Page 13 of Sin Bin Daddies
“Miami. My whole life.”
She smiles a little. “So, what’s your favorite thing about it?”
“The ocean,” I say without thinking. “The weather, too.”
Her smile widens. “Did you know the ocean produces over fifty percent of the world’s oxygen?”
I blink. “No. But now I do.”
She laughs, nudging me lightly with her elbow. “Come on, that’s a cool fact.”
“Yeah,” I admit. “It is.”
“Where’d you learn that?”
She tucks her hair behind her ear again. “I’m a marine biologist.”
That makes me smile. “Of course you are.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Means you might be the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”
She snorts. “Doubt it.”
“There’s an aquarium in Miami. It’s not far from here,” I say. “You should check it out.”
She tilts her head. “Is it open this late?”
I nod. “It normally closes at eleven. We have about half an hour before that. Wanna try our luck?”
She hesitates for half a second, then nods. “Yeah. Why not?”
I reach for her hand.
It’s instinct.
And fuck—it feels so natural, like my body already knew what to do before my brain could catch up.
She doesn’t pull away.
We get in a taxi, hands still clasped between us on the seat.
By the time we get there, thanks to the unsurprising amount of traffic, we find that the aquarium is closed.
“Shit,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck. “Sorry. Thought maybe it’d be open late.”
She runs a hand through her hair, sighing. “That sucks.”
“Yeah.”
“But hey,” she says, turning to me. “At least we tried our luck.”
I look at her.
She’s smiling.
Not big, not forced. Just a quiet little curve of her lips, like she’s actually enjoying this.
