Night Sky by Jolene Perry Page B

from hotel to hotel all
night, huh?” Her hand is laced through mine.
    “We could .”
    “So.” Her smile is wide. “You’ve already
showed me ‘real’ French fries as well as the most delicious steak
I’ve ever had in my life. What’s next?”
    “You’ll see.” I squeeze her hand.
    “Where are we going?” I love hearing the
excitement in her voice.
    “You’ll see,” I say again. It feels good, to
be with her like this. Like friends, but better. There’s tension
and possibility under the surface. Also, she’s seems to be forever
in control and tonight, she’s relinquished some of it to me. I
really don’t want to let her down.
    “The Mirage?” she asks, as we get close.
    “Yeah, it’s been here a
while.” I take a deep breath. Keep your
face calm.
    “Okay.”
    We step into the lobby. I’ve been here a
hundred times before…no, definitely more than a hundred. Mom used
to work here. She still knows the guy who keeps the dolphins. If
our timing is right, he should be waiting for us.
    “Wow, look at all the fish!” Sky stops at
one of the tons of aquariums in the lobby. “Pretty amazing,
huh?”
    “Yeah.” I step close behind her and breathe
in. I like them, even though I’ve seen them way too many times to
count. I’d rather watch the beautiful girl in front of me.
    We walk past the check-in counter and toward
the back door.
    “Oh, Jay! There’re dolphins here!” She stops
to read one of the signs.
    “Cool.” I take another few
deep breaths to relax. Don’t ruin the
surprise.
    “We missed it.” She frowns. “They close at
eight.”
    “Maybe next time.” I shrug. But now, I can’t
wait to see her reaction.
    “Yeah,” she says, trying to hide her
disappointment.
    I lead her through the back door to see Mike
waiting by the side of the dolphin tank.
    “Where are we?” She looks around. It’s dark
back here, only a few security lights are on.
    “I have a friend here. Well, actually a few
friends here…”
    A smile starts to spread
across her face. She’s smart. She
knows.
    “Hey Jameson!” Mike stands up. “Long time,
no see.”
    “Yeah,” I say, shaking his outstretched
hand. “This is Sky. Sky, this is Mike.”
    “The guy who’s going to show us the
dolphins?” Her voice is full of excitement, just like I hoped.
    “That’s me,” he says, with a nod. Mike is in
his fifties. He’s short, and kind of looks like a human version of
a dolphin—pale with short, grey hair and a nose that’s a tad too
big for his face.
    He points at Sky’s necklace. “Tlingit?”
    “Yeah.” Her eyes widen. “How did you
know?”
    “Did a cruise to Alaska with the wife a few
years back.” He turns to open the gate that leads behind the
dolphin tanks.
    “Oh.”
    I look toward Sky again.
There’s a lot about her I don’t know .
    “Wow.” She squeezes my hand and looks up at
me in a way that makes me lose my train of thought. I want nothing
more than to press our lips together. I lean in close, but I’m
determined to wait until she either kisses me herself or asks me to
kiss her. I want the opportunity to be pure perfection.
    “Give me a sec to open things up, you can
follow me on back.” Mike sticks his key in the first door that gets
us close to the pool and into the small house-like structure where
they feed the dolphins.
    “Good surprise?” I ask.
    “ Great surprise.”
    “Good, because this is pretty much the
biggest thing I had planned.” I step behind Mike as he walks us
through the gate.
    She leans up and nearly presses her lips to
my cheek. “Don’t say that until the night is over. You never know
what might happen.” Her lips brush against my ear as she
speaks.
    I can’t even think about what she might be
implying; if I did, I’d drop right on this very spot. And right
now, I’d do anything she asked—anything to feel that electricity
again.
    With a whispery giggle, she pulls away.
    “Wanna feed them?” Mike asks. He’s digging
around in the buckets he