back with no hesitation.

"Let's hit the shops," Darren suggested.

Taylor spun and shook his head at us. "No way!" he said, yanking a piece of paper from his back pocket. "We can do that on our way back. I've got a list of other stuff we should try first."

Darren released my hand and bounded over to Taylor, snatching the paper from his fingers. "You made an itinerary?"

"Yes, hand it over!" Taylor punched Darren in the gut and reached for the paper but Darren easily avoided his grasping fingers, twisting away and bolting behind Cody, who put his hands up in immediate surrender as Taylor rushed him.

"Protect me, Cody," Darren said.

"I'm not involved!" Cody yelled. "I'm innocent."

I snickered as I strode over and yanked the paper from Darren's hand and glanced over it. There was a multitude of interesting ideas Taylor had written down. I looked up at Dex. "Is there anything you want to do?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Whatever you want, Baby."

I smiled and closed my eyes, running my finger up and down the list. I came to a random stop and then peeked my eyes open. "Ziplining!" I exclaimed. "That's where we're going first." I tossed the paper back to Taylor, grabbing his free hand and then reaching for Cody's, I jerked them behind me. "We gotta hurry, it said that the group is leaving in thirty minutes."

"Oh shit!" Taylor tucked the paper back in his pocket and then dropped my hand, making me pause. A moment later, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder before bolting through the crowd. I screamed in surprise before laughter began to pour out of me. I couldn't stop giggling, but every time he took a heavy step, his shoulder jarred my stomach, making my laughter sound like a scratched soundtrack that kept stopping and starting. Cody shook his head as he, Darren, and Dex followed close behind.

Taylor stopped at the ticket line, dropping me back to my feet. I swayed into Cody, and he put his hands on my shoulders as the blood rushed away from my head. I gasped, coughed, and laughed some more. I was still chuckling when Taylor stepped away and announced that we had the tickets and would be leaving in fifteen minutes.

"This is going to be so much fun," Taylor said, winking my way. "Great choice, cupcake."

I shook my head and went up to my toes as Cody's hands fell away and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "I'm just glad we could all be together," I replied.

We waited the allotted fifteen minutes with a group of about ten other strangers, all dressed exactly like we were—jeans or shorts and t-shirts. The sun shone brightly as a small bus pulled up at the meeting spot and a short man in khakis and a white polo shirt disembarked and greeted us.

"Good afternoon, people," he called in a slightly accented voice over the crowd. "My name is Beni and I'll be your guide for the ziplining expedition! If you will all please jump on the bus with your possessions, we'll be on our way."

Darren grabbed my hand and pulled me on after him, snagging a seat in the very back. Dex slid in opposite us, and Cody and Taylor grabbed the seat right in front of us. The bus filled up rather quickly, but most of the people stuck closer to the front. Within minutes, we were all on and Beni was jumping back into the vehicle and introducing the bus driver as Nidal, who waved back at everyone with a smile as he started up the bus and steered us away from the meeting place and ticket booths.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat as Beni began rambling about the Island of Cannadee, the people, and the culture. Normally, I would have been engrossed, but one second, I was closing my eyes and leaning against Darren, and the next he was shaking me awake.

"Jamie, we're here," Darren said gently.

I grumbled and yawned, stretching my arms up. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I didn't realize I was still tired."

"Yeah, might've been because of some late night activities you were involved in last night," he teased.

I blushed and shoved at his chest, marching past him down the center aisle and descending the steps off the bus. Darren chuckled right behind me and as soon as we were on solid ground, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back into a chest to back hug. "I was just teasing, sweetheart," he said, pressing a chaste kiss to my temple. "I won't do it anymore if it embarrasses you."

I turned completely in his arms, keeping my narrowed gaze on his. Then I leaned up on my toes and slammed my mouth over his. I sucked his lip between my teeth and bit down, stealing a moan from his chest, before yanking myself away and breaking his hold on me. I stomped off, leaving him panting and feeling stronger for it. Of course, when I got to where we'd be climbing into the trees of the Cannadee Island forest, I chanced a quick peek over my shoulder and saw the way his fierce gaze was locked on me. Maybe teasing hadn't been the right course of action, but it was too late to take it back, I supposed.

"Alright," Beni called, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "Let's go ahead and head on over to the practice line, shall we?"

My head tilted back and I stared up into the treetops, where a large, long, and thankfully, sturdy looking platform had been built. Beni led the charge, directing us all to trail behind him as we made our way over to what amounted to a wooden building where each of us got fitted into our full body harnesses. I laughed as Taylor snuck a slap to Darren's ass.

After that, we were led over to a relatively short—only about a football field length—zipline for practice. Beni stood before our group, reciting all of the safety procedures. "You'll want to tuck in any extra fabric, remove dangling jewelry. Listen to your guides and most importantly, have fun!"

Cody leaned down next to me. "Do you have a camera?" he asked.

"I brought my phone," I offered, pulling it from my pocket and handing it over.

He smiled and took it from me. "Let's get a picture." I grinned at his boyish excitement and followed him as he headed up to Beni while the rest of the group began to line up for their practice runs. "Hey, would you mind taking a picture of me and my girlfriend and my friends?" Cody asked.

My grin morphed into a smile at the word girlfriend. Beni smiled brightly at us. "Of course, I'd be happy to!" He took the phone, which Cody had already prepared on camera mode, from Cody’s fingers. "Why don't we all line up?" he asked as the guys and I got into position.

I settled in with one arm around Cody and the other around Taylor as Dex and Darren squeezed in on either side and then behind me for a second round of pictures. My heart was full, overjoyed.

"Alright, let's go, sweetheart," Darren said, snapping his hand against my ass as Beni handed my phone back. Unfortunately, I couldn't feel the sting of his handprint around the damn harness, but I did reach over and pinch him in retaliation anyway. We headed for the end of the little platform we stood on and let our guides hook us up alongside each other.

"Ready, set, go!" they called, releasing us.

I squealed as air rushed by me, whipping my hair behind my back. I came to a sharp stop, giggling my head off and red-faced as I was unhooked.

"That was awesome!" Darren said, lifting me up and twirling me around.

"Yeah! Let's go on the big one!" I replied excitedly.

Half an hour later, we were jogging towards it, our group one of the loudest and rowdiest thanks to the shenanigans of Darren and Taylor. I laughed and dodged them as they tried to pull me between them as we ascended further up into the trees. As we were getting hooked up once more, someone snapped a few photos and I jerked my head up, catching Cody's sneaky look. He may have looked guilty, but that didn't stop him from snapping a few more pictures as the guides released our hooks and we went flying through the trees. I laughed, tilting my head up and back as the warm air rushed over my cheeks.