Page 197 of Banter & Blushes

I laugh too. “You’re not wrong.” I reach out a hand to help her up, but I’m laughing too hard to brace myself and end up slipping down beside her.

We’re both a mess now, covered in mud and grinning like idiots.

“Please tell me you’re not filming this,” she gasps.

“Sadly, no. But I’m committing it to memory so I can tell this story at your wedding someday.”

She pauses, her smile softening. “Only if I get to do the same at yours.”

Something passes between us.

Then she throws a handful of mud at my arm. “You’re never living this down, by the way.”

We rinse off in the swimming hole, the water cool and crystal clear. Briella lets out a happy sigh as she dips beneath the surface, her hair fanning around her like a scene from a mermaid movie. When she pops back up, she splashes me. I dodge the first, but the second hits me square in the face.

I charge forward and dunk her gently, her squeal echoing through the trees.

When she comes up, breathless and laughing, she splashes me again, and we chase each other through the shallows like a pair of kids at summer camp.

She slips once, and I catch her by the wrist. For a second, we’re frozen like that—her hand in mine, her chest rising and falling with laughter.

I could kiss her right now.

I want to.

But instead, I let go.

Because if I kiss her now—and she doesn’t kiss me back—this whole perfect day could disappear.

And I’m not ready for it to end.

CHAPTER 7

BRIELLA

Idon’t know what I expected when Reid said we were going scuba diving, but it definitely wasn’t this.

“This wetsuit is eating me alive,” I mutter, tugging at the neck. “Why do people do this for fun?”

“You look great,” Reid says, trying and failing to zip his own suit. “Like a stylish sea cucumber.”

I burst out laughing. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Bennett.”

He grins and holds out a hand. “Ready to live a little?”

I want to be. I really do, but I’m nervous. I’ve never been scuba diving before, and the instructor Reid found is giving us a crash course before our first dive. Doesn’t seem safe to me, but the man assured me it is.

Once we are suited up and on the boat, the captain takes us out into a small cove and drops anchor. The boat rocks gently beneath us as our instructor gives the safety briefing. Air tanks, breathing regulators, hand signals . . . At first, I nod along, faking confidence. But the moment I slip the mask over my face and try to breathe through the regulator, panic tightens around my chest like a vice.

I do my best to power through it, getting used to the unusual feel of sucking in breaths. After a few minutes, the instructor helps me into an air tank and off the side of the boat for the in-water portion of the crash course. He demonstrates what I’m supposed to do next by pulling his mask away from his face, letting it fill with water, blowing the water back out and sucking in a breath to reseal the mask. He makes it look so easy.

Hepoints to me, motioning for me to give it a try. Here goes nothing. I pull the mask away from my face, watching as water fills the once dry space. I blow hard, pushing the water away, and snap the mask back down, inhaling . . . a bunch of water. That’s it. I can’t do this. I kick to the surface, ripping the mask off and making my way back to the boat.

I’m having a full-on panic attack.

“Hey,” Reid says as I reach the boat. “You okay?”

I shake my head. “No. I almost died!”

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