Page 23 of Cruising with You

He laughs, then tugs me along. “Come on, Pretty Girl. If you keep stroking my ego like that, you’ll miss the dolphin encounter completely, and Gem might never forgive me for it.”

Rushing to catch up, Aayla leads us the rest of the way to our destination before handing each of us a life jacket, while Gem gives me a knowing look that she doesn’t even bother to hide from Gage. Ignoring her, I focus on Aayla as she explains the safety precautions she’ll be enforcing, then dives right into the fun part.

With a whistle resting between her lips, our fearless leader steps off the surrounding boardwalk and down a small set of stairs that leads to a submerged metal platform beneath the water. It brings the salty ocean up to her ribs, while the actual depth of the lagoon is much deeper and is perfect for the dolphins to let loose and swim to their heart’s content. Once she’s in place, Aalya breathes into the whistle. The high-pitched sound makes my ears ring but is quickly forgotten as a dolphin swims over to her. My heart is racing a million beats a minute, but I try to keep my expression calm.

Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. And don’t freaking cry because you’re so excited. And nervous. And excited. And…nervous.

I gulp.

“This is baby girl JoJo,” Aayla informs us. “Can you say hi, JoJo?”

A soft gray dolphin pops out of the water and squeaks before nodding its head up and down. She looks like she has a giant grin painted on her face, and it’s absolutely contagious. Like a little bunny, I catch myself bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet at the prospect of actually touching this giant sea dog.

“Who would like to go first?” Aayla asks.

Gage nudges me forward. “Nora would. Wouldn’t you, Nora?”

I give him a playful glare over my shoulder before nodding at Aayla. “Um…okay. Sure.”

“He yours?” she asks while delivering a pointed look at Gage.

“Uh….” I follow her gaze. “Yes?”

For a few more days, anyway.

“Bring him too.”

Waving me over, Aayla waits until I’m beside her on the platform, then motions to my right. “You stand here,” she orders Gage.

He scoots behind me while grabbing my hips to keep me in place so that I don’t fall off the edge and into the deep part of the ocean. Once he’s safely on my right, Gage releases his hold but not before sneakily squeezing my butt.

As I give him a dirty look, he winks, then lifts his chin as if to say,pay attention.

Grudgingly, I look back at Aayla. With a satisfied nod, she tells JoJo to swim slowly in front of us, using her hands to give the command.

“Pet her,” she encourages us. “Feel how soft she is.”

Reaching out, I rub my hand along the dolphin’s white belly and gasp at how cool she feels. Aayla’s right. JoJo is smooth and rubbery and so freaking cool that my eyes are open wide as I turn to Gage and mouth,This is so cool.

Then Aayla instructs, “Perfect. Now, hold out your hands. When JoJo comes up to you, grab her fins. She loves to dance.”

My nerves are already a frazzled mess, but I follow her orders and sway back and forth with a freaking dolphin as soon as JoJo’s head pops out of the water and I have a decent grip on her flippers.

Then it’s Gage’s turn. And he handles the situation with much less giggling but just as much enthusiasm.

Seriously, this is the coolest thing ever.

“Now, you kiss our friend here,” Aayla informs me.

“Who me?” Gage interjects. “I mean, if you insist.” Reaching around my waist, he pulls me into him, but I shove him away with a playful push.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I thought you said I was charming,” he rebukes.

“Only when you’re drunk,” I reply just as quickly.

“She meant the dolphin, Gage. I already gave you two minutes, remember? Now keep it in your swim shorts. I want a turn too!” Gem interjects.

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