Page 47 of Love on Deck

And I certainly didn’t watch Lauren’s every single movement, yearning with every particle of my being to hold her.

Okay, that last one was a lie.

* * *

“It’s too tight. I can’t lift my arms.”

Lauren’s voice reached me above the sound of water moving in and out of my ears. The snorkeling boat was anchored, the majority of the tourists in the water a few yards away with their snorkels down, admiring the reef and the fish. But I was treading water, eavesdropping on my fake girlfriend’s conversation with her sister. They faced away from me near the end of the boat, treading water.

“Then take it off,” Amelia said.

Lauren shook her head. “I didn’t apply any sunscreen underneath it. My shoulders are unprotected.”

“Just stay under the water and the sun can’t get to you.”

“Is that true?”

Amelia dipped her head side to side as if she was thinking about it. “Probably. We only have an hour before we have to be back on the boat anyway.”

“An hour is long enough to burn, Ames.”

“Is it though? Or will you just get a little pink that will turn into a bit of a tan?” She sounded hopeful.

“Burn. I’ll definitely burn.”

“Some color would look good with your maid of honor dress.”

“Some color will make me match my dress.” Lauren gave a frustrated sigh and lightened the tone of her voice. “Go find Kevin. I’ll figure this out.”

“I’m not leaving you—”

That was my entrance. I swam toward them. “I’m here,” I said, making them both turn in the water to face me.

Amelia looked relieved. Lauren looked mad.

“Problem solved! Boyfriend to the rescue. I’ll leave you to it.” Amelia grinned at me. “You don’t even need to swim, Lo. Jack can tow you around!”

Lauren’s face pinched even further, but she said nothing as her sister swam away.

“You can’t swim?” I asked. The water was clear enough that I could see her legs moving beneath it.

“I can’t lift my arms.”

“And part of your pre-snorkeling ultra preparation to-do list wasn’t to put sunscreen on beneath your rash guard in case you couldn’t swim in it?” I tsked. “I’m ashamed of you.”

“I’m ashamed of myself.” She kicked her legs in overtime to keep herself up, but her arms weren’t really moving much under the water. That would make it hard to swim around the reef.

“You really can’t lift your arms?”

“I really can’t. The shoulders are so tight they won’t let me lift my arms high enough. It’s not something I thought to test at home.”

“Guess you can’t prepare for everything.”

She glared at me. I threw the rest of my preparation jokes into the vault for another day.

The rest of the group was getting further away, and I could see how frustrated Lauren was becoming. Amelia’s suggestion didn’t sound half bad to me, anyway. “Want to climb on my back? I’m happy to swim for both of us.”

“Definitely not.”

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