Page 35 of Enemies to Lovers

If he wanted to see me again, he would have told me, wouldn’t he?

Hope

Don’t be so passive!

I think you played it cool

Leave him wanting more, you know?

Me

So I did it right?

Hope

There is no ‘right’

What are you guys doing today?

Me

Family snorkelling.

We literally just got here, flippers and all!

You?

Hope

Going to bed – it was another all-nighter! I’m watching theBlueywhere Bandit gets a mullet.

It’s calming me down

I’ll text later!

Down on the beach, we dump all our rented snorkel stuff on a big blanket.

‘Is this sanitary?’ asks Alex, squinting at it. ‘I mean, I get renteddivinggear, but a rented snorkel? Have we hosed all this down with disinfectant?’

Laurie reaches over to ruffle Alex’s hair teasingly and says, ‘It’s salt water out there, isn’t it? That’s a disinfectant.’

‘Hmmm,’ muses Alex, pushing him off. ‘I don’t think you understand how transmission works.’

‘Oh, take a day off,’ pooh-poohs Laurie. ‘We’ll be fine! The guy I got this off said it’s so worth it. We just have to be careful not to go too far out, because apparently the water gets tricky up there around the other bay. Not that any of us are strong enough swimmers to get out that far.’

‘Hey!’ I say. ‘I am PhD-qualified when it comes to the ocean, remember?’

‘Writing about it,’ Laurie points out. ‘Not swimming in it.’

‘Can’t tempt you into a competition then,’ Jamie asks, shielding his eyes from the sun with a big hand and surveying the sea. If I took a picture of him, he could go in a swimwear catalogue. ‘I reckon I could get to that island out there. I’ll bet there’s all sorts around. You can see how it gets deep for a bit, but then shallows out, where the water gets clearer again.’

‘I don’t wantanyof you going out that far,’ Mum chastises him. ‘You might be grown-ups, but you’re all my babies, and that is too far for a non-Olympian. Got it?’

We all look at each other with suppressed smiles. There’s something about a parent putting their foot down when you’re no longer a child. It’s … quaint.

‘Yes, boss,’ Jamie salutes, and the rest of us grumble, ‘Okay, Mum.’

‘Anyone for sustenance before the grand adventure?’ Dad offers. ‘I brought down sandwiches and crisps, and some fizzy pop?’

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