Read Online Flukes by Nichole Chase - Free Book Online Page B

could.
    What came into view a couple of heartbeats later made my stomach clench and I gasped, releasing a flood of bubbles. Mitch stayed low in the water, circling just out of sight of the mermaids that swam nearby.
    No, that was wrong. It was a mermaid and a merman. The mermaid was gorgeous, everything that a mermaid should be. Her blue hair floated around her head as they swam, and her pale blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight. They slowed and looked around the area, the merman signaling something. His blond hair was on the longish side, and he had a face that would make Violet swoon. It wasn’t that I didn’t think he was attractive, but it wasn’t sexual. I realized that it felt like I was looking at someone I might know.
    Shock ran through my system and even if I had wanted to do or say something, I wouldn’t have been able to. I’d never seen another mer before, was it possible that they would all look familiar to me?
     

Chapter Seven
    - Blake -
     
    Stupid, stupid, stupid. I am not a stalker. As soon as I had pulled the wheelbarrow under the awning of one of the buildings I went back to the shed to get my helmet. Only it was locked. I could have gone up to the house and asked Ben to unlock it, but I had heard Meena making tracks down the path. Now, here I was creeping along in the dark, looking for some girl. No. Not some girl. Meena. I should have asked Ben, but part of me demanded to see Meena again. Just one more time.
    It was the stupidest thing, but it didn’t change my response to the feeling. I would see her tomorrow. It was only a few hours away, but I still wanted to see her now. I hurried down the path to the beach, sure that was where she would have gone. Rounding the corner, I was just in time to see her pull her shirt off, exposing her smooth skin to the moonlight. When she pulled her shorts down, the blood drained from my head. I stepped behind the nearest tree and watched as she dove into the water. She finally surfaced and wrapped something around her wrist before ducking back under the water.
    I waited for a while, scanning the water to see when she came back up for air. After a minute or so, I stepped out from behind the tree and looked around. Had I missed her coming up? With each second that passed my worry grew. I walked up to the edge of the water and looked out.
    There in the distance, I saw something floating in the moonlight. At first I thought it was an animal, the way the silver light glinted off something bright, but then it moved and I realized it was Meena. I don’t know how she had gotten so far out without me seeing her, but her head and shoulders floated just above the water. It was definitely her.
    I stood there, watching her, my mind going over my options. I could go ask Ben for the keys or I could wait for Meena to come back. My eyes shifted back to the path and I contemplated going to wait by the toolshed. She would have to walk right past me to go home. She was gone when I looked back at the water and that made up my mind. Walking back to where her clothes lay, I sat down and waited. Eventually, I leaned back against the palm tree and looked up at the stars. I could understand why she liked to come out here after a long day of working.
    It felt like forever before I heard the splashing that announced she was back. I sat forward and smiled when I heard her make a shocked choking sound. I picked up her shorts and held them up for her to see.
    “You forgot a towel!” I didn’t get up. I wanted to watch her walk out of the water.
    She sputtered some and thrashed around a bit more. I stood up, worried that she had managed to get attacked by a shark in three feet of water.
    “Are you okay?” I started to walk down the beach. I didn’t want to be the asshole that sat under a palm tree while some girl was eaten alive in front of him.
    “Stay where you are! I’m fine!” Meena’s voice was sharp and breathless.
    “What’s wrong?” I froze in place, still worried she might