Jaws of Love

Chapter 14

The barrels had come up again and they watch as the shark practically chased their boat. "We're gonna draw him into the shallows, draw him in the shallow water, gonna draw him in and drown him. We're headin' in, Brody!" Quint laughed.

"Thank Christ!" He breathed. "Ever had a great white do this?"

"No." Both and Hooper and Samantha spat the word.

Hooper turned to Quint who was steadily gaining speed. "Quint, don't put that much pressure on her! Quint, God damn it!"

"Shut up! Get back there! I break the engine..." He snapped.

"Hold on, Martin." Hooper huffed.

Quint began to sing fair well and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies. Samantha rolled her eyes, quite tired of his shit.

The engine started to rattle and clank and soon Samantha and Martin were both yelling at Quint to stop the boat.

They all walked onto the deck. Quint looked around before sighing loudly. "Hooper, what exactly can you do with these things of yours?"

"Well, I think I can pump twenty cc's of strychnine nitrate into him. If I can get close enough." Hooper explained. Samantha bit the inside of her cheek.

"You get this little needle through his skin?"

"No. I can't do that. But if I can get him close enough to this cage, I think I can get him in the mouth or-."

"That shark will rip that cage to pieces!" Martin yelled, cutting Hooper off.

"You got any better suggestions!?" He yelled back.

Samantha was sitting in the cabin, a cigarette between her lips and a beer beside her. The boys were on deck assembling the shark cage.

"Knock, knock." Hoopers. Voice drew her from her thoughts. He walked over and sat down beside her. "I thought you had stopped this." He said, taking her cigarette and plopping it in his mouth.

Samantha couldn't help but think how attractive that was. Damn, he had her good.

"I did." She nodded. "And then you and I... well."

Hooper nodded. "Me too." He sighed.

She noticed he was holding his wet suit. "You're gonna go down there." She breathed.

"You knew that." He said softly, placing a hand on her thigh.

"I know." She mumbled. "Matt... we were just drunk... last night. We didn't mean that stuff we said, right?"

Hooper looked like he was having an internal battle. He inhaled sharply and exhaled for a long time. "I meant every word I said."

Samantha was stunned. She looked back at him but nothing came out. She wanted to say that she did to... but she couldn't.

Hooper chuckled and nodded. "I figured you were just drunk. It's ok, don't worry about it."

He stood up and walked behind a little shelf to change into his wetsuit. He came back and stood in front of her, watching her as she lit another cigarette.

"For what it's worth... I never really stopped loving you." He smiled at her before walking towards the door. "See ya in a few."

She sat there, only for a few seconds before her body was moving after him. "Matthew!" She called, stopping him right before he stepped into the cage. "I never stopped." She said hurriedly.

Hooper looked dumbfounded for a moment before he walked right up to her, grabbing her face and kissing her hard.

One kiss was all it took. One kiss for Samantha to be completely and utterly right again. For her whole world to be just as it should. As his lips moved against hers, everything fell into place.

"Come back." She whispered into his neck, hugging him tightly. "I can't lose you again."

"You won't." He smiled, kissing her forehead.

"As touching as this is, and as happy as I am that Sam's got college boy back... can we get a move on?" Quint motioned with his hands.

Samantha kissed him again before watching as he lowered himself down into the water. He tried to defog his goggles and failed.

"I got no spit." He chuckled nervously. "Try to keep him off me until I'm lower." He went to put his goggles on but Samantha tapped his head.

"Your glasses." She grinned.

"Oh." He laughed, taking them off and handing them to her. He put his goggles on and let out a breath. "Ok, ok. I'm ready."

He watched as Samantha helped Martin lower the latch to the cage, his glasses perched on the top of her head, a cigarette hanging between her lips.

He tried to memorize every detail about her. Her long sun bleached hair. The freckles dusting her face. The way she concentrated as she lowers the hatch.

And then she was gone and as the water surrounded Hooper, for a moment he was terrified he would never see that face again.

Up above him Samantha was thinking the exact same thing.