NautiCal (Forever Wilde 8)

“God, there’s nothing better,” Cal groaned. A drop of juice balanced delicately on his lip until it lost the fight with gravity and slid down his chin.

Everyone else went back to talking about what they’d seen on the dive, except Prescott. When I turned around to reach for another slice of fruit, I saw Prescott’s eyes locked on Cal. Pres had stripped off his wet suit for the surface interval and right there, plain as day, was an obvious Cal-boner in the front of his trunks.

At first, I thought maybe he was hard for his own fucking boyfriend, but then I realized that Lucas was one row behind him, adjusting something with his gear. No, Pres was clearly hot for my boyfriend just like we’d planned.

Only now it didn’t feel nearly as satisfying as I’d imagined it would.

11

Cal

I was in my element on a dive boat. The equipment and procedures were second nature, and the camaraderie that naturally happened on a group dive was one of my favorite social situations on earth. There was so much to talk about after being under the water, and shared experiences tended to bring people closer together.

I looked around at all of the happy faces and relaxed body language. I was grateful to be in a group of experienced divers since it meant a lot less chance of trouble, even something as minor as seasickness now that the water was getting a little rougher as the day progressed.

We hadn’t gotten as early of a start as we’d hoped due to an unexpected gossip session Nat had to have with her friends when Jade came across some gasp-worthy photo of a friend of theirs on Instagram. One of the upsides to being on your own ship was being flexible, so we’d all just lounged around on the deck with more coffee and breakfast until she was finally ready.

But now as I watched the chop increase, I wondered if that was such a good idea.

“What’s wrong?” Worth asked softly. “You’re frowning at a dolphin.”

I blinked and looked more closely but didn’t see any fins. “I don’t see any dolphin.”

“I was kidding about the dolphin. But you are frowning.”

I surveyed the water around us and noticed three other boats tied to mooring buoys nearby. If the professional operators were still in the water, it was a good sign.

“It’s getting choppy. That could mean current below the surface. Is everyone here strong and fit enough to swim hard if we need to?”

Worth explained that everyone on board exercised regularly, and they’d all run in a charity 5K over Memorial Day weekend. That was way better than the odd mix of fitness levels I usually had with charter clients. “Okay, good,” I said, letting out a breath. “Then I’m going to check everyone’s gear one last time, and we’ll get in the water in about fifteen more minutes.”

I made sure we each had fresh tanks connected to our gear and everyone’s air was turned on and showing at least three thousand psi. After that, I downed another few gulps of water and sucked on some orange slices until everyone seemed about ready. Once everyone started pulling back on their wet suits, I gave a mini dive brief about the site.

“The Invisibles has a submerged pinnacle that’s home to a ton of fish, sponges, and soft coral. Basically, it’s a giant rock formation with lots of cracks and crevices which means plenty of hiding places to spot shy fishes like fairy basslets, blennies, and gobies. But there are also bigger fish like jacks, queen angelfish, and barracuda. There’s some current here, so watch your depth since it’s a second dive. We don’t want to go too deep. There’s also some fire coral on this dive, so be careful what you brush up against and try to make sure all of your gauges and hoses are tucked in.”

I caught Natalia’s cheeky grin. “Yes, dive master. Whatever you say, dive master,” she teased.

I felt my face heat. “Sorry. Old habits.”

Lucas reached out and patted my shoulder. “Nah, it’s great. Sometimes I get nervous diving, so I like having a dive master with us.”

I glanced at Worth, who was smiling approvingly. As long as he was happy, I was happy.

Jin helped Nat into her BC and over to the edge of the boat. “Last one in’s a rotten egg!”

Once she was ready, Nat rolled backward off the side of the tender and splashed into the water. Jin went next while Prescott and Lucas used the other side of the boat for their entries. Worth and I took separate sides of the boat to make sure they all gave the okay signal. Once it was just Worth and me left on board, I had this odd impulse to kiss him. He just looked so happy and relaxed, he was hard to resist.