CHAPTER 6
Marlow
White water raftingon the official third day of camp was definitely the last thing I expected to walk into upon arriving at our meet up spot for the day.
After roll call, we were all squished into a couple of golf carts and driven down a long path that followed the lake’s edge until it branched off into a river heading south. The area was beautiful, lush foliage and trees that lined the riverbank, and the rushing water that kicked up a cool breeze, chasing away the heat already starting to stick to my skin the minute the sun popped up over the horizon.
I never minded the summer sun, as I was a sun worshiper as much as the next guy, but sometimes being around a significantly cooler climate was a nice change of pace.
Once we arrived at the docking area, we were gathered in front of a few rafts already set out on the bank with life jackets draped over the sides. Couples quickly grouped together, each of them snagging a life jacket and helping to put it on while I lingered in the background.
Where was Blake?
“Hey, Marlow?” The man from the first day, Talos, hopped off of one of the golf carts. He held out his hand to shake mine as soon as he was close enough. “I’m going to be partnering with you today.”
The second the words were out of his mouth, I was shooting back with, “Where’s Blake?”
His brows shot up over his aviators. “He’s got a camp to run.”
Ah, right. Duty called. Late last night, actually.
Reluctantly, I took his hand and shook it, my mood suddenly plummeting.
There wasn’t a reason for me to take it personally after our nice night together. I hated letting him leave even if I had no grounds to stand on when it came to holding him hostage inside of my cabin.
Funny enough, at the time, I could tell he wanted to stay, too. He’d dragged his feet getting to the door, had a hard time saying goodbye, and instead, continued to quip back and forth with me until he forced himself to run out my door and disappear into the dark night.
Was there a chance I was reading into all of that?
Yeah, maybe. But on the other hand, there was a possibility that Blake wasalsopicking up on our insane chemistry and fighting it in the name of—what I could only theorize—keeping things professional.
Funny, since that was quickly becoming less and less easy to do the more I got to know him. I’d gotten him to open up a little bit, had cracked that shell apartjustenough to peek inside, and liked what I saw.
I’d left the bonfire early for a reason that, at the time, I wasn’t too sure about. However, the second that knock on my door came around and I found Blake standing on my porch looking alittle frazzled and wide-eyed, I knew the universe was pointing me in the right direction.
Hitting it off with Luke and Aimee seemed like a preamble to what I really wanted.
If I could get Blake to drop down his walls for one night,just one, and get him into my bed, I think we’d both walk away happy and satisfied. I’d get him out of my system and be able to move on to the next person and he’d get an unforgettable night.
I’d make damn sure of it.
“You ever white water raft before?” Talos asked, gesturing for me to follow him to one of the rafts where a few spare life jackets were hanging.
“Can’t say I have, but I hear it’s like riding a bike.”
“Something like that. We’re going to take you all through a two-hour crash course and then we’ll take a few rafts down the smaller swells.”
I patted my chest the second I got the life jacket strapped around me. “Count me in. I’m always down to get a little wet.”
Since Talos was doublingas my partnerandone of the guides for this expedition, a lot of my ‘training’ was done alone or latching on to another couple also learning the ropes.
As I’d suspected, rafting was pretty much self-explanatory in the sense of, you paddled, you kept your weight distributed properly when going through large swells, you listened to your guide, you didn’t do anything stupid like try and lean over the side of the raft to scoop up whatever fish or creature decided to float on by.
“All right, everyone! Head to your assigned raft and climb in! Wait for further instruction from your guide!” Talos’s voice bellowed over the rushing water behind him.
There were four rafts in total, mine being the last of the bunch with an older couple as my companions, and a couple that looked around my age.
“Marlow, you’re going to be in the back with me,” Talos said, tossing me a helmet as the others grabbed their own.
