Page 40 of Cocky Cruiser

I nodded. She had a point. “That’s very true. And because of that, I can charge at least double what I’d be able to in California.”

“Touché,” she replied with a laugh.

We sailed the rest of the way into a lagoon with crystal clear water. I could see the colorful fish swimming along the reef from the boat.

The crew did a brief demonstration of putting on and using the equipment before handing out the fins, goggles, and snorkels. They also warned that we were in a natural environment and to be careful of our surroundings and the marine life living in it.

“Have you snorkeled before?” Adele asked as I put on my goggles.

“No, have you?”

“Yeah, one time when I was in high school. My parents took Chance and me snorkeling on our summer family vacation.”

The thought of having a family vacation was bittersweet. The only one we’d had was when we’d taken the cross-country road trip for Cara’s bucket list. My parents were always too worried about exposing her to infection.

I smiled for Adele’s sake. “That sounds like a pretty cool family vacation.”

She laughed as she slipped on her fins. “At the time, I didn’t want to spend my summer vacation with my older brother and parents. I was such a brat.” Her eyes got a faraway look, and her smile fell a little. “But now I’d give anything to take a vacation with my parents again.”

I knew the feeling. I wished I could just be in the same room with Cara again. “Come on, let’s get in that beautiful water.”

Adele opted to use the ladder to get in the water, but I chose to leap off the side of the boat. I swam over to her once I surfaced, and she smiled. “Always the daredevil.”

I grinned. “You know it.”

We swam to the reef, then began snorkeling. Hundreds of colorful fish swam below us throughout the reef. Even though it was such a simple activity, it felt surreal, like we were in another world. Sometimes I couldn’t believe so much beauty existed beneath the surface of the water.

After about fifteen minutes, I paused because my goggles kept fogging up. Treading in the water, I took them off to wipe them. As I was doing so, I felt a sharp sting on my right leg. “Fuck!” I yelled as I jerked my leg away.

Adele was snorkeling about ten feet away but swam over to me when she heard me yell. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

I looked down in the water and around me. Floating a short distance away was a jellyfish. “I think I just got stung by a jellyfish.”

“What?” Adele gasped, her eyes widening with panic. “Shit. Let’s get you back to the boat and see if they have a first-aid kit or something.”

I waved her suggestion off. “No, no. I’ll be fine. We can check it out once we’re done snorkeling.”

Adele frowned at me. “Cohen, you need to have it looked at right away.”

I forced a strained smile. The burning sensation started to get more intense as more time went by. “Adele, I’m fine. I’m not going to die from a jellyfish sting.”

“You could, depending on what kind of jellyfish it was,” Adele said, her brow furrowed. She grabbed my arm, then started to swim, tugging me toward the boat.

I chuckled, amused by her reaction. The fact she cared so much was adorable. “I don’t think they have that kind of jellyfish here.”

Once we boarded the boat, Adele led me to one of the crew members and pointed down at my leg, which had a few red, linear welts. “He got stung by a jellyfish.”

The man laughed. “We don’t get many jellyfish here, but they do pop up on occasion. Lucky you.”

I smiled at his teasing. “I must be special,” I replied, nudging Adele with my elbow.

She rolled her eyes with a playful scoff as the man took out a first-aid kit. He then pulled out a bottle and a packet. “Vinegar will neutralize the sting.”

“Oh, thank God,” I said. “I thought you were going to have to pee on me.”

The man and I broke out into raucous laughter. “That’s an old wives’ tale, brother. It doesn’t work.”

“Good to know.”

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