Page 30 of Suddenly Beck

‘So?’

‘Okay, now you sound like a nine-year-old,’ I reply, and he just lets out another delighted laugh and tows me bodily toward the main entrance.

‘Two, please.’ He strolls up to the main desk and smiles at the girl, who stares up at him and blinks.

I do have some sympathy for the girl, knowing how lethal those dimples of his are. He pays and spins around peeling a sticker from its backing and sticking it to my shirt with a grin.

‘There,’ he laughs.

I stare down at the large round sticker with Blue Reef Aquarium Newquay written on it, alongside what looks like a severed fish head.

‘Seriously?’ I reply drily.

‘Come on.’ He wanders off through the foyer, leaving me no choice but to follow as he heads further into the aquarium.

‘Beck,’ I try again. ‘This is ridiculous. I mean it’s kind of sweet of you, but I’m pretty sure this ship has sailed. I feel like an idiot. I’m an adult for god’s sake not a…. Oh, baby turtles!’

I’m completely transfixed at the huge tank of turtles as I watch them cut and glide through the water. I lift my head and take in my surroundings; the air is cool, and the walls all painted muted shades of blue throughout the winding corridors of brightly lit tanks. I wander along feeling the heat of Beck’s body beside me, but he doesn’t say anything, just allows me to take it all in. I see brightly coloured clown fish and miniscule fish with tiny little neon stripes running the length of their bodies. There’s an octopus with its suckers pressed up against the glass as I trace my fingers over it.

Sophia would’ve loved this when we were kids, and the errant thought occurs to me before I can stop it. For a second, the thought of her makes me sad. She’s the only thing from my old life I regret losing, but if I’m completely honest, she was gone long before I boarded that train.

‘Hey.’ Beck nudges me from my silent contemplation as if he can sense my mood. ‘Come with me, there’s something I want to show you.’

I follow along behind him as we enter a long blue tunnel, and the first thing that catches my eye is the flickering lights reflecting on the floor, and for a moment, I don’t see anything else, then I look up. The whole top half of the tunnel is glass, and we are surrounded by brightly coloured shoals of tropical coral reef fish, stingrays and…

‘Oh my god, are they sharks?’ I gasp as I step closer to the glass.

‘Yep,’ Beck laughs. ‘This was my favorite part whenever we’d visit, but my brother, Quinn, was terrified. He cried his eyes out and refused to go through the tunnel.’

‘Poor baby.’ I smile slowly as I watch the sharks glide effortlessly over the domed roof. ‘What kind of sharks are they?’

‘Zebra sharks. They’ve also got blacktip reef sharks; they were always my favourite. I used to tell Quinn that if he got too close, they’d ram the glass and smash it,’ he chuckles.

‘You’re evil.’ My mouth quirks as I stare at him out of the corner of my eye.

‘That’s what brothers are for,’ he says earnestly as he leans in beside me to watch the fish. ‘He was the youngest, but when the girls came along the pecking order shifted, and he got to torture them,’ he says sagely. ‘It’s the circle of life.’

‘I’ll take your word for it.’ I huff out a laugh.

‘What about you? Beck asks. ‘You torture your sister?’

‘No,’ I reply quietly. ‘She should’ve hated me, and I wouldn’t have blamed her.’

Ordinarily, I’d deflect any questions to do with my sister, but something in his tone, or maybe the intimacy of the quiet tunnel has the words spilling from my tongue before I can censor them.

‘Why should she hate you?’

‘My father had no interest in a daughter, and he made sure she knew it. It was painfully obvious to us as children that he treated me differently. She could’ve hated me for it, but she didn’t, maybe because I was the only one who truly loved her.’

I shake my head; I don’t want to talk about Sophia, and I hate that I let that much slip. So, I turn my head toward Beck, sending him a lazy smile and promptly change the subject.

‘So, do you bring all your dates to the aquarium?’

‘No.’ An easy grin slides across his face, allowing me the space I need. ‘I don’t date.’

‘Ever?’ I ask in surprise.

He shakes his head. ‘I don’t do complicated, and I don’t do attachments.’