“This is perfect. I haven’t been to one of these since I was a kid.” She scanned the massive building with wonder as I parked, excitement evident in her expression.
I slid out of the car and dragged out her wheelchair, making sure everything was clicked into place before helping her out and into it.
Her feet tapped at the pedals they rested on and her head seemed to swivel in all directions as I pushed her into the building. I paid for our tickets and we started our journey.
The place was much nicer than I ever expected it to be and had a ton of different areas to choose from. We started off with the shallow pools where you could reach your hand in and touch various plants and aquatic animals.
I was particularly fond of the stingray, but when a nurse shark stuck its head out of the water and spit at me, I was pretty sure Sophia had picked her favorite. Her laughter hadn’t quieted for well over ten minutes. It wasn’t what I expected, but the joy it brought her made it worth it.
We talked casually as we made our way across the bridge in the outside area where they had a crocodile exhibit. The biggest one named Chomper was easily sixteen feet long. Sophia was a bit more nervous around this area, asking me to move more quickly in case the bridge gave out beneath us. It was my turn to laugh at her.
We moved to the Aquatic Wonders area where the large glass tunnel allowed us to see inside the water from all angles. It was here the casual conversation came to a halt.
We’d stopped to really take in all the creatures surrounding us. It was about ten minutes of this before Sophia broke the silence.
“How are you? After last night? That couldn’t have been easy for you.”
I sighed, hoping we could’ve avoided talking about it, but I knew we needed to.
“I’m good actually,” I replied, pulling her over to a bench and sitting on it to face her. “Honestly, I think I stopped feeling for Misty what she felt for me a long time ago. But she was familiar and made me less alone. It helped me see past how terrible of a person she is, I guess.”
“I understand that. Being alone isn’t easy. I’ve been in your shoes before. Maybe not to the same extent, but similarly. Stayed with people because it was easy and pushed away that loneliness. But that didn’t make it good for me.”
I realized I honestly had no idea about anything in Sophia’s past other than the parts I was involved with. It made me wonder why she was alone though.
“Why don’t you have a boyfriend?” I voiced my thoughts out loud.
She shrugged. “Just didn’t have the time or will to put in the effort I guess. My job is my life, and I love it. Makes it hard to find someone who understands my schedule.”
I laughed. “Don’t I know it. A firefighter’s shift is hectic even though it’s completely routine. Mostly it’s twelve hours on, twenty-four off, but almost always on call. Darren has worked the twenty-four on and forty-eight hour off schedule more times than I can count. It’s rough to give your all to someone when you barely have time for yourself.”
Sophia hummed in agreement. “Sounds about right. Darren is like my dad in that instance. Dad worked insane hours, so Kaden and I were alone a lot. But we understood. Your job is important because you save people. Anyone who would ask you to put them above saving people is wrong. I couldn’t do it.”
I stared at her for a moment, completely transfixed on how fucking wonderful of a person she was. She seemed to get me more than anyone ever had.
“So you don’t think it’s wrong of us to put our jobs ahead of our relationships?” I countered.
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t say it’s wrong. Our relationships are important too and shouldn’t be put on the back burner because of a career, but the person who chooses to be with us should also understand that sometimes we have to put the people we take care of first. Otherwise, who else will save them?”
It was like every time words came out of her mouth, my desire to kiss her became that much stronger. It was so wrong to want to do that so soon after a breakup, but not a bone in my body regretted the feelings that Sophia pulled out of me. They were inescapable.
I cleared my throat of the emotions welling up and stood, clapping my hands together. “We should probably keep going. There’s still a ton to see that we just can’t skip over.”
Sophia smiled. “I absolutely agree. Let’s do it.”
I wasn’t sure if she’d caught on to my sudden subject change or not. Either way, there was no way we were leaving this place without seeing everything, and I wanted to bring out her smile again and again.
The rest of the day was spent watching the dolphins do tricks with their instructors, eating lunch at the little cafe they had set up, being completely transfixed by the adorable otters floating around their enclosure, and just basically having a good time without a worry in the world. Today, there were no crazy arsonists, burning fires, or bitchy ex’s. Today was about fun.
Our problems would still be at home when we got there and we could worry about them then.
Sophia
Finally being able to use my hand again had been a great milestone in my recovery, but once I was able to start using crutches to walk around, I took the biggest breath of relief. I’d gone in for a checkup and Dr. Wright had said I was good to go putting weight on my legs again, but not to do too much.
The guys still insisted on carrying me up the stairs to bed every night, but they’d all at least decided I could do everything else on my own.
That first shower had been heaven. Darren had persuaded me to let him stand outside the door in case I had any issues. Which was silly considering he’d bought me a shower chair so I didn’t have to stand the whole time.
