Page 95 of Teach Me Your Ways

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CECE

Ipoked at my oatmeal, the spoon scraping against the bowl. The fresh blueberries I had tossed in mine burst in my mouth. Lina sat across from me, her arms crossed and her lips pressed into a thin line. She reminded me of Sophie. Actually pouting.

And just like I always told Sophie, you choose to eat and you choose to be hungry. Lina hadn’t said much since last night, but her silence was louder than any complaint she could’ve mustered. She wanted someone to ask her what was wrong. Needed someone to give her the attention she was obviously desperate for. It wasn’t going to come from me.

I did not play that game. And I sure as hell didn’t play it with a grown woman. She was a year younger than me and acting like a petulant child. I came out on the dive to be with adults. If I wanted to watch a brat push blueberries around their bowl, I could have stayed home.

Grady was at the head of the table, his focus on his phone in one hand and his cup of coffee in the other. I knew he was looking at the weather report. I had checked and it looked fine. Felix, ever the peacemaker, was chattering about the chest we found and his hopes for finding more pirate booty. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to diffuse the tension or just ignoring it altogether.

“So,” Felix said, glancing around the table. “Looks like we’re in for another perfect day. Clear skies, calm waters. Those are ideal conditions for diving.”

I nodded absently, my mind already on the wreck. What we had found yesterday was just the beginning. There had to be more. If that chest was still there and intact, it was unlikely anyone else had dived on it. We were bound to find more artifacts and clues about the ship and its crew. I could feel it in my bones, that electric pull of discovery that made my heart race and my palms itch.

“Cece.” Grady’s voice cut through my thoughts, sharp and commanding. I looked up, his eyes on mine. “You good?”

“Just ready to get back out there.”

There was a flash of heat in his eyes but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. “Good. We’ll head out in five. Everyone gear up.”

I rinsed my bowl and left it in the sink to take care of after the dive. I was wearing my usual cargo pants with my swimsuit underneath. Lina was in her typical getup. I would be too afraid to wear something like that under my wetsuit. Peeling off the wetsuit was hard enough without worrying about pulling a string or accidentally flashing the world. No nip slips for me.

I slung my pack over my shoulder and joined the others. We walked down the dock with Felix and Grady leading the way. I couldn’t help but admire Grady’s bare back. He was only wearing a pair of shorts and his water shoes. All that wide expanse of back muscle was making me hot to trot.

He was older and I wasn’t normally attracted to men his age but fuck me. His defined muscles and deep tanned skin proved age was just a number. That man’s body was a work of art. I wished I would have had more time to study it up close. With my tongue.

“Hello? Did you hear me?”

I blinked and looked over at Lina. “What?”

Good god. Was I drooling? I wiped my mouth just in case.

“Are you going to stick with me or ditch me again?” Lina asked.

“I’ll do my best,” I said, choosing not to tell her she was the one who had abandoned me the day before. I didn’t want to argue.

Grady reached out to help us into the boat. We all suited up, anxious to get to the fun of exploring. The captain took us back to the wreck while we talked about the plan. Instead of going in the wreckage, we were going to survey the outside and surrounding area. It was very likely time had scattered other bits and pieces than the chest I’d found.

Felix, Lina, and I circled each wreckage piece. I hovered thirty feet off, kicking through schools of fish that swam around the structure. It was a beautiful day. Streams of sunlight provided some light. Grady was slowly moving through the water back and forth in a grid pattern. Felix took pictures of every inch along the sea floor. Lina was ahead, scooping silt from crevices, insistent on uncovering something no one else had. Good for her, I thought.

I checked my depth gauge. All good. Twenty-eight feet. Normal. Controlled. Safe. We weren’t doing enough to stir anything up. I swam past a cannon embedded in seaweed. There were no human remains visible, thankfully. I brushed my hand along the wood. The idea of touching history was so incredible to me. I loved it.

Swimming around a broken plank, I realized Lina wasn’t near me any longer. I hadn’t seen her in a bit, actually. My hand instinctively reached for my tank valve. Had she already resurfaced and went to lay out on the deck? I still wasn’t sure why she insisted on being in the field. It clearly didn’t interest her. I wondered if it was pressure from her family or something. Or maybe it was just something to brag about on social media.

I slowly turned and scanned the area. Grady was on the opposite side of the ship, studying something. I moved ever so slowly to avoid stirring up the silt. Speaking of which, there was a plume of silt drifting near a gap in the ship’s exterior, at the stern part of the wreck.

I glanced back at Felix; he was peering at something on his wrist monitor. He looked calm and completely unaware of what I was pretty sure I knew what was happening. The plume wasn’t natural drift; someone had disturbed the seabed. Surely not me. And not Grady. My breath clipped as clarity knocked the wind from me.

Lina had gone inside.

We’d gone over the rules multiple times. No one was supposed to be diving inside. And even if we did, it was buddy system or bust. The fearful voices in my head screamed as I realized the danger. She was breaking the rules. She was risking everything.

Stupid fucking girl.

She was so jealous that I had found something cool and she didn’t. Now, she was risking her life.

I flicked my flashlight beam at Grady, which grabbed his attention. He frowned and gave me a “what’s up?” gesture. I signaled frantically, gesturing to the silt cloud. I saw the second he realized me and Felix were visible but not Lina.