Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
For Destiny, I’ll throw myself down on the altar and offer her everything.
The world knows the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but by now.
Destiny Lancaster won her Young Influencers position fair and square. Hannah, who came out on record to confirm this, was the person who selected her.
We did not get together until after the event.
And now, after that final confrontational interview with Vanessa, everyone knows how deeply in love with Dess I am.
I’ve made it perfectly clear that it was always her passion and heart and dedication to conservation that made me fall so hard.
Not her looks.
Not her family.
Not her age.
The person she is on the inside.
That’s why I’m encouraging her to film as much as she wants on our latest trip to the South Carolina shore to see dolphins. I know it’s something she’ll want to share with her followers, and that’s fine.
If I’m something she wants to share, that’s fine too.
At least, I’m learning how to make it fine.
I’m coming to terms with the fact that the woman I love has to put herself out there to make a difference in the world.
Destiny swings her phone up to capture me on camera.
We’re in the water after diving off the ship. Any second now, I have a feeling some of the nearby dolphins will swim in closer to investigate.
“I know what it looks like,” Destiny says in her live video. “But I promise you he’s having fun.”
I make a contorted face at her.
She laughs and turns her attention to a lone dolphin approaching us, stopping less than ten feet away.
“Oh, wow, look!” she squeals. “They’re coming.”
“Point and shoot. Don’t miss anything.”
“Oh my God.” I think she might be crying. “This is so cool.”
The guys on the boat are prepped and ready. She doesn’t know it yet, but I want everything recorded.
Not for her followers this time.
For me.
For us.
I want to show this video to our kids someday.
“The perfect ending to a perfect week,” she murmurs, ending her video with a panned shot of the dolphin before she tucks her phone back in her waterproof grip. “Shepherd, holy crap. I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
Surprisingly, the dolphin isn’t done. It comes closer and Destiny makes first contact, gently trailing her hand across its back.
Her other hand is cupped over her mouth.
Shit, I didn’t plan this part.
Not that it matters, I’m not having my thunder stolen away by Flipper the nosy-ass dolphin.
“Holy hell,” she whispers. “Are you getting this?”
“Every second,” I tell her, holding up my camera.
“This is just surreal,” she whispers, grinning.
I wonder what she’ll say a minute later when she's living a fairy tale.
The dolphin chirps then and we both duck underwater.
I slip on my goggles, watching as she dips under to marvel at the sight.
Dolphins and brightly colored fish dart past, and below, on the seabed, there’s an explosion of life. Coral, seaweed, crawling crabs and shimmering fish and so many different colors it would take a year to describe them.
Another dolphin swims up behind me, bumping right into me.
I’m pretty sure it laughs—if dolphins can laugh. Cheeky little punk.
Destiny is giddy.
Yeah, fuck it, so am I.
The perfect moment. The perfect day. The perfect everything.
What better way to start forever?
When we surface, she’s laughing so hard her face turns bright red, and I pull her against me. She wraps her arms around my neck.
“Thank you. This entire week has been incredible, but today was the best by far.”
“Do you know what today is?” I ask cryptically.
“What?”
“Six months to the day since we went on an otter hunt,” I say against her mouth. “Six months of loving you.”
She laughs. “Come on, you didn’t love me then.”
I pretend to think.
“Not like I do now, no.” I hold her tighter. “Still, that was the start of me coming to my senses. The first inkling I couldn’t live without you.”
She laughs again as more dolphins splash around us and one nudges my back.
Another taps Destiny’s arm, and she looks down, her brow furrowing in surprise and concentration.
“Um. Is there something in its mouth?”
“Why don’t you find out?” I tell her.
“Wait, what? Is it a dolphin? The size seems a little off and—oh, its eyes are weird too.” She stares at the fake dolphin before she reaches for the snout.
“Home Shepherd can’t improve on nature’s perfection, but we can mimic it. You’re looking at the first trial run of our new underwater environmental surveillance drone. Today, it’s been painted and designed to mirror the local sea life in stunning detail.”
She looks up with saucers for eyes.
“Get out! Shepherd, you’re a genius.”
I smile and we lock eyes. “Nah. Someone much smarter gave me the idea about six months ago. I almost had to make Carol sign her name in blood to keep it a secret.”
Laughing, she holds out a hand as the fake dolphin lets her unhook the small box tied to its clawlike jaws. That’s mostly for appearance, but it does do an excellent job of grabbing small objects.