“Wake up sleeping beauty.” I felt him gently waking me up.  “I hope you don’t get seasick!”

“I do.” I moaned very drowsy still tired from the night before.

“Sting rays!” I pointed out. There was a school of sting rays right beside where we stopped. Aaron took me out on a jet ski and we jetted until we were far in the water yet it was still shallow enough to swim around.

“You scared of them too?” He joked with me.

“No,” I laughed but quickly became alarmed, “Aaron what are you doing?!”

“Swimming with them.” He said gently sliding into the water. “Come in.”

“Are you insane?! They will sting you!” I was much panicked. We were in the middle of nowhere in the open water, sure it was a little shallow but I didn’t know the first thing about driving a jet ski. What if something happened to him?!

“Come in here. The water is warm. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise. Trust me.”

I must have lost my mind; as a matter of fact I was pretty sure I was having an out of body experience because next thing I knew, I was in the water once again clinging on for dear life on Aaron as the sting rays swam around us.

“Oh, it’s touching me!” I was screaming  but trying to keep calm  so they wouldn’t eat me.

“Look at me,” Aaron grabbed my face with both hands making me look at him, “They won’t hurt you. I’m here with you. Please trust me.”

“But they are wild stingers.” I said almost crying as I was shivering scared.

“I’ve swam with them before. They won’t hurt you.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” He kissed my forehead and just like that, I started to calm down. Oh that Carter charm. What was he doing to me? I was under his spell which meant I was no longer in control. I didn’t know how I felt about that.

“Well every good thing must come to an end.” I quietly said but loud enough for him to hear. I drug my overnight bag to the living room as we were getting ready to leave and head back to our homes.

“Come here.” He called out to me. He was watching the sun begin to set. It was such a gorgeous sight. I always appreciated nature’s beauty and I could see Aaron did too. I didn’t know where this courage had come from but if he wasn’t going to kiss me here and now, I was going to kiss him.

He was a bit taken back at that but took my hand in his and looked into my eyes for what seemed like forever. “You know,” He cleared his throat, “This doesn’t have to end.” When I didn’t say anything he continued. “I like you Autumn. I think you are so different than any other girl I’ve dated and I want to know you more. Will you take a chance with me?”

Was he serious? Will I take a chance on him? More like would he ever date a girl like me, a regular girl? I knew his fiancée was a normal girl but still, I had so many different emotions running through me.

He hugged me goodbye and kissed my forehead as I got into my car. “Drive safe and call me when you get home.” He said.

Driving home was such a blur. I didn’t even go straight home; I went to Danielle’s and told her everything!