“You have my permission to throw her overboard,” Avani says from the front of the boat, never taking her eyes off a clipboard where she’s jotting notes.

“No, you’re right. We can stop,” I say. “After just one more. You know, for practice.”

I lean back in and give Sean another kiss, my body flooded again with every sensation: the smell of salt air, the sound of whalesong, the scratch of stubble against my chin, those jellyfish tingles lighting up my insides.

What’s that human saying again?

Practice makes perfect.

     Sean     

The whole drive back to Ross’s place, I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. Yesterday was one thing: it was planned, it was perfect, Dominic was totally staring when we finally pulled apart. But today? Practice? It felt like so much more than that to me. It felt like Ross wanted it, needed it, and every single bit of me did too.

When we finally pull up to the hedge outside the bungalow, I throw the car door open and step out.

“Uh, where do you think you’re going?” Kavya asks. “We’ve got work.”

“I, um, need to talk. To Ross. Alone. Cover for me, will you? I’ll Uber, but I’ll be a few minutes late.”

Kavya hesitates and gives me a low, “Sean. We talked about this. Remember the end goal.”

“I do. I know what I’m doing.” But really I have no clue. What does it say about me when I can’t stop thinking about Ross’s lips when I’m trying to win my ex back?

“If you say so,” Kavya says, but her mouth sets in that tight line again. We stare at each other for a few seconds without saying anything before she pulls into the street and drives away.

“Everything okay?” Ross asks.

I stare after Kavya, knowing she’s judging me right now. She has to think it was a terrible idea for us to kiss on that boat after just talking about D being the end goal. But I couldn’t help the way kissing Ross made me feel. Something’s changed in them, and I think it made something in me change too.

Nothing feels fake anymore.

And it’s freaking me out.

“So, like, what are we? Are we kissing more? Can we kiss more? I’d like to kiss more. But how long does this last? You’re not pulling a Kavya’s mom and staying on land, right? Or are relationships different for merfolk? What does it all mean?”

Ross takes my hand and leads me inside the bungalow. My palm starts to sweat and my heart picks up speed with their touch. Somehow we’ve progressed from mindless hand touching to full on hand-holding to Ross using those perfect fingers to tug on my belt loops and kiss me. What other things are in store with our hands for the rest of their Journey?