Free Lost To Me by Jamie Blair

the viewing area. Kolton sat behind me and rubbed my shoulders.
     
    “Don’t you ever work?” I asked, teasing.
     
    “My mom just got me a second job actually.”
     
    I turned around and stared at him, astonished. “She did? How will you go to school and work two jobs?”
     
    “I don’t want to think about it. This week I have things I want to do with you, places I want to take you before you leave. That’s all I want to think about.”
     
    I kissed his knee. He gathered my hair in a ponytail and played with it while we watched the otters spin and splash.
     
    On the nature trail on our way to the large aquarium with the sea animals, I tugged his hand while I skipped across one of the wooden bridges.
     
    “Come on,” I said, being silly, “skip with me.”
     
    “I don’t know how to skip.” He brushed a bug out of his face.
     
    “Of course you do. Everybody knows how to skip.”
     
    “Not me.”
     
    I stopped. “Kolton Seidel, are you telling me that you can surf, but not skip?”
     
    He smiled. “That’s what I’m telling you, Lauren Kelling.”
     
    “Want to learn?” I raised one eyebrow, challenging him.
     
    “Boys don’t skip.” He put his arm around my neck, and gave me a noogie.
     
    “Sure they do.” I squeezed out of his grasp.
     
    “Not after the age of five.” He tucked my arm under his and led me down a side trail to a three-story tree fort on the bay. I climbed up after him, knowing I’d regret it.
     
    At the top, my stomach lurched from the height. “I can’t get close to the railing. I’ll pass out.”
     
    “You’re afraid of heights?”
     
    “Deathly.”
     
    “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have brought you up here if I knew.” He held me against him. “Don’t be afraid.” His fingers traced the side of my face. His lips lightly touched mine. When he pulled away he squeezed my hands. “I like you a lot, Lauren. More than a lot.” He kissed me, parting my lips, his tongue making me dizzy. The kiss was soft, sexy, and full of promise. “I’m glad I found you again. It feels like we were never apart, like my best friend’s back.” He kissed me again before letting go and walking over to the railing.
     
    I relaxed a little and looked out onto the water. It was calm and still. In the distance, a tour boat hummed along. It was before noon and the sun blasted against the flat surface, reflecting up into the clear sky. “It’s pretty. Wish I had my camera.”
     
    “Beautiful,” Kolton agreed. He’d turned the binoculars bolted to the railing toward me. “The most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.”
     
    I covered my face. “Stop. I’m not a bug or something.”
     
    He came back over to me, laughing. “Ready to go back down, my little ladybug?” He took my hands and kissed my cheek, right on my ugly splotch.
     
    We finished the nature trail and entered the welcoming, air-conditioned aquarium. Down the dark mazes, we found tanks filled with smaller sea creatures, like shrimp, crab and lobsters. The next hallway led to sea turtles, swimming with graceful strokes of their fins.
     
    I watched the largest cut its way through the middle of the tank and dive right in front of us. My hand pressed against the cold glass wall, wishing to touch the smooth underside of the big turtle. Kolton’s hand caressed my back as we stood there, like statues, watching.
     
    Next to the sea turtle exhibit, baby sea turtles floated in smaller tanks. A couple of them were only a week old, and another was four weeks old.
     
    “Oh,” I gushed over them. “Look how little. They’re so sweet.”
     
    Kolton laced his fingers with mine and leaned in to get a better look. His wide-eyed, wonder made my heart beat fast. “They’re smaller than my hand.” He held his hand in front of the tank.
     
    His expression changed when he caught me watching him. “Do you like babies?” he asked.
     
    “Of course. When they don’t cry all night.” I shook my head thinking of