Chapter 11
Michael toweled himself off after getting out of the water and back onto the catamaran. He spotted Ambra over by the bar. She was chatting with the bartender when she lifted her brown eyes and narrowed them at him. He grinned and burst into laughter, remembering why he had earned that look from her.
They had been given snorkeling gear to explore the water and look at the aquatic life below. While swimming around the boat and other snorkelers, he ended up floating near one of the male crew members, who was surrounded by Ambra and some of the other guests as he talked about the water, the wreck down below, and the turtles, explaining how they would soon be coming to the surface, as he was going to drop food in the water for them.
Michael couldn’t resist and had dived under to Ambra’s legs and feet in the water, sinking his teeth gently into her flesh. This caused her to thrash and scream in fear. He then gripped her ankle as she tried to swim away, pulling her down.
He almost drowned because he was laughing so hard and swallowed so much salt water. When Ambra realized what was going on, she tried to finish him off by drowning him. But she got pulled away by one of the crew members and helped back to the boat with the rest of the people who had panicked in the water when she had let out that blood-curling scream.
As Michael resurfaced, he received some sour looks from several of the guests, while others grinned at his antics. He then turned and enjoyed the turtles that had finally broken the surface; he was in awe of how big and majestic they were.
They were now all back on board, and the Soca music was pumping out of the speakers on board the boat. Michael felt free and relaxed, and he vowed to come back to this beautiful island and the people here. He had been made to feel welcome by the locals everywhere he and Ambra had gone.
He walked up to the bar, hooking his arm around Ambra’s waist, and then leaned over to the bartender to order rum and coke instead of his usual drink. He eyed the mojito that Ambra was now drinking after having tried it earlier in the afternoon at the Rum place. She had liked the white rum, and they had bought a couple of bottles to take back with them.
Michael leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Having fun?”
She gave him a look and snorted. “I was, but then someone decided to prank me. Just wait. Payback will be a bitch,” she promised but then broke out in a grin. “That scream was horrendous, but I thought Jaws had me.”
He laughed. “No, just a love bite from your admirer. I couldn’t resist.”
He walked them out to the mesh at the front of the catamaran and laid out their towels. They sat down, looking out over the water that they were moving through.
Ambra leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed contentedly.
“Have I told you I like your hair curly this way? Didn’t know it was naturally that way.”
“Full of surprises, aren’t I? Yes, my hair is naturally curly, but I was used to straightening it all the time, except when I was on vacation and at the beach. Just easier to maintain this way.”
“I like both. You could be bald, and I would find you beautiful,” he said and kissed her forehead.
She looked up, surprised. “Do you? I...you never told me you found me beautiful,” she whispered.
“Yes, I always thought you were, but like I said, before we were best friends. I have come to realize and admit to myself that I had to force myself to see you like that in order for us to remain platonic. Like you, I didn’t want to lose the friend that I had by complicating it, especially when we were teenagers.” He shrugged.
Then he lifted her chin and planted a kiss on her mouth “But now as adults, we can handle both the friendship and the new relationship budding between us. I am very serious about us Ambra; I need you to understand and remember what I said and how we feel about each other, whatever happens when we get back. Okay?”
“What? What’s wrong.” She could sense that there was something he was not telling her.
“Nothing that can’t wait till we get home. Okay?”
“Michael—”
Something silver jumped out of the water, catching his attention.
“Look sweetheart! It’s flying fish.”
Ambra turned to see what he was looking at and sat up straighter. Then she looked back at him with a face filled of wonder. “Amazing! Wow, this is so incredible, first turtles and now getting to see these small fish jumping out of the water.”
They moved closer to the side of the boat and watched as some fish fluttered up and back down, until the boat moved past them. They lay down and closed their eyes to the heat of the sun. When the catamaran turned around to head home, they changed back into their clothes. The lights came on when the sun had gone down, and the music started pumping as people danced and drank, creating a fun atmosphere that Michael wished they could take back with them. His jaw clenched tight when he thought about the mess waiting for them at home.