“Hey, it works with the puffer fish,” said Brian, smiling. His eyes, a greenish brown, asked her to forgive him.

“Is this how you always pick up girls?” Caddie said.

“Usually the uniform is all it takes,” answered Brian. “Who can resist a guy in neoprene?”

Caddie turned back to the cuttlefish, which hovered, alien-like, an inch above the sand. The edges of its blue-tinged mantle rippled incessantly while one weird gold eye, the iris a black W, stared back at Caddie. A cluster of fingerlike tentacles dangled from its head, twitching idly at the water.

“That is one seriously weird fish,” she remarked.

“Actually, it’s not a fish,” said Brian. “It’s a mollusc. It’s related to snails, squid, and octopuses.”

“Look at you, getting all Jacques Cousteau,” said Caddie.

Brian ran his hand through his hair. “I like marine biology,” he said.

“You should meet my father,” Caddie told him. “He works over at that Hopkins Marine whatever.”

“And you don’t know the difference between a fish and a cuttlefish?”

Caddie faced him. “I didn’t inherit the fish-loving gene, I guess,” she said. “Besides, if it’s not a fish, then they shouldn’t put fish in its name. It should be the cuttlepus or something.”

“I liked your question,” Brian said.

“Sorry it wasn’t all scientific,” said Caddie.

“No,” Brian said. “I really liked it. It was different. You heard what everyone else asked. It’s almost always like that. It’s nice to have someone ask something interesting.”

“Well, I try,” said Caddie.

Brian, pointing at the cuttlefish, said, “Did you know they can change color? Like chameleons, only way more sophisticated. They have these receptors on their skin that can reflect light in a bunch of different colors, so they can blend in with their surroundings.”

“That would be a neat trick,” Caddie said.

Brian looked at her. “I don’t think you could blend in anywhere,” he said. “You’re too pretty.”

Caddie snorted. “Next you’ll tell me that my tentacles are the longest ones you’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve seen longer,” said Brian. “But I’m not really a tentacle man anyway, so it’s all good.”

Caddie was enjoying the flirtation, even if it was a little too reminiscent of her first meeting with Nick, which she’d actually managed to forget about until then. But Brian was no Nick. He seemed to actually have a brain. But he might also have a girlfriend, she reminded herself.

“So I didn’t just track you down to apologize,” Brian said, hesitating enough that Caddie knew what was coming. “I was wondering if you might like to hang out.”

“Hang out?” said Caddie. “You mean like play video games and read comic books?”

“I mean like maybe dinner or a movie, smart-ass,” Brian replied.