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“Well, isn’t that interesting?”
“What?” I glanced at the book, nothing exciting to read there.
“Spotted Bea is hanging out with D pod.”
He spoke in a language I didn’t understand.
Landon grabbed his radio and relayed this over to the other guy on the other end.
When he finished, he spoke to me with excitement ripe on the tip of his tongue. “Pacific greys don’t always stay with their same pods—or families—for their whole lives so it’s neat to see them in a new group.”
“They’re quite social?”
“Very.”
A spout of water blew behind us, and we quickly spun around. I grabbed the windshield for support.
“Look.”
I inched over but I didn’t need to look too far. Right under the water, not five feet from the boat was a whale. It was swimming slowly by, its eye staring up at us.
“Who… is it?” A desperate urge to scream straggled me, however, there was no need to frighten the whale and have it ram the boat, sending us to our deaths. I froze in my seat, as it was probably best to not move either.
Landon’s matched mine in volume although there was way more passion in his. “I’d need to see the tail. But how cool is this?”
I nodded. It was neat, but the most fascinating part was watching Landon. His animation was palpable and raw, and never once did the smile leave his face. Although I was not feeling the greatest, it was hard to not be pulled under his spell. Under the grey and dreary skies, he beamed like a ray of light. In all my life, I’d never known someone so in love with their job. It was mesmerizing to watch.
A couple of seasick hours later, we docked at the marina and, finally, I was walking on solid ground, even if it still felt wobbly beneath my feet. I could’ve kissed the wooden boards.
“Thanks for the tour. Not only was it amazing, but it was educational too.” I looked into Landon’s grey eyes.
“Thanks for trusting me enough to join me. It was a sweet trade.”
“No, that was unorthodox. The trade was clearly in my favour. At the very least, I owe you another cookie.” I winked and ascended the ramp back to the parking lot.
“You’re feeling better?”
I was now that I was back on solid ground, the fear had washed away, and my stomach was settling.
“I take that head bob as a yes?”
“Sorry, yes.” I unclipped the top buckle of my life preserver. “I’m feeling much better. Erin says I have so many thoughts running through my head that some escape and I’ll vocalise them, but the others stay silent. I’m never a hundred percent sure ones which actually do see the light of day.”
It was such a bad habit. I often thought I was speaking, but half the time it turned out it was only in my head. A little embarrassing most of the time.
“Can’t wait to see that in action.” He smiled, but this time it was less devilishly endearing, and more like a shy grin which magically increased his charm appeal ten-fold.
“My life jacket. Can you help?” I was struggling with unclipping the bottom two.
He bridged the already minimal distance between us and put his hand on the second buckle, pinching it with ease to release.
As I got lost in his blue-grey eyes turning all shades of serious, he undid the last one, and I felt like I’d been uncaged.
I inhaled and stared at the embroidered logo on his polo shirt. “Thanks again. For today.”
“You’re welcome.” His breath was warm as he pushed the life jacket off my shoulders, his thumbs grazing along my collarbone.
“I’m sure I’ll see you around.” Breathless, I inched back, not because I wanted to, but because I felt I should.
