Page 17 of Spring Fling (Season of Change #4)
Aiden
I ’d never been this dressed down in public, this often, in my entire life. It seemed like no matter where we went, swim trunks were acceptable attire. The yacht wasn’t any different.
Joe swung off the overhead canopy, handing me a chilly beer bottle as he plopped onto the bench seat next to me. “What are you thinking about, sweetheart?”
My face heated. “Uh...” I looked around. There hadn’t been many people who had joined us for the excursion, but there were still plenty of others on the boat. “This seemed like a cool idea, but now all I keep thinking about is rape dolphins.”
Joe spat out his sip of beer as he cracked up laughing. “Rape what now?”
“Rape dolphins. You know. Haven’t you heard the stories of dolphins that take advantage of innocent tourists who are swimming? They get horny and just swim up and...”
Joe’s eyes were wide as I trailed off. Okay, so maybe it was a stupid fear, but there was a reason those stories circulated, right?
“Aid, come on. Do you really think they’d still do trips like this if we were at risk? ”
I shrugged, taking a drink of my beverage and focusing out on the water again. It was so fucking gorgeous out here and I wished I’d brought my camera along, but I’d been paranoid that someone would try to run off with it while we were in the water. Not that there were a lot of places for them to go. On a yacht. In the middle of the ocean.
My fingers picked at the label on the beer bottle as the boat bobbed with the gentle waves of the ocean. I’d also been a little terrified of getting seasick, but Joe had insisted that we take some Dramamine before we got on board. My stomach was fine, but my head was a mess. I kept thinking about how fun this whole trip had been, but then wondering what would happen the second we went back home. Would the bubble pop?
I brought the bottle to my lips again, taking a long swallow and letting the flavor wash over my tongue. The beer was more sweet than bitter—the lime wedge shoved into the bottle probably helped with that—but I turned my attention to the man next to me.
Joe fidgeted with his lip ring, his tongue peeking out every so often to mess with it, shift it around, and fuck with it. A shiver raced through me at the memory of that metal against my skin. Ever since I’d started fantasizing about Joe, I’d wanted to know what it felt like, and now I was intimately familiar with it. I wanted to get even more used to it. We couldn’t do any of that while we were out in public, but what was the point of going on a trip like this if all we did was to experience the resort’s bedroom?
The boat came to a stop, and a man lowered an anchor off the back of the yacht. Someone made an announcement in Spanish before switching to English, explaining that they were setting up for us to get in the water. They were setting some bait to attract some dolphins to the area, but this was typically a good spot.
A crowd of other tourists gathered against one of the railings, but I stayed in my spot next to Joe, sipping at our beers.
“Are we really doing this? Swimming with the dolphins?”
Joe grinned, chugging back the rest of his drink and setting the bottle on the boat’s deck. “Yeah, sweetheart. We are. I think it’s good to experience some different things, don’t you?”
I grinned as I finished my beer and set my bottle next to his. When I stood, I raised my arms above my head in a stretch. My body could sense Joe’s eyes trailing down every exposed inch of me. I loved it. Craved it. It was fucking addicting.
There was a guide next to the other group, pointing something out in the water, and I leaned over the railing to see what he was pointing out. There was something in the distance. It looked like random bumps on top of the water, and he explained how it was a pod of dolphins that was curious about what we were doing. My inner alarm bells went off again, remembering the rape dolphins, but Joe had a point that they probably wouldn’t be allowed to keep doing things like this if it were dangerous .
Arms came around me, and I melted into the warm chest behind me. I loved how absolutely carefree Joe was and that he gave absolutely zero fucks what the people around him thought. I’d give anything to live my life like that, and maybe if I stayed around him long enough, some of that would rub off on me. One could only hope. And I hoped that other parts of him would rub off on me as well.
“Look at them.” Joe’s voice rumbled in my ear as he pointed out over the water as the creatures swam closer to the yacht.
I tingled all over. God. I wanted to curl into him and forget again. To not have to worry about the people around us and enjoy just being him and me, but this was fun. I had to keep reminding myself.
A new sense of excitement washed over me as I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet. “You know, as much as I joked about it earlier, this is so damn cool. Like real fucking dolphins. In the ocean. And we’re just going to hop in and swim around with them like it’s no big deal.”
Joe’s eyes sparkled as I faced him. Fuck, it was so damn amazing to see him so happy like this. That I was the one bringing him that joy. I ducked under his arms and made my way over to the guide, who was setting things up at the back of the boat so that we didn’t lose the group. If I were really doing this, I wanted to play as active a role as possible. Helping with the crew seemed to be the easiest way to do that, but the man brushed me off and told me they had everything handled. I was vibrating.
“Aiden, chill out, sweetheart.” Joe laughed as he wrapped his arms around my waist again, pulling me back against him. The feel of his skin against mine set me at ease, instantly calming my hyperness.
It was enough to keep me calm until it was time to get in the water. Keeping me back from knocking everyone out of my way was nearly impossible. I wanted my turn. It didn’t matter that we would all get plenty of chances.
The second my feet hit the water, I was at ease. It was so different from swimming in the ocean back home and I’d already experienced that on our first day in Cancun. It was so warm compared to how frigid it always was in Washington, no matter what time of year it was. Swimming in the ocean at Ocean Shores didn’t compare to the Caribbean sea. People jumped into the surrounding water, eager to experience this for themselves.
My eyes snagged on Joe, who remained on the boat, leaning on the railing and watching me. I waved to him. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I just want to watch you. Enjoy yourself, babe.”
My breath caught as I swam with the rest of the group as we approached the dolphins.
The creatures were absolutely stunning up close and once more I felt that tug in my chest, wishing I’d brought my camera. When I briefly turned back to the boat, I spotted Joe; he had it lifted to his face as he snapped shot after shot. It was as if he’d read my mind and knew I’d feel like I missed out if I didn’t capture this moment.
With shaking and nervous hands, I reached out and touched the snout of one dolphin. It nudged me in encouragement, and I laughed. The skin was like wet rubber, but I rubbed the snout up over the head before the dolphin dipped beneath the water and swam off. They sure were friendly with people, but if the company brought people out there often, maybe they were used to it.
After a while, I swam back to the yacht, pulling myself up onto the back of it and laughing when Joe brought the camera over and kept snapping pictures.
“Would you stop it?”
“Why?”
“No one wants to see me.”
Joe frowned as the camera dropped to his chest. He raised it back to his face, taking another shot before sitting next to me and dangling his feet in the water. “What makes you think that?”
My shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I don’t know. I’m the one who takes the pictures, not the one in front of the camera. Until I suggested you record things the other night, I hadn’t ever had the desire to be the center of attention.”
Joe nudged me, making me look over to meet his smug stare. “You want to be? The center of attention, that is?”
My face heated at the question. “I don’t know about that. What you do is brave. I don’t know what came over me when I suggested that, but it seemed like a hot idea at the time. I think, if I were ever to do anything close to that... I’d trust it to be with you. You wouldn’t embarrass me.”