Chapter 22: Chapter 22

"I groaned when I felt someone tapping my cheeks. I want to sleep more. Who is depriving me of it? I slowly opened my eyes and saw Wade smiling at me.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," He said.

"What is it?" I said annoyed.

"We are going to do island hopping today as promised so wake up and get ready. We don't wanna waste time, right?" He said while smiling from ear to ear.

"Alright," I said. I felt like I was instantly energized by what he just said.

"Or do you want to sleep instead?" He said teasing me. He knew how much I love to explore the islands here.

"No!" I said defensively and hurriedly took my clothes and went to the bathroom. I heard him laughed at me but I just ignored him.

I took a bath and did whatever is necessary. I went out wearing a black spaghetti strap cropped top and white shorts. I saw that Wade was also wearing a black top and white board shorts. We looked like we were wearing a couple of clothes. He looked at me and smiled but didn't say a word.

"Are you ready?" He said.

"More than," I said.

"Did you bring some spare clothes?" He said when he noticed that I was only bringing my mini shoulder bag.

"Why? I have my bikinis on; I'll just remove my clothes when I swim." I said.

"No, you should bring some; you might get cold when you wear wet clothes." He said. Well, he has a point. I took my bigger bag and put on some clothes. I also put the camera and my phone which Wade bought for me for this trip.

"Let's go. We'll have breakfast first." He said and offered his hand. We walked out of our villa hand in hand as we headed to get breakfast.

~~~

"Hold my hand." He said as he offered his hand. He was already on the boat and was helping me get to it. It was harder than I thought but he was helpful.

"Thanks," I said when I got on the boat. He nodded and told me to sit in the center. He went to talk to the boat driver and came back a few minutes after.

"The first island will only be a few minutes from here." He said and the boat driver started the boat. I enjoyed the waves splashing as the boat speed up. Wade was just staring at my side. The water was crystal clear and I could see what was in the bottom. I saw some jellyfish, corals, and fishes. I turned to Wade and still, he was just staring at me.

"What?" I said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just be careful, you might fall to the water." He sounded concerned and I was moved by it.

He held my waist as I started bending again to touch the water. I was caught off guard so I looked at him curiously.

"Come on, I just don't want you to fall, okay? You can be clumsy sometimes." He said.

"No, I'm not!" I said defensively.

"Yes you are, babe." He said.

Alright," I said as I bent again to touch the water splashes. "Whatever you say,"

"Just be careful," He said.

"It's fun, why don't you try it?" I said to him.

"No, I'm fine here." He said. "Besides, I need to hold you still so you won't fall."

"You're no fun!" I said. "Come on!"

"I'm having fun just by looking at you so please just do what you want. I'm fine, truly." He said as he put on his shades and laughed a bit.

"Is that it?" I said when I saw an island nearby. The driver stopped the boat and said that he could no longer get us nearer to the island so we needed to get off from here. The water was about waist level and I would be wet. Good thing I brought clothes with me just as Wade said.

"Do you want me to carry you offshore?" Wade said.

"No, I can manage; it's okay if I got wet. I have spare clothes, remember?" I said and wiggled my brows.

"Alright then," He said as he jumped to the water. He offered his hand and I accepted it. I jumped as well and groaned when I felt the cold water.

"It's cold," I said. "But it feels good."

"We're a bit early, that's why," He said. "But better early than late, right?"

"Yeah, right," I said. He smiled and I did too. We walked to the island and I was in awe of the beauty. It was called the naked island, no trees, grass, or anything, just sand alone. It was majestic!

"Do you want me to take a photo of you?" He said.

"Will you?" I said and he nodded so I gave him the camera.

He started taking photos of me and even if I felt a slight awkwardness from it, I still managed to remain calm and took striking poses. I was just letting my emotions get to me and show how happy I was at this moment.

"I think that's enough," I said while laughing. "I'm exhausted; my lips hurt from smiling too much."

"No, let's take photos of us first." He said and turned the camera towards us. He took a couple of shots of us with the beach as the background and some with the rock formation as well. He was about to take another when I thought of a better idea. I called our boat driver and asked him to take a photo of us. We moved closer to each other and pose. Wade pulled me closer to him as he put his arm around my waist. He moved his arm to my shoulders and the driver took again a few shots. When we were contented, we stopped taking photos and decided to move to another island.

"Come on, let me see," Wade said when we were off to another island. I gave him the camera and he browsed on our photos. "We look good here." He said and showed me a photo where he was looking at me and I was smiling widely while he was holding my waist. He was right. It looked pretty good. It was like we were two people who were in love with each other but I know better. We aren't anywhere near that and that is the sad reality.