I almost did from watching you.Dammit, it wasnotcool to ogle my coworker. Myyoungercoworker, whom I hated. I shook my head to rattle out the inappropriate thoughts. “On my way.”
I looked away while he lowered the kayak into the water. He waved off the guide and set the front half into the water. He instructed me how to get in, and any sexy feelings that might have remained from eye-fucking Cole dissipated as I awkwardly sat on the plastic seat, then tucked my legs in. I’d just figured out how to hold the paddle when I felt the kayak glide into the river.
The little boat swayed. He was right that I’d never been kayaking in my life. Like I had time for recreation. The back, where Cole was, sat low in the water, and my end lifted a bit above the water. Still, the sides were high enough to keep us dry.
The guide had a single-person kayak, and he gave us all a few minutes of paddling instructions. I liked that, as the person in front, I got to set the speed. Though I got plenty of coaching from my backseat driver. We couldn’t be anywhere near the other pairs of kayakers because, according to Cole, they were all inexperienced menaces. Soon, we were coasting along the river, well to the side of the main group.
Our guide led us down the river, pointing out howler monkeys and toucans in the treetops, and even a colony of nectar bats dozing against a tree trunk. But Cole was impatient at the guide’s leisurely pace, and with his powerful strokes, soon we outstripped the rest of the group.
“Look,” he said, pointing to the right where there was a small offshoot of the main river. “I think that’s a sloth in that tree.”
“Where?” I scanned the canopy.
“Let’s get a little closer.” He paddled farther along the split, then he stopped to point overhead into a broad-leafed tree. “See it up there? It’s a ball of brown fur.”
“Where?” It was all green, umbrella-shaped leaves.
“See the main trunk? Count up one…two…three…four forks from the bottom, then follow that branch off to the right. It’s after the first fork off that, in the notch.”
I gasped. “I see a ball of something!”
“That’s it. Give it a minute,” he said.
I kept my gaze on the thing that could’ve been a coconut or a small termite nest. But then it moved, and a black head poked up. “I see it! I see it!”
“That’s great. Stop jiggling the boat.”
“Here, if we row a little farther to the right, we can see it better.”
“Hold on, Captain Ahab?—”
“Hand me your phone. We need a picture.” I whirled to face him, and the boat shifted and tilted. “Whoa!” I leaned hard to the left to compensate, but he’d done the same, and the next thing I knew, I had a face full of water as I was submerged in the river.
Fortunately, my vest did its job. I kicked a few times, and in a moment, my head broke the surface. Though it hit the side of the overturned kayak first. “Ow!”
“Are you okay?” Cole’s urgent voice came from the other side of the kayak.
“I think so. I’m in the water though. Did the guide say if there were snakes in the river?”
“There’s definitely snakes in the river. But don’t panic.”
I grabbed the side of the overturned boat, trying to drag myself out of the snake-infested water, but the sides were slick.Probably with snake venom. “Don’tpanic?Withsnakes?That’s like telling me not to breathe!”
“Listen to my voice. I’m telling you what to do.” He sounded too calm for this situation. Was he in shock? “Can you swim?”
“Yes. I’m an excellent swimmer,” I huffed.
“Let go of the side and back up a few feet. Still okay?”
I treaded water, glancing to the side for snakes. Or crocodiles. If that one had devoured my passport, how much tastier would he find my kicking feet? “Ish.”
He flipped the kayak upright. Somehow, he’d captured both paddles and wedged them under the bungee at the front. He gripped the side of the kayak and held out a hand to me. “Come here.”
I paddled closer until I could clasp his hand. He gripped it as if I were drowning, and I winced.
“Here,” he said. “I’m going to hold the kayak. Reach across it until you can touch the far handle with your left hand. Hold the handle on this side with your right hand, then pull yourself up and over onto your belly. Got it?”
“Yeah.” I reached for the far side, but my arm was too short to reach the handle. I dropped back into the water.
