“Good,” he counters, “and before I forget, I got this for you in one of the marina gift shops.” He reaches into his pocket and hands me a small disposable camera that’s encased in plastic. “It’s for underwater pictures. I figured you could use it to capture some shots while swimming. Maybe you’ll find sunken fabric-pattern treasure.”
I look down at the camera before my eyes trail back to his. I don’t hesitate to go up on my toes and kiss him, my mouth moving across his with as much tenderness as I can manage. When we pull apart, one of his hands moves through my hair to gently rub the back of my neck.
“Thank you for the camera,” I tell him.
“You’re welcome. Now, prepare to witness the most skilled pencil jump in history.” Matt promptly pulls his shirt off and moves to the side of the boat, leaping off and making his body as stiff and straight as a board as he slips down into the water. He wasn’t kidding when he said he creates almost zero splash.
My eyes are then drawn to Captain Sebastian as he twists around in his chair and lifts up the side of one of his headphones.
“Why does he jump into the water like that?” he asks.
“I don’t really know.” I glance over at Matt as he dips beneath the water again. “I think it’s just his thing.”
Captain Sebastian doesn’t respond, only turns to put his headphones back on completely.
Fair enough.
Excited to try out my underwater camera, I shrug out of my top and shorts and readjust my bathing suit before moving to the edge of the boat. Matt resurfaces and rubs the water off his face with a grin as he sees me poised to dive in. I count to three in my head and soon enough I’m in midair. My jump leaves me feeling wild and gratifyingly free—right up until my foot gets caught on a rope that I didn’t notice along the edge of the boat. The momentum from my leap forward sends me slamming down with absolute force, slapping into the water in a violent belly flop at an ungodly angle.
Ohwell. I guess I’m going to die in Capri, after all.
“So... Are you ready to talk about it yet?”
I pull my bathrobe more tightly around me and resettle the sunglasses that I’ve refused to take off since arising very un-phoenixlike from the waters beside Captain Sebastian’s boat.
“Your face and legs are barely red anymore,” Matt says. “That’s a positive sign.” I slowly turn my head to look at him and he shrinks back a bit in his patio chair. “I’m just saying it’s good that you’re on the mend.”
I can tell he’s trying to be serious, but he’s also trying not to smile at my current getup, and seeing him struggle makes me crack the smallest grin.
“I anticipate a full recovery in a few more minutes,” I tell him after a pause.
“I’m glad to hear it. Let’s just relax here until then. We don’t want you going overboard.”
I grin a little wider at his obvious bad joke, and it makes my cheek sting. “Too soon, Matt. Read the room.”
Matt chuckles and scooches his chair closer to me. “I’m sorry. Once you’re recovered, though, there’s somewhere else I’d like to take you. I think you’ll really like it.”
I gingerly take my sunglasses off, careful not to irritate my still slightly swollen and blotchy face as I give him a skeptical glance. “I can only take so much in one day. Is whatever you have planned next going to cause my life to flash before my eyes?”
Matt graces me with a noncommittal expression. “I don’t think so. But with you, who knows.”
Here we go again, I think. Even still, I stand up a few moments later. “Okay, then. Once more unto the breach, dear friends.”
“She conquers the deep and quotesHenry Vall in one day. Who’s more versatile than you?”
“Plenty of people,” I answer.
“And she’s modest on top of it all. Does your charm never end?”
“Silence, you flirt. If you keep up with all this sweet talk, I’m going to be the one sliding intoyourDMs after a couple of months instead of the other way around.”
Matt seems far too pleased by my response. “Oh yeah? And is that your way of finally admitting that you like me?”
I start to smile but stop and wince when I feel a sudden sting. “Apparently, it is,” I tell him honestly. “So much that it physically hurts.”
16
Before today I never knew that taxis came in convertible form, but I’m happy to discover that, indeed, they do. Freshly recovered from my water face-plant, Matt and I are zipping through curvy, twisting roads on our way to Anacapri, the only other town on the island, which is situated high up the mountain. We’re halfway there and the water is so far from us now that it seems almost royal blue. Little boats are shimmering specks, and the shoreline is a flawless shade of bright teal.
