Page 5 of The Tides Between Us

I gave them both an incredulous look.“Um, no. He literally came in and dropped off the turtle. We talked briefly, exchanged names, and he said he would check back in a few days to see how the turtle was doing.”

The two of them smiled again and Harper laughed as she shook her head. “Girl… he’s coming back to check in on theturtle?”

“He’s not just coming back for the turtle, G,” Winter said with a wink. “He’s coming back to see you too.”

I shook my head at the two of them.“You don’t know that.”

“There’s no way he’s just coming to see how the turtle is doing,” Harper said with an impish look in her eyes. “He wants to see you or he could easily call to check in on the turtle.”

Winter nodded as Harper spoke. “Mark my words, babe. He’s only going to show up when you’re there because you got his attention.”

Their words sank in and I couldn’t help but feel those damn butterflies again. Declan had my attention and now I was intrigued. But I needed to make sure my curiosity didn’t get the better of me.

I knew nothing about Declan Parks, but a part of me was hoping they were right.

Because I couldn’t help but want to see him again too.

CHAPTERTHREE

DECLAN

Sitting on the table at my physical therapist's office, I waited for him to come back with an ice pack. After going through the routine of strengthening exercises, there was always a cool-down period. I was situated on one of their tables and was required to ice my shoulder for fifteen minutes before I was cleared to go. My sessions were three times a week, plus the exercises I was supposed to be doing on my own. Three times a week for the next ten weeks.

Gabriel walked over with the ice pack and handed it to me before he left the room again. I was alone with my thoughts and as I iced my left shoulder, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from drifting back to that damn turtle. Life was always a mystery, but it felt like Pop-Tart was sent to me from the ocean gods. Like a gift from the universe.

It felt so bizarre. I never was one to believe in coincidences. Things happened for a reason, regardless of what they were. It wasn’t a simple coincidence that I found that turtle on the beach that morning. It wasn’t a coincidence that I had injured my left shoulder and the turtle’s left flipper was the one that was injured.

There were too many signs that were pointing in the direction of fate, but I wasn’t sure what the endgame was for the universe. I was just simply along for the ride, although I found it peculiar and interesting that these little things were all setting up some definitive path.

I couldn’t help but wonder if they had anything to do with the woman with hair as black as ink. There was no reason for her to be occupying the empty space in my brain, but I’ve been stuck on the thought of her since the other day.Four days, to be exact.I was genuinely curious and concerned about Pop-Tart’s well-being, yet I couldn’t help but want to head back to the marine center to see the ethereal goddess who entered my life that day.

Giana.

There was something about her that was captivating. I couldn’t help but want to know more about her. Perhaps it was just my brain’s way of finding and using anything it could find as a distraction. It was killing me, not being able to surf the swells like I was used to. I lived and breathed the ocean air for a living. But it was more than that; it was a passion. It was the life I knew.

Giana was the perfect distraction.

Her and that damn turtle.

“You’re good to head out of here now, Declan,” Gabriel said as he popped back into the room. I handed him the ice pack as I moved to place my feet on the floor. “I’ll see you back here on Friday?”

I nodded and offered him a small smile. “I have no other plans, so I’ll be here.”

“I know you haven’t been staying out of the water, but please refrain from surfing.” There was a look of disapproval in his eyes, but he didn’t dig in too deeply. “The last thing you need to do is mess your shoulder up even more and need surgery.”

I raised an eyebrow at him as I rose to my feet and stepped toward the door. “How do you know I’ve been in the water?”

A chuckle escaped him as he shook his head. “Telling you to stay out of the water is like leading a dehydrated horse to water and telling them they can’t drink.”

“I’m not sure that’s how that analogy goes.”

He rolled his eyes. “You know exactly what I’m saying. Your brother told me.”

Of course he did. Adrian couldn’t keep anything to himself. Adrian was a sports medicine doctor who just so happened to be best friends with Gabriel. They both worked for the Orchid City Vipers—our city's professional hockey team—before Gabe started his own physical therapy practice.

“Yeah, well, Adrian needs to mind his own business.”

Gabriel shrugged. “That’s what happens when you’re a professional athlete who has a brother who works in sports medicine. If anything, you should consider yourself lucky.”