I smirked as Evelyn blushed. She was already getting other men’s attention. She deserved the flattery.
“Thank you, sir.”
He winked at her. “Call me Ray.”
She smiled back and nodded.
He blinked as if realizing other people were around. “Rule number two is…” He trailed off, waiting for another reply.
Mags threw her hand up. “Practice safe ascents!”
My eyes shifted to her. She looked like a fucking water nymph. Her blonde hair was bouncy, and the golden locks shimmered in the sun. The black wetsuit clung to every curve on her body, and her green eyes were bright and excited. The gash had started to heal already and had mostly closed up. The bruising had turned more yellow and blended with her sun-kissed skin. Her bottom lip was still puffy, but it gave her a pouty look that made me want to kiss her.
My heart dropped. Magnolia wasn’t mine to kiss. She had Declan. I pulled my gaze away from her and back to the instructor. Although, Declan hadn’t come with her for scuba diving. Maybe he had a fear of the ocean or something—not that I cared.
The instructor snapped his fingers and pointed at her, helping me focus on what he was saying. “Almost as important as the first rule is to make sure you ascend slowly and safely at all times. If divers exceed the safe ascent rate, the nitrogen absorbed into the bloodstream at depth won’t have time to dissolve back into solution as the pressure decreases on the way to the surface. Bubbles form in the bloodstream, leading to decompression sickness. To avoid this, just maintain a rate of ascent no faster than thirty feet per minute. Which will be easy considering we will only be diving a hundred feet down. A general rule of thumb for those without a computer is to ascend no faster than their smallest bubble.”
“Can you go over the acronym again?” Faith asked, leaning on Asher.
He nodded. “Great idea. The five-point ascent: Signal, Time, Elevate, Look, Ascend. It’s STELA. Third rule?”
“Check your gear,” Asher said.
“Why?” he asked.
John cleared his throat. “Underwater, survival depends upon our equipment. We need to keep an eye on our buddies' equipment too.”
Jamie raised her hand. “Who’s our buddies?”
His jaw went slack. “Shit, sorry, guys. I forgot to pair you. Alright, the two getting married will be paired.” He pointed at Faith and Asher. “The couple will be together.” He pointed at Jamie and John. “You two will be together.” He pointed between me and Mags, causing my chest to flutter. “And you…” He smiled at Eve. “Will be with me.”
She nodded shyly in return. “Next rule is to dive within your limits, right?” Eve wrung her hands together.
He nodded. “Above all, remember that diving should be fun. Never put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. If you aren’t physically or mentally capable of going further, call it. You need to be aware of your buddies’ limits as well. Have a motion to not go further if you need to. Like a safe word for underwater.”
Mags stepped over to me with a hesitant smile. I smiled back. “Ready for this?”
She nodded. “I’m pretty excited.”
The instructor went over the equipment one more time before allowing us to jump in the water. Mags reached out and grabbed my hand, sending tingles through me. “Let’s do this.”
We bent our knees and jumped into the cool sea. Our bodies broke the surface of the water and swam up. The water moved around our limbs in swirls, creating a buoyancy. We put our masks on and checked our equipment before starting to descend.
The water was exceptionally clear this far out in the ocean. It was impossible to gauge the depth. Our group stayed within the same area, and following Ray’s lead, we descended a hundred feet to the bottom.
At the bottom of the sea, it was bewitching, like being in a different world. Schools of bright-hued fish and strange sea flowers decorated the sand floor. This deep in the sea, even with the wet suit, I could feel the temperature of the water drop.
My body had no weight. I could glide in any direction without fear of falling. My senses were altered; the sounds were lazy and the light was gentle. And what could I think about during the new experience? Not exploring the bottom of the sea but exploring the body of the woman in front of me. Mags moved her limbs against the water, and her hair moved behind her. She was a goddess, and I wanted to worship the woman in the one way I knew I could.
She pointed down toward something, and I followed her gaze. In the beam of my headlight, the coral was dusky pink with pale blue nodules. A smile broke under my mask, which was hard with the mouthpiece.
The coral was brimming with seahorses. Their angled heads and tubular mouths bobbed and swayed in the current. Their transparent fins moved in waving motions. We waved our arms to signal the others. They swam over to us and the instructor pulled out a camera, snapping some photos of the seahorses.
As we were engrossed with them, a dolphin made an appearance. He had a shiny grey topside and whiter underbelly. He swam close to us and Ray held out a hand. The dolphin nuzzled it and swam around to demand pets from all of us. I could see the happiness in Mags’ eyes as she touched the slick skin of the Dolphin.
A few moments later, the Dolphin swam away, and Ray signaled for us to follow him back to the surface. We stopped every thirty feet with him before reaching the surface.
Once we broke through the water, we boarded the boat. I tore off my mask and sucked the oxygen in. “That was fucking
