“No, I get it. Millie’s brother Asher has a daughter, and dang if that kid isn’t a handful.”
Does that mean she doesn’t want kids? Not that it’s my business. I don’t even know ifIwant kids. I’ve always just thought of it as another step in life. College, a good job, marriage, kids. My parents and Hayden’s were always making comments about grandchildren. Like procreating was expected. I didn’t even question it. But now…
Over the past year, I’ve questioned so much. My job. My passion. Where I want to live. Who I want to marry.
“I can hear you thinking.” Joey turns, one brow raised. “Care to share with the class?”
I blow out a long breath, considering how to put into words the inner workings of my brain. If only I could just blurtI want more than just sex. Stay on this island with me. You can write and I can take pictures and we can forget about everything else.
If I did, she would be out of here in a heartbeat.
Thankfully, I’m saved by the beauty of Crete. Steps ahead is a majestic view. Emerald water glistens, hugged between a collage of silver and copper rocks.
“Holy—” She abandons her words at the spectacle before us. “Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as this?”
Soaking in the wonder in her smile and the reverence in her eyes as she takes in the view, I yearn to screamYes, actually, I have.
“Turn around,” I say, pulling my phone from my pocket.
Joey leans against a rock, and I snap a few pictures. She isn’t even looking at the camera for most of them because she can’t take her eyes off the view.
“Come.” I lace my fingers with hers, and we make our way down the rocks. A platform big enough for two is the only thing separating us from the sparkling sea.
She makes haste in stripping down to her bikini. I remove my shirt, hat, and shoes just as quickly. With a snorkel mask I brought along for the occasion looped around her arm, she lowers herself onto the rocks below us. It wasn’t easy getting here, but it’s absolutely worth it.
“Shitmotherfucker!”
“What?” I shout, hurtling myself into the water after her.
Oh, I get it now. Air is sucked from my lungs when the icy water hits my waist. Quickly surveying the rocks below, I pull her under the water with me. When we break the surface, gasping for air, Joey climbs up my body like a koala, desperately trying to escape the chilly water.
“You asshole,” she purrs, locking her arms around my neck and her ankles at the base of my spine. She dips in, and for several heartbeats, with the taste of the salty sea on our lips, we get lost in one another. Eventually, we find the strength to pull away and put on our snorkels.
“Do you need a tutorial?” she asks, sliding the strap over her head.
“Huh?”
“Or have you been snorkeling since last year?” She slides themask over her face, unhooking the hair that gets stuck over her ears.
She remembered.
“I went with a few coworkers last week.” I pull my mask down. Once it’s in place, I lean in to kiss her, but the goggles clang together and prevent our lips from touching. “But thank you.”
A wave of gratitude washes over me when I lower my face below the water. This is the kind of experience most people only ever dream of. For a while, we weave between one another and circle schools of black and silvery-blue fish. When Joey swats at my shoulder, I turn to where she’s pointing below us, and sure enough, tucked between two rocks is a fucking octopus. Its dusty-colored tentacles retreat and blend in with the rocks so quickly I question if I truly saw the mystical creature in the first place.
We pop up to the surface and rest the masks on our foreheads.
“Did you see that?” she shouts, treading water a couple of feet away. She’s like a five-year-old who’s just jumped off a swing and wants to make sure her parent was witness to her antics.
“Sure did.” I can’t help but grin right back.
“That was so fucking cool.” She drops back and spreads her arms wide, her perfect breasts bobbing above the surface.
God, is she gorgeous. All I want to do is watch her every move when she’s this carefree. “I’m having the best time.”
“Me too,” she says up to the brilliant blue sky.
She wraps her legs around my waist again, her breasts pressed against my bare chest.
