[ON GOING] All Of Me 18+ Only (Book 3 of Lastor series) #Wattys2020

Chapter 14

I gripped the skirt of my maxi dress as I stepped out of the car, the clear blue water drawing me in. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and letting the ocean fill my senses. The wind blew away my floppy hat and I heard one of the guys run after it. I opened my eyes, bending back my leg to unravel the ribbon tying my wedge to my ankle.

"Angel," Rick called in a warning tone as he got out of the car. "Don't you dare."

I slipped off my other wedge before making a dash for the dock. I heard Rick curse as he ran after me. Right before I could dive into the water, he caught me, bounding an arm around my middle and lifting me off my feet.

"Babe..." I whined, trying to get out of his hold. "I wanna swim."

"Uh-uh," he bit out, hauling me up on his shoulder before walking towards the yacht. "You're not leaving me alone with your family all day. I feel stupid listening to them go on in French."

"But the water looks so good," I whined again, looking wistfully at the ocean.

"It's too cold and I want to watch the race," he said as he climbed up the stairs to the yacht, greeting the crew we passed.

"The race won't start till eight," I complained. "I'll come up when it does."

"No, you won't. Whenever you go in open water, you never want to get out and you always end up going too far."

"I'll stay close," I promised.

"That's what you said when we were in Mozambique, right before you got lost. We had to organize a rescue. There were helicopters. Kat broke Sawyer's nose for losing you. You could have died. I wanted to kill you."

I wrinkled my nose. "It wasn't that bad."

He sighed. "We're staying on the boat."

"This is so unfair," I grumbled, letting my body go limp.

"You already spent all morning in the pool. If you spend more time in the water, you'll start growing gills."

"How convenient that would be," I mumbled to myself.

He smacked his palm against my ass lightly. "Quit being cute. Time to be a bitch."

He reached the main deck and set me down. Finn offered me my wedges along with my hat and I slipped them on, grudgingly letting Rick drag me up the stairs. I snatched his aviators off the collar of his polo shirt and put them on as we made our way to the sun deck. I groaned internally at the sight of my family's entourage. From Grandpapá's mates to Alain's roster of pretty models.

"If anyone speaks to me, I will throw myself off the hull," I muttered under my breath.

"They won't," Rick assured me, kissing my temple. "If they do, you can just scare them away."

A group of people we passed greeted us with cordial smiles and I flipped my middle finger at them in response. Rick snorted, pushing my arm down and quickly steering me away from them. Grandpapá caught sight of us and waved us over as he sat along the couch wrapped around the deck. He said something to the men seated with him and they scurried away just as we reached them. I dropped myself beside him, folding my arms across my chest.

"Are you in a mood again?" Grandpapá observed in wry amusement.

"She wants to be in the water," Rick explained when I didn't respond, taking a seat beside me. "And I don't want to conduct CPR."

"I drowned twice," I defended. "And both times were because I fell asleep."

He sighed, spreading his arms over the couch. "I only hear you reminding me you almost died twice because of your weird ass water fetish."