Fate Reloaded

Fate Reloaded--Part II, Chapter Five

Chapter Five

            Thirty minutes later, Jordana found herself seated next to Ben at the front of the Kane family speedboat. She zipped her windbreaker up, so that it covered the lower half of her face. Her head was facing toward her dad, who was standing at the wheel, obviously in his element. The wind blew around her, so that all she could hear was the roaring in her ears, and she shivered slightly as the lake’s spray hit the back of her.

            Glancing over at Ben, she couldn’t help but laugh. The guy was sitting, facing forward, with a huge grin on his face, as droplets of water streamed down his face. He had borrowed one of her dad’s jackets, since he hadn’t been wearing one suitable for boating weather, and was practically swimming in it.

            And yet, he still looks disturbingly hot, Jordana thought as she watched him.

            “Woo hoo!” Ben screamed into the wind. He glanced back at Jordana’s dad and gave him the thumbs up sign.

            “You want to go faster?” Jordana’s dad yelled to them.

            Ben nodded his head and then turned back to face front. Jordana shook her head. He was like a puppy with his head hanging out the car window. After a few minutes of high-speed action, Jordana’s dad slowed the boat down, until they were coasting along.

            “Man! If I lived here, I think I’d probably be on a boat every day,” Ben said, his eyes sparkling.

            “Yeah, I guess,” Jordana said, not nearly as impressed as him. “So, you never get to do this in the city?”

            “No way!” he exclaimed. “I mean, where would I go? Out on the Hudson River? With all the dead bodies?”

            “There are dead bodies?” Jordana asked, with a shocked look on her face.

            “No. But the water there’s pretty nasty,” he answered. “I mean, if you fell in there, you’d have to douse yourself in Clorox or something just to get the stink off you.”

            Jordana made a face.

            “Yeah, but you get to live in New York City!” Jordana said, amazedly. “I mean, that’s gotta trump sitting on a boat any day, right?”

            Ben shrugged. “It’s pretty cool,” Ben agreed. “But after a while, you sort long for a small-town feel, you know? That’s why I love coming back here to visit my grandma.”

            “Did you grow up in New York?” she asked.

            “Nah. I grew up in Alabama. Just moved over to the city about a year ago,” Ben said, quickly.

            “Oh,” Jordana said. She got the feeling he didn’t want to talk about why he moved to the city.

            They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the scenery on the shore change as they cruised by.

            “Enough about me, what about you, Miss Jordana?” Ben said, changing the subject easily.

            “What about me?” she asked, feeling a bit shy to have the focus turned on her.

            Ben turned his body to face hers and placed his chin on his fist like the famous The Thinker statue. He squinted his eyes at her mischievously.