“It is.”
We settled into a blissful calm after that, but about half an hour later, we were out in the middle of the ocean when something suddenly jumped at us from the water. Everything after happened in quick succession. I jerked away, which nearly sent us toppling over. I couldn’t tell you how, but Tate swung his arm out to the side and somehow managed to get us back on track.
My heart raced as I got my bearings again. “What the hell was that? Did you see it jump out of the water?”
“Yeah. Not sure what the fuck it was. It was alive, though. Noticed it right before you almost took us out.”
“Thank you for steadying the boat.” I panted.
“It was instinct.”
A shiver moved all the way through my body.
“You okay?” He placed a hand on my back. “You’re good. I’ve got you.”
“Thanks. Just a little rattled.”
Tate rubbed my back. I closed my eyes for a moment, relishing the feel of his hand against my skin.
“Wanna turn around and go back?” he asked.
I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
***
Twenty-five minutes later, Tate and I safely made it back to land without further incident.
“What’s next on the agenda?” I joked after we returned to the resort. “Anything else we can do where I almost get us killed?”
He scoffed. “We would’ve been fine with our lifejackets.”
“Not if that freakish sea monster jumped out of the ocean again and got us.”
Tate’s eyes sparkled. “I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.”
“You’d risk your life when you haven’t even known me two days?”
“I would not have to think twice about saving you.”
I playfully knocked my elbow into his. “I liked when you rubbed my back earlier. It made almost dying worth it.”
Tate shook his head and smiled. “You’re something else, Doris-Delores.”
Once inside the hotel, we stood in the lobby staring at each other.
“What’s next? I don’t want to go back to my room yet,” I confessed. “Can we sit for a bit?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
We meandered over to a café just outside the lobby. He ordered two iced lattes, and we took them over to a seating area.
After my first sip, I sighed. “I have no desire to go home. This trip is going by way too fast.”
“Tell me what you’re heading back to that makes you not want to leave this place,” he said. “What does your day-to-day life look like?”
I took another long sip of my coffee. “Nothing that brings me joy, to be honest. Lots of school work. An apartment that reminds me of my ex, which in turn reminds me of the fact that I wasn’t enough for someone I thought the world of.”
Tate shook his head. “He did you a favor.”
