Page 25 of Head First
I almost confronted Hugh about it, wanting to know why he felt the need to distinguish between Millie’s job and his job, but I didn’t want him to know it bothered me. The last thing I need is for him to realise how much of my brain space he’s taking up.
‘Stinger suits on!’ barks Vanessa, bringing me back to the present moment. She gets more spirited and bossier with every passing hour, which I find to be a huge relief because the further we are from shore, the less confident I feel in myself. I hurry downstairs to put my brush away, my braids bouncing against my back as I go.
I’m barely back upstairs when Vanessa’s voice rings out again.
‘Miguel, you’re with me now,’ she yells in Miguel’s direction.
I pause with my stinger suit halfway up my torso. If Vanessa is with Miguel, then . . . I look around and see Hugh staring at me.
‘Pippa,’ I say in my sweetest voice. Her stinger suit was hung up next to mine and she has one hand on the railing and the other trying to yank her foot through the ankle hole. ‘Are you partnering with Andrew for this dive?’
Pippa laughs. ‘Unfortunately, yes. No one else wants to partner with the one person who can’t get their buoyancy figured out.’
‘Great!’ I say, false cheer emanating from my throat. I look in Hugh’s direction again, but he’s gone.
I scurry over to the scuba tanks as fast as I can. I catch the tail end of Hugh’s conversation with Vanessa, which I’m positive is him trying to convince her that they should be dive buddies. He is giving her a smouldering look that I’ve never seen before. His hands are gripping the railing, and his forearms are bulging. He smiles at her, flashing his straight square white teeth. There’s no denying it, he looks hot. Vanessa seems strong-willed, but this might break her.
‘Sorry!’ she trills in her sing-song Italian accent. ‘First dive was an exception. Instructors are usually paired with each other, it’s easier for us to keep an eye on the whole group when we’re not worried about our buddies.’
‘Dang it!’ I mutter under my breath. Both turn to look at me.
‘Millie! Perfect! You two, together,’ Vanessa commands, pointing at me and Hugh.
Miguel catches my eye and mouths something that looks like an apology, shrugging sheepishly in Vanessa’s direction.
Reluctantly, I sit next to Hugh on the bench and we strap ourselves into our life vests. His expression is serious, like he’s gone into work mode. We go through the motions, checking to make sure our air tanks are full and testing our regulators. Then, without speaking, we both turn towards each other to perform the buddy checks.
I wrap my fingers underneath Hugh’s jacket straps and yank down to make sure they’re snug. I can feel the heat from his body through his stinger suit. He’s as still as a statue, and I yank a bit harder than I have to, seeing if it’ll break his flat expression, but he doesn’t react. I check his air pressure. I press on his regulator and his backup. I inflate and deflate his BCD. I try to be collected and professional, but I’m terrified I’ll miss a step and he’ll notice. When I finally drop my hands and settle back onto the bench, Hugh reaches over to begin his check.
‘Regulator,’ he says, pressing the button. He’s murmuring in a low voice, and it sends chills up my spine.
‘Air pressure.’ He picks up the gauge and his fingers brush my waist.
‘BCD.’ He slides his fingers into the space between the strap and my chest. His face is so close to mine I can count the freckles on his perfectly sloped nose. I stop breathing. He’s moving excruciatingly slow, like he can sense my discomfort.
‘You don’t have to be so thorough.’ My voice comes out of my throat in a low growl.
‘Just because I don’t respect your work doesn’t mean I want something to happen to you,’ Hugh murmurs back, ‘then I’d have to be the one to drag your body to the surface, and it’d be a whole big hassle . . .’ His voice is gravelly but has a teasing note. I stare out at the water, aching to jump in and clear my head to shake off this encounter. How can I be attracted to him and so aggravated by him at the same time?
‘A hassle,’ I muse, unable to resist calling him out. ‘Not a loss though, especially considering I’m just someone who works in a lab. We’re not the same kind of marine biologist. You arefarmore important.’
Hugh’s eyebrows raise in surprise as he processes my comment.
He glances at Andrew. ‘That isn’t what I meant,’ he says in a low voice. ‘We just have a different attitude towards the field. Don’t act like you haven’t realised that.’
‘No, we do n—’
‘You guys ready?’ asks Vanessa, interrupting me.
‘All good!’ Hugh says suddenly, snapping back into his normal voice. He straightens up and straps on his mask.
‘Yep. All good,’ I say, but Hugh’s already walking towards the break in the railing. In one swift motion, he sits on the bench and leans backwards, catapulting head first into the calm water in a perfectly executed backflip. I follow, feet first, like Miguel taught me. Hugh’s presence is driving me insane.Different attitudes? What does that even mean?I take a giant step into the ocean thinking:Focus, Andi, you cannot let Millie down. Hugh is playing games with you, and you promised yourself no distractions.
But all I can think about when I pop up in the water is how badly I want to continue our conversation. And how impossibly good Hugh’s hair looks when it’s slicked back with seawater.
Chapter 10
Our group hits the mooring line in unison. We’re faster and more efficient than before, largely due to Derek having his camera assembled ahead of time. We descend. Andrew can’t control his buoyancy, again, and Vanessa does the same thumbs-down motion, prompting both Hugh and I to laugh. We watch the bubbles escape out of each other’s masks. I like the way his cheeks scrunch up when he smiles. But then Hugh’s voice echoes in my head, telling me I’ll never find the wrasse, and my smile vanishes.
