Silence (Silence #1)(31)

I looked up at Cole and smiled happily.

“I’d ask if you want ice cream, but that’s a pretty stupid question, right?” he said teasingly and pulled me towards the ice cream stand. We got the same flavour – Belgian chocolate – and went to sit down on our towels. The sun shone brightly, so I flicked my sunglasses from the top of my head until they were resting on my nose. My vision darkened, and I buried my feet in the sand, feeling it wedge between my toes.

Cole peeled his t-shirt off and spooned ice cream into his mouth. I bit my lip, frowning at the squirming feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was crazy about him, and scared at how he made me feel.

The best way I could think to describe it was like being set on fire. When he kissed me, looked at me in a certain way, or took his shirt off, it felt like my blood was boiling inside my veins. I assumed that felt good and uncomplicated for normal people, but I wasn’t quite that.

Cole sighed, breaking me out of my thoughts and making me jump.

“You okay?” he said quietly, smiling so peacefully it made my heart skip a beat. His eyes seemed a much lighter blue in the sunlight, even through my sunglasses.

I nodded my head and scooted closer to him, so our arms pressed against each other’s. The feel of his skin against mine gave me goose bumps. Calm down!

After an hour of looking out to sea at nothing in particular, we decided to check out the hotel properly. As we started walking back along the beach, his hand brushed against mine. I stole a sideways glance at him. He was biting the inside of his mouth, deep in thought. Again, his hand brushed mine. Did that mean he wanted to hold it? Take his hand, Oakley. Stop being such a baby!

A small smile pulled at the side of Cole’s mouth and he wound his hand around mine, intertwining our fingers. It was as if he had heard my thoughts.

“Oh, we’re going there,” he suddenly said and nodded his head towards a little wooden shack on the beach.

The crafted wooden sign just above where a gorgeous, honey-tanned man stood read ‘Water Sports’. Something was also written above it, which I assumed was the same in Italian.

I protested silently, but reluctantly followed him.

“Hi, can we book diving lessons please?” he asked, without looking at the prices.

Tall, dark and gorgeous nodded his head and flashed us a perfect, pearly white smile.

“Sure. I just need to see some ID,” he said in an Australian accent and pointed to me.

Cole shook his head. “ID?”

“Yeah, you need to be over sixteen, or accompanied by an adult.” I looked at Cole and smiled victoriously.

“Here’s my ID. I’m eighteen, so that counts as adult, right?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. He had a fake ID! Cole was still only seventeen. Gorgeous nodded again and checked the ID. Surely, he would know it was a fake?

“Thanks. You wanna go tomorrow at ten?”

My mouth dropped open. He had accepted the ID.

“Sounds good, thanks.” Cole gave our details and then paid. Diving did actually sound fun, especially in the Italian sea, but I was still worried about the equipment breaking and me drowning.

“You’ll enjoy it,” he promised as he read my worried expression. I gripped his t-shirt. I would enjoy it if my oxygen tank didn’t break.

“You’ll be fine, Oakley. I’m not gonna let the sharks get you!” he joked. I pulled away. That really wasn’t helping. “I’m kidding! Shall we head back to the hotel? I need food.”

I pulled my hand out of his as we reached the hotel, giving him a small apologetic smile. He knew why anyway. As he held the door open for me, I spotted a leaflet for the hotel’s spa. Hmm, if he’s making me dive, I’m making him get a face pack…

“Where are you going?” Cole asked as I turned the wrong way for our rooms. He followed behind me as I walked down the stone staircase to the lower floor. Pointing to the spa sign, I grinned.

“No. Way!”

I nodded and walked up to the treatment board beside the reception desk. Two ridiculously beautiful women were sitting behind the desk, looking at the computer screen. Was being stunning a requirement of working here?

“You can’t be serious?” he asked, begging me with his eyes to leave. “Do you want my balls to drop off?”

I grinned wide and cocked my head to the side.

“Let’s just go, yeah?”

Couples massage, I read in my head. Couples. I really wanted to relax together, but was a couples massage jumping the gun a little? Would he see it as a hint? Gathering the courage, I pointed to the massage and waited for his reaction.

“Just that?” he asked with a small smile playing on his lips. Shaking my head, I also pointed to the face pack thing. “You can but there is no way I’m putting any of that shit on my face!”

I scowled at him.

“No. Just, no.” he said defiantly.

“Can I help you?” One of the women asked, grinning in amusement at our little exchange.

“Can we book the couples massage and the rejuvenating face thing for her?” he asked, nodding in my direction. I slapped his arm and decided to go with a different approach. I pouted and fluttered my eyelashes. Cole wasn’t budging.

“Not happening.”

The woman, who looked like she should be a model and not a receptionist, laughed.