Out on the water, Lily and Isabella paddle closer, their board slicing lazy paths through the shimmering blue. “Are you guys okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Valeria replies.
When Camila gets her laughter under control, she hops onto the paddleboard first, steadying it with an ease that Valeria could never manage.
Water beads along Camila’s shoulders as she leans down and reaches for her, all but pulling her out of the water. Valeria’s breath leaves her in a rush, not just from how ridiculously impressive—and unfairly attractive it is—but because of how close they end up.
Camila’s hand stays firm around hers, and a bright, unsettling spark flutters low in her stomach, and she doesn’t know quite what to do with it. The knot in her stomach eases, her shoulders relaxing without her even realizing it. She almost laughs at herself for expecting Camila to react the way Brooke would have.
It hits Valeria then, how much damage Brooke had caused. To the point that she expects the gentlest person to turn mean, even when Camila has never given her a reason to think that.
“Everything okay?” Camila eyesher.
Valeria nods. “Yeah, I think there’s water in my ear.” She really needs to get her feelings in check.
Thankfully, right at that moment, Alejandra and Clara paddle toward them, and they all bump together in a loose ring, boards nudging one another.
“Group float?” Lily asks.
“Obviously,” Alejandra says, reaching out to hook her foot around Lily’s board. They all follow suit, linking hands, feet, or the tips of their paddles until they’re tethered to each other.
Clara pulls a waterproof speaker from her bag. She clicks it on, and music spills out, filling the quiet.
Valeria and Camila settle onto the paddleboard, each taking an end. They lie back in opposite directions, their knees meeting in the middle as their legs hang off. The board rocks gently, a slow, easy rhythm, and it takes all of Valeria’s willpower not to wrap her ankles around Camila’s.
Everything softens. The heat settles into a mellow glow, their boards rock together as their linked circle drifts slowly, a lazy spin that gives each of them a new slice of shoreline to look at every minute or so.
Valeria leans back on her elbows, sunglasses slipping slightly down her nose. “This,” she says, stretching her legs out so her toes skim the water, “is exactly what I needed.”
Everyone murmurs their agreement.
After a few minutes of silently floating, Alejandra suggests a round of “categories,” and before long, they’re all shouting answers.
Lily calls out, “Animals!” and they’re off.
Alejandra yells, “Elephant!”
Valeria shouts, “Shark!”
“I was going to say shark,” Isabella complains, then says, “Llama!”
“Too slow, you’re out!” Lily yells.
Clara blurts out “Dragon!” with complete confidence.
“That’s not real,” Alejandra says, already grinning.
“It counts,” Clara insists as she splashes Alejandra. Water sprays up, Alejandra jerks back, overcorrects, and suddenly she’s tipping right off her board. Her paddle swings wide and bumps Lily’s and Isabella’s, which bumps Valeria’s and Camila’s, and the whole chain reaction sends them all scrambling for balance none of them has, and in the space of a heartbeat, all of them slide straight into the lake.
A mess of arms, splashes, and half yells hits the water at once. They all come up coughing and laughing, hair plastered to their faces. Valeria surfaces near Camila, pushing her hair back and laughing so hard she can barely tread water. Water drops cling to Camila’s eyelashes, and Valeria is mesmerized.
Clara ends up clutching her paddleboard with one arm, and the speaker miraculously keeps playing. Alejandra emerges beside her. Before they can address what happened, the other two boards start to drift away, and they all swim toward whichever board floats closest.
Then, they swim back into a loose cluster. They gather their boards in the middle, but no one rushes to climb back on. They float there, laughter thinning into a warm quiet.
“What now? Should we go hiking?” Clara asks.
“Yes,” Alejandra, Isabella, and Lily answer.
