“I’m never bored when I’m with you.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I laugh, grabbing my drink and heading to dock. I get the wave runner lowered off the dock and Aiden jumps on the seat behind me. I drive us straight out from the house where the water is deeper and turn off the engine. “So, we’ll just sit here and wait. The waves will float us back toward the shore, so if we haven’t seen any by that time, we’ll give up. Deal?”
“That’s fine with me,” he says, grabbing my waist, pulling me onto his lap, and kissing the back of my neck. “I’ll just do this. You can be on lookout.” He moves my ponytail off to one side and continues kissing my neck while his hands move up my stomach to caress my bikini top.
When his hand slides under my top, I laugh and say, “You’re going to scare them away.”
“Turn around so I can kiss you,” he tells me. Then he laughs. “Maybe I should untie these strings and toss your top in the water. I bet all the boy dolphins will come running.”
“I don’t think dolphins can run,” I reply teasingly as I stand up carefully then turn around and sit on his lap.
He immediately kisses me, muttering, “Much better,” into my lips.
Our kissing gets deeper, more intense, and I forget where I am and why I’m out here.
All I can focus on is his lips.
His tongue.
His hands roaming across my body.
The way my fingers feel in his hair. Across his back.
I grind myself into his lap with every kiss. With every suck.
My mind on one thing and one thing only.
All of a sudden, we get splashed.
I open my eyes quickly, worried that a boat came too close to us, but there are no boats around.
Then I hear a chirping noise behind me and a dolphin jumps up out of the water and does a flip, splashing us with water again.
“Oh my gosh!” I whisper to Aiden. “Did you just see that?”
“I think he’s showing off for you,” Aiden says. “He better not be trying to steal my girl.”
My breath catches, my stomach getting instant butterflies, and my heart soaring. Because, his girl?
“Look,” he whispers, “there’s three more, right there.”
“And two more over here,” I whisper back.
“Don’t move,” he says, hugging me tighter.
“I’ve never been this close to one before.”
“Are you going to swim with them?”
“Oh, no. You’re not supposed to actually swim with wild dolphins. This is what I meant. Like being out here, seeing them, feeling like I’m part of it.”
One of the dolphins flies high out of the water with another one following him.
“It’s like they’re playing tag,” Aiden whispers, still holding me tightly on his lap. “They’re huge.”
We watch with wonder as they swim and play around us, but just as quickly as they came, they’re gone, swimming off into the distance.
My arms are still wrapped around Aiden’s neck, so I pull his adorable face closer to me. “You’re right. We are lucky together.”
We kiss a bit.
Okay, we kiss a lot.
Damian was right. Since last night, I can’t keep my hands—or my lips—off him. I’ve even stopped counting down the hours until he leaves. I’m just going to enjoy this.
Aiden pushes the pieces of my bangs that have fallen out of my ponytail and are blowing in the wind off my face, tucking them behind my ear.
“That was amazing.”
“You’re amazing, Aiden.”
He rubs his thumb across my cheek.
It’s a perfect moment.
Soft breeze, brilliant sun warm on our skin, beautiful scenery.
Every part of me wants to tell him. To say it out loud.
And, most of all, for him to know.
But I can’t.
I can’t do that to him.
So I say I love you, Aiden in my head.
“So, what’s next on the list?” he asks.
“Um, write our names in the sand, maybe. And we definitely we need to look for more seashells.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he says as I flip around, start the wave runner, and head back to shore.
When we get there, Damian waves at us from the beach, indicating that he wants me to bring it up on shore.
“Hey,” he says, walking out in the water. “The other wave runner won’t start. If you’re done with this one, I’m gonna take Peyton out and show her some of the island from the water.”
“Yeah, we’re done,” I say as Aiden and I hop off. “Did you see the dolphins that were swimming all around us?”
“No, we were, uh, in the house.”
“I thought you were kayaking?” Aiden asks.
“Oh, we were, but we came back in as soon as you went out.”
“So what were you doing inside?” Aiden asks them.
“Uh, relaxing,” Damian answers as Peyton says, “Watching TV.”
Aiden squints his eyes. “Which one was it?”
“I watched TV while he relaxed,” Peyton says smoothly.
Aiden grabs her by the elbow and pulls her aside. I’m pretty sure he’s chewing her out and she’s telling him to mind his own business.