‘There you are!’ Sammie said when she caught up with us.‘I was just going to call you.’
‘What’s up?’ I said.
‘When I gave you your lunch money, I forgot to give you this.’ She held up an envelope.Jake took it from her before I got the chance.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘It’s your photos.From yesterday’s activity.When I went to reception before we got on the coach, they said you two hadn’t collected them, so I brought them with me.I thought about giving you this envelope on the coach, but then I decided it’d be better for you to go through them in private.’
My stomach tensed.I hoped that didn’t mean they were bad.
‘Thanks, Sammie.We forgot to get them because we were rushing.’
‘No worries!I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it!’ She winked at me, then walked away.
She must’ve seen us holding hands.Shit.
‘Wanna go through them now?’ Jake asked.
I was torn.Part of me wanted to toss them straight in the bin so that I didn’t have to bear the embarrassment when I didn’t like them.
I knew Jake must’ve sent Sammie the photos that Aidan took and I think I spotted Sammie taking some candid shots when we’d finished the horse ride.
But the other part of me was curious to see how they’d come out.
There was only one way I’d know…
‘Okay,’ I said, swallowing the lump in my throat.
‘Let’s sit.’ He pointed to a bench.Once we were seated, he handed me the envelope.‘Here.You do the honours.’
I took a deep breath.As I slid my fingers under the seal, my hand trembled.I hated that I was so nervous.I didn’t use to be this way.I used to take pictures all the time, like most people did.Now just the mention of the wordphotosmade me break out in a cold sweat.
My heart thundered in my chest as I removed the pile of pictures.The first photo instantly made my shoulders loosen.It was a shot of us with the Hollywood sign in view, but our backs were facing the camera.Phew.
‘I like this one,’ I beamed.
‘Is that because you can’t see my ugly face?’ Jake teased.
‘You and I both know that your face isn’t ugly.’ I rolled my eyes.
‘All I’m hearing is that you think I’m hot,’ Jake replied with a mischievous grin.
‘If you’re fishing for compliments, you need to find another ocean to throw your rod into.’
‘Sounds like a euphemism to me.I’m very particular about the oceans I dip my rod into.’ He smirked.
‘Your reputation says otherwise.Sorry.’ I winced.‘I did it again.I know what’s in the media isn’t always true.’
‘Glad to hear that.’ He nodded.‘I’m not denying that I’ve done a lot offishingin the past but my frequent ocean-dipping days are over.’
‘Ugh,’ I winced.‘Hearing the wordoceanlike that makes me think of something cringy.’
‘Yeah?’
‘The last date I went on, well, it wasn’t a date, but anyway, the guy told me that he wanted toslip and slide in my ocean.’
‘You’re kidding?’ Jake laughed.‘Full disclosure: I and many other artists do use the word “ocean” when talking about sex in songs.But that’s different to saying it in real life.’
