He smiles and shakes his head. Ethan is captivated by it.
“See that fish over there?” Weston points in the distance. “That’s the white spotted guitarfish. It’s kind of a mix between a shark and a stingray. Fascinating, isn’t it?”
“Yes, very fascinating indeed.”
He cocks a brow. “Are you being smart again?”
I laugh. “Kind of.”
He presses his mouth against my ear. “I think I should give you a spanking later. For being such a little brat.”
I smile.Yes, please.
“No seriously, I’m loving this. It’s like a party for my eyes.”
He raises a brow. “Are you being snarky again, Grasshopper?”
I laugh. “Maybe a little.” I lean into him and whisper, “I want to be naughty and get spanked again.”
He bites his lip and twitches.
* * *
“The best is still coming,”Weston tells me as we leave the Coral Reef exhibition. “Ethan will love it.”
“What is it?” I ask, curious.
“You’ll see.”
I’m very eager to see.
Until we get there.
“Hell, no.”
Weston shrugs. “What?”
“No way I’m touching a stingray.”
“It’s fun,” he says, as if there’s nothing to worry about. “Just try it.”
“No,” I say, resolute.
“Ethan will like it,” he insists.
“I don’t want him to touch them either.”
Weston shakes his head. “You’re being ridiculous, Gretchen.”
He takes my hand and leads me to the shallow stingray touch pool. Dozens of them are swimming around, just waiting to sting me.
My pulse races.
“First of all, these are the most docile of stingrays there are. They were especially chosen.”
“Oh, yeah. They’re friendly, are they? If I told you a Grizzly bear was very docile and super nice, would you still want to pet him?”
He laughs. “The tail spines are ground off… they’re short and not sharp at all. They can’t sting you. Here watch…”
