Chasing Ever After Read online

  When I was in the water, exploring the sea life and snapping pictures with the underwater camera I’d picked up, I was thankful that I hadn’t missed it. I’d done my best to avoid Ace all morning, and had actually managed to put him from my mind as soon as the guides started instructing us on how to properly use our snorkel gear. Once I hit the water, I was awed by how much there was to see even just a few feet below the surface of the water.

  I kicked my fins and glided through the clear turquoise water, my eyes darting all directions to try and take in every bit of color surrounding me. I went back and forth to the surface, using my camera to snap picture after picture of the different types of coral and all the beautiful, bright fish that swam around it. Just as I getting ready to make another trip to the surface for air, a huge turtle passed directly underneath me. I was close enough to reach out and touch his shell. Instead I just clicked the button on my camera again and then kicked hard toward the surface.

  When my head broke through the water, I sucked in a deep breath through the hose on my mask and gently treaded before diving again. The boat that had brought us to this large cove, floated atop the water about twenty yards out, and I could see a few other heads bobbing above the water, scattered in all directions. I watched as some would dive back below the ocean and others would resurface. There was another boat drifting not far from ours, and all together there were about two dozen people in the water.

  I checked my camera to see how many pictures I had left and then took another deep breath before returning to the depths to explore, which was only about twenty or twenty five feet. I saw Jaxyn and Ky admiring the same turtle I had seen moments before. I swam out a little deeper to see what I could find. I startled a little when I saw an eel dart through the water on my left. Even though I’d been assured that they wouldn’t bother us, it still freaked me out. Like snakes and spiders, their creepiness and my reaction to them was instinctual.

  I felt something slither against my leg and couldn’t help the scream that escaped, and I accidently sucked in a mouth full of salty water. I caught a glimpse of Ace in my peripherals, and realized it was his hand that had brushed against me and not a scary sea creature. Out of oxygen and choking on the ocean water, I had no choice but to quickly kick toward the surface again. I felt him following after me, and as soon as I reached the surface, I immediately tore off my mask and gasped for air as I continued to choke.

  Ace came up right beside and when I saw him laughing through his mask, I glared and reached forward to smack him on the side of the head. He caught my hand though, and his laughter only increased. I yanked it out of his grasp and started splashing water at his face. “You scared the crap out of me, you jerk. I almost drown!”

  He pulled his mouthpiece out and grinned at me. “No, you didn’t, and I wasn’t trying to scare you. It’s not my fault you’re so damn jumpy. Afraid of a little eel?”

  “Shut up! They’re freaky okay, all slithery and evil looking. I’ve seen The Little Mermaid, I know they’re not nice creatures.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “You’re right, you better be careful or they’ll drag you off to the sea witch who will steal your voice and then you’ll never get to tell me how in love with me you really are.”

  Ah, and there it was. He wanted something from me that I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to give him, and I didn’t know what to say to him now, anymore than I had last night.

  “Relax, I’m playing with you. No pressure. Remember, I’ve got all the time in the world to wait for you.” He winked and then grabbed my hand in his. “For now let’s just get back down there, see if we can find Nemo.”

  Right. No pressure. Except that’s not how it felt at all. Like for instance, I was sure as hell feeling the pressure of his hand holding mine, and I liked how it felt, like that’s right where my hand belonged – in his.

  Chapter 7

  Ace

  I’d gotten to her. I’d slipped in past her defenses and shaken her up. I tried not to grin and give away just how much that pleased me, but it was almost impossible not to smile when I had her hand in mine. She fixed her mask and then we both sucked in deep breaths and I dove beneath the surface of the water, pulling her after me. We kicked and slowly glided through the water toward the ocean floor. I knew she’d already seen turtles and a hundred different species of colorful fish, and now she’d even encountered an eel. I wanted to find something cool that would make those gorgeous eyes go wide behind her mask.

  Three trips back to the surface later and I doubted it was going to happen. While the schools of fish and turtles were all unique and like nothing I’d ever seen before, we still hadn’t seen anything that really wowed her. I hadn’t even managed to find Nemo. That little guy was an elusive asshole.

  We returned to the surface and I was starting to get discouraged even though I knew Sadie was having a good time. I looked over at the boat and saw the yellow flag hanging over the side of the boat, signaling fifteen minutes of dive time remained. It didn’t feel like we’d been out here for almost an hour, but we had explored most of the cove. There was just one area left that I wanted to check out. It was closer to the rocks and cliff side. It was the one spot I hadn’t seen many divers go today.

  “Over there.” I pointed.

  Sadie nodded and followed me over. When I put my face in the water to take a quick look around, it didn’t appear very promising. The ocean floor was only about ten feet down and it wasn’t exactly teeming with sea life. Since we were already here I figured we might as well check it out anyway.

  A few small fish, like all the others we’d already seen, darted around, but that was about it. I swam a little further out, but still didn’t discover anything picture worthy. I kicked my fins and propelled myself just a little farther. Still nothing. Just as I was about to give up and return to Sadie so we could make our way to the surface, I spotted something further out. I had to get a little closer to make sure it was what I thought it was. It was. I swam back to where Sadie was sticking her face in the coral like she was just begging some creature to come crawling out of the dark crevices and bite it off. I tugged on her arm to get her attention and we both kicked off toward the surface. I was anxious to get her back down there, in hopes that it would still be there, so I barely gave her any time to suck in a few breaths before I was pulling her back under.

  A few strong kicks swiftly propelled me toward the spot. I looked back and Sadie was just a little ways behind me. I waved her forward eagerly. Once she was next to me, she looked around in confusion. She obviously hadn’t spotted it yet. I pulled her a little closer and then pointed. I knew when she’d finally spotted it, because her eyes did exactly what I’d hoped they would. She yanked her camera up and swam a little closer. I followed her until we were only about three feet from the small, reddish orange octopus on the reef.

  I watched her snap a picture and before she could take another, the little guy pushed up off the reef and ascended until he was floating right in front of her. From his top to the ends of his tentacles he wasn’t much bigger than my hand, but it still made me a little uneasy.

  Can an octopus bite? Yeah, I’m pretty sure they bite. Shit I think they’re venomous too. Little fucker better not bite her.

  Slowly she pulled her camera up to her face and took another picture. He couldn’t have been more than a foot in front of her mask. She dropped the camera that was wrapped around her neck and started to reach her hand out slowly.

  Shit. What the fuck is that crazy girl doing?

  I wanted to shout “don’t touch the poisonous sea creature!” But I couldn’t say anything. I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, hoping she would get my warning. Either she didn’t, or she didn’t care, because she didn’t even look over her shoulder at me. She just continued to reach her arm forward, toward the octopus until he was only inches away from her hand. She left it there and it didn’t seem to bother him. I decided it was a him, because when I narrowed my eyes and gave him a loo
k that said, you better watch it buddy, she’s mine, I swear the little bastard smirked at me. Yeah, I couldn’t even see his mouth, but he fucking smirked. Then I watched, one part fascinated and two parts terrified that it was going to bite her fingers off, as his tentacles spread and then quickly came together, propelling him even closer to her. He loosely wrapped his tentacles around her hand as if to say, screw you, to me.

  I couldn’t believe it and I was just waiting for a sign of pain to pull the little bastard off her, but it didn’t come. I could tell Sadie was running out of air though, and I was as well, but she was reluctant to return to the surface. She slowly kicked upwards, keeping her eyes fixed on the octopus. He remained attached to her hand like it was a lady octopus he wanted to get freaky with. Not fucking happening Squidward. Yeah, I know squids and octopuses aren’t the same thing, but whatever. She continued to rise, and I followed after her, until just the tubes of our masks broke the surface. I kept my face underwater so I could watch them and make sure the little fella didn’t get any ideas.

  With the hand that wasn’t being loved on by the octopus, she started pulling her camera over her neck and I knew what she wanted. She was trying to keep as still as possible so as not to startle him, and once she had the cord untangled from her hair, she handed it over to me. I focused it in on her and snapped the picture, and then had an idea. I swam over and sided up next to her, on the opposite side of the octopus. With the attitude he was throwing off, I didn’t think he would appreciate me up in his space and I didn’t want to have to get into with the little guy. I held the camera out in front of us. Sadie raised her arm up and pulled it in closer so that we could fit all three of us into the shot. I snapped it just in time, because someone splashed in the water not far from us and it must have scared the little guy. Thankfully instead of going into attack mode, he went into flee mode and released her arm and descended back to the safety of his little den under the reef.

  Sadie’s head broke the surface just a second after mine. She was unable to hold back her excitement and yanked her mouthpiece out. “That was amazing!”

  My concern wouldn’t allow me to relish the moment just yet. I took her hand in mine and pulled her arm out of the water to examine for any punctures or scratches. It wasn’t until I was satisfied that she was completely unharmed that I returned her grin. “Yeah, that was pretty awesome.”

  She giggled. “Please, you looked like you were going to have a panic attack.”

  “Only because I was afraid he was going to bite your damn hand off or wrap his tentacles around your face.”

  “Barnaby wouldn’t do that. He’s a friendly octopus.”

  “Yeah, a little too friendly.” I muttered, running a hand over my hair to brush back the loose strands that had escaped the knot. Sadie was watching me intently with amusement dancing in her eyes and a bright smile. “And Barnaby? Seriously? That’s what you’re going to call him?”

  She bit back another giggle. “Yes, Barnaby. It’s a cute name, and he was cute, but what do you mean too friendly.”

  “Those little fuckers are strong. I doubt you would have found him so cute if he got those tentacles wrapped around your head and started humping your face off. I don’t know if I could’ve pulled him off.” She threw her head back as her amusement bubbled up and out of her in a deep, rich laughter. I didn’t get to hear it nearly often enough.

  “Oh my gosh, you’re so ridiculous.”

  “You didn’t see the way his beady little eyes were looking at you, and he did not like me. I’m surprised he didn’t piss all over you.” She just laughed again. “You know what, fine, next time a perverted sea creature wants to have his naughty way with you, I might not come to your rescue.”

  “Whatever.” She smacked the water, sending a spray right at my face. I splashed her back, then she practically jumped on top of me, dunking my head before taking off, laughing, toward the boat. She was quick, but not quick enough. In just a few strokes I was caught up with her, and tugged on her leg, dragging her backward through the water.

  “I don’t think so sweetheart.” I winked and then dunked her under the water and left her sputtering while I raced toward the boat. I could hear her calling me dirty names, not far behind me, but I still beat her back to the boat and climbed aboard. I offered my hand out to her, but when she took it, I just couldn’t resist pulling her up part way and then tossing her back in the water. If looks could kill, my body would have been shark bait at the bottom of the ocean. I chuckled as she glared at me and pulled herself up, mumbling that I was a dirty rotten cheater and a jerk. I didn’t bother to remind her that she had dunked me and tried to cheat first.

  After she removed her snorkel gear, she went and sat next to Jaxyn, who had Izzy on her lap, while we waited for the last of our group to return to the boat. Just to irritate her, I went and cozied up to her other side. She stiffened next to me, but other than that, didn’t acknowledge me. I couldn’t help the smirk that I knew was plastered across my face. It was just too much fun screwing with her. She got over it on the ride back when she was telling everyone about our octopus adventure. The smile she flashed me when she was telling them about Barnaby was even cuter than the angry face I loved seeing every time I provoked her.

  We were cruising through the water, not quite half way back, when Izzy shouted, “shark shark!” and started pointing off the side of the boat. Sure enough there was a dorsal fin skimming through the water, but then more and more started appearing, and I was pretty sure they didn’t look like sharks. Izzy squealed when one jumped above the water, confirming that it was in fact a pod of dolphins. The captain stopped the boat, and a few the dolphins came right up to the side of our small water craft. Everyone was snapping pictures, and I thought we were going to have to hold all the girls back to keep them from jumping in the water. Thankfully the captain made it clear no one was allowed out of the boat in this part of the water, but he did let us stay and watch them.

  Two dolphins came right up next to Sadie and Jax, so they were able to stick their hands over the side and touch them before they rejoined the rest of the pod. I managed to snap a picture on my phone of Sadie with her fingers touching Flipper’s nose. She didn’t notice and I decided to keep it to myself and print one off for her later as a surprise. We all kept a sharp lookout the rest of the ride back to the marina, but there were no more dolphin sightings, and we didn’t spot any whales or sharks either like I was hoping to.

  It was late in the afternoon by the time we returned to the hotel and we had the rest of the day to ourselves. As much as I wanted to drag Sadie off with me somewhere because I hadn’t gotten to spend nearly enough time with her, I knew it would be better to back off and give her some space. Just a little.

  The next morning Jax and Ky took off for some romantic cruise around all of the islands. The rest of us had five days left at the resort and I was going to make the most of them. Spade and I managed to talk the rest of the group into taking surf lessons that day, and then the girls wanted to do one of the island hikes another day, which actually ended up being pretty amazing.

  We spent a lot of time just chilling on the beach though. It was nice to have so much time to relax. No rushing from city to city to perform, no tour buses, not as many groupies hounding us, no meetings with the label, and fewer phone calls from our agent. I didn’t mind all that stuff usually, but it was nice to have a break to get refreshed and recharged.

  The only complication arose when we were in one of the shops downtown and saw pictures from the wedding covering some of the tabloids. Obviously one of the guests had leaked the pictures. The article inside named the source who provided an interview about the event as well, and it wasn’t that big of a shocker. We called Ky right away to give him and Jax a heads up, but they’d already seen the pictures. Mateo had also already called him to apologize since his date was the one responsible. Ky said Jax took it all pretty well and wasn’t too upset about it, even though they’d wanted the event to remain private
.

  If anything Sadie was the most upset, but I didn’t understand why. She appeared in several of the pictures, but none of them were embarrassing or awkward. She looked beautiful in all of them, and the only thing that was printed about her was her first name, listed among the wedding party, so I didn’t quite understand her reaction. I figured it must be because it was her first time seeing herself pictured in a magazine. I could still remember how surreal it had been for me the first time I saw myself on the cover of one. Now I just didn’t give a shit. I hardly even paid attention to them and the crap they liked to write about us, anymore. We spent the remainder of the afternoon, shopping and then lounging by the pool back at the resort. I couldn’t help but notice that it did nothing for Sadie’s sullen mood. Something was weighing on her.

  Whatever it was though, she seemed to be over it by the next morning. It was our last day and I actually managed to convince her to come on an adventure with me and Spade. She was reluctant because I wouldn’t tell her what we were doing, but her curiosity got the best of her. I told her to pack her swimsuit and camera, but that was it. We’d invited the rest of the guys as well, but they’d pretty much said no fucking way. Cowards.

  It didn’t take Sadie long to figure out what we were up to when we boarded the boat and she saw the equipment at the back of the boat. “Oh hell no!” She started to climb right back off the boat, but Spade blocked her path and I grabbed her arm.

  “Wait, wait. You don’t have to do it. I just wanted you to come with us. I promise it’s safe though if you do want to try.” She looked skeptical.

  “He’s right miss. We guarantee your safety. Nothing will happen to you. The bars on the cages are reinforced steel, and most sharks aren’t as aggressive as movies and TV make them out to be.”

  “I don’t know.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and I watched her internally debate how crazy this was.