Page 41 of Off Script

“No.”

“Can you swim?”

“Yes.”

“Then you should get in. We can’t go to the beach and not swim.”

“You go ahead. I’m good here.” Jada waved at him, remaining closed off behind her shades.

Which, of course, to Tristan, was unacceptable. There was no way he was letting Jada hang around and ignore him. He’d rather have her furious at him (as usual) than oblivious to him. He did the one thing he could to rectify the situation. Without any warning, Tristan reached over and scooped Jada up into his arms.

“What are you doing?” Jada squeaked. Despite her protests, she threw her arms around his neck to stay steady.

“I told you. We’re swimming.” Tristan rushed into the water despite her squeals of alarm, pulling her into its salty depths. When they were immersed in the ocean, he gave her a teasing splash. Jada did not appreciate it in the least. She returned his playful action with more force, splashing multiple waves at him.

“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know Black women don’t like getting their hair wet?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Jada reached up to touch her soaked curls, her face a mask of horror.

“You look cute either way.” He gave her a wide-eyed, adoring look.

“Says the man who will not be juggling a detangler brush and flat iron later!” Jada tried to swim back to shore, but he held her back from doing so.

“Please, just for a little while.”

His pleading seemed to work momentarily. Even though Jada stayed away from him, she did a halfhearted turn, swimming around in a circle until she faced him again.

“All right. What do you want to do?”

“Well . . .there’s Shark Attack.”

“Shark Attack?” Jada’s eyebrows shot up in alarm.

“Yeah, when we weren’t filming, I’d still get together with theGarciafam as a kid. This was my favorite game to play with Juan and Rafe. One of us would be the shark and the others were bait. ‘Swim fast or be killed’ kind of thing.”

“That ishorrible. It’s like you’re asking for a great white to come and snap you into pieces.”

“Oh yeahhh, we got in a lot of trouble. When it was his turn to be bait, Rafe would scream ‘Shark! Shark!’ at the top of his lungs. Everyone around us would scatter.” Despite the so-called bad karma, Tristan basked in the nostalgia. He had so many warm memories of those Santa Monica afternoons, and Rafe terrorizing the tourists, it was no wonder he’d pushed to have the Bright Futures fair here.

“You sure you don’t want to play?”

“No, thank you.” Jada shook her head. “You might as well shout to the heavens,Take me now, God!”

Holding back his laughter at Jada’s superstitions, Tristan started humming the theme music from the movieJawsas he circled around her. She splashed more waves at him as a deterrent, but Tristan launched himself at her, channeling his childhood hammerhead persona. As he mimicked biting her neck, Jada’s indignant squeals soon turned into a fit of giggles. Her amusement left her winded enough to ease into his embrace. This close to her, he could smell her familiar vanilla and cocoa butter scent mixed with the saltiness of the sea. A strange sense of peace drifted over him as Jada beamed up at him.

“Tristan, your lack of predictability is terrifying sometimes.”

“Yes, I would have made Bruce so proud.”

“Now, you’re makingFinding Nemoreferences? Who are you?”

Tristan gave her a peck on the cheek. “Your boyfriend, according toUs Weekly.”

Her smile dimming, Jada’s eyes slid away from him as she pointed over his shoulder. “There’s a big one coming. Let’s go.”

To his surprise, Jada didn’t mean heading back to shore. Instead, she dragged him farther into the water. Moments later, they were standing up, waiting for the rushing torrent to hit them from behind. It did, pushing them forward as they held hands to stay steady. The current and Jada’s touch left Tristan feeling powerful, and shouting Leo’s king of the world line fromTitanic. Jada responded by sinking into the waves and screaming for Wilson so passionately it would have made Tom Hanks proud. After exhausting their at-sea movie repertoire, they held an underwater breathing contest (because whether she’d admit it to him or not, Jada was as competitive as Tristan). When Jada (inevitably) lost, she claimed fatigue, so they returned to the dry safety of the beach.

“See, wasn’t this fun?” Tristan teased as he trailed after her.

“You’re right. I’m having a good time.” Jada fell back down, spreading out in the glowing, hot sun. Tristan rested beside her and, propping his head on his hand, leaned forward conspiratorially.

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