Once we leave the house, we drive the car a short distance to the rafting place. It's about five minutes from the Air B&B and Henry, Jen, Melissa, and Nat all remember it. I don't because the last time we were supposed to go whitewater rafting on one of our trips, I got the flu and had to stay home.
Jack has apparently been rafting before, and so I'm the only one who's never done this. I know there's nothing to be really worried about, but I don't know... I saw the pictures from their last trip and it honestly looked kind of scary.
Plus, what if the boat tips over on a big wave and I hit my head on a rock and die?
The whole car ride, I sit in the back of the car nervously playing with my fingers and staring out the window, tuning out the conversations around me. I'm in the far back beside Jack, while Melissa drives and Henry sits in the passenger seat. Jen and Nat are bickering in the middle row, and though I can't hear their conversation they seem to be having a lot of fun.
But I just look out the window, overthinking like usual. Wow, isn't it fun to be me.
I feel Jack nudge me lightly beside me and hear him whisper, "Hey, don't be too nervous. There's nothing to worry about. I promise I won't push you overboard unless you're being really annoying."
I give him a small, grateful smile to convey my gratitude for what he said, but what I say out loud is, "Try it and you'll never see the light of day ever again, because I'll kill you with my bare hands."
Jack just smirks and says, "Well, it wouldn't be a bad way to go..."
I roll my eyes just as the car pulls up to the rafting place. I mentally shoot down the butterflies in my stomach and steel myself to get out of the car, not sure if they're from anticipation of the rafting or from something else entirely.
A guy who looks around our age, eighteen or so, is waiting in front of the rafting shack, propping up an oar and waving.
"Are you all here for the 8:30 appointment?" He asks us with a friendly smile, and we confirm that we are. "I'm Jesse. My dad's usually the guy who does the rafting, but he's out today so I'm going to be your guide."
Upon closer inspection, I notice that he's very, very hot, and he looks kind of like the dude from this random show I watched a few months ago. He has sandy blond hair and a beachy tan, making him resemble a California surfer guy.
I exchange a knowing glance with Melissa, who smirks back at me. Because friendship. And because all my other friends are into girls and so Melissa is the only one who understands that this man, Jesse, is hot.
But maybe not as hot as someone else you know... says an annoying little voice in my head that I mentally slap in the face. Avoiding looking at Jack, I listen to Jesse's quick safety demonstration.
"Any questions?" He finishes. When none of us answer, he points to the big box of life jackets and tells us to suit up.
After digging around in the box and finally finding a life vest that looks about my size, I snap in on, feeling extremely stupid.
"You okay there?" An amused voice says behind me, and I think for a second that it's Jack but instead see Jesse looking at me as I try to fasten all the confusing buckles. "What's your name?"
"Audrey," I say.
He shoots me a friendly smile and says, "Well then, Audrey, do you need any help with that?"
"Yeah I actually kind of do," I say, embarrassed. "Sorry, these buckles are really confusing-"
He laughs and says, "Don't worry, a lot of people do the same thing you just did, you have to do up the first three-" he reaches and does the first three buckles with no effort at all - "And then you do the last one with the zipper-" he proceeds to fasten that one too - "And then you're good!" He drops his hands politely after he finishes, not lingering too long on me to make me uncomfortable.
I smile in gratitude, saying, "Thanks. I swear I'm not incompetent, I've just never been rafting before."
"Yeah, no shit," Jesse teases me, but then he says, "Just kidding. But to those of us who were sort of raised on the river, buckling one of those life vests is second nature." He frowns and then adds, "Well, actually most of us never bother to put them on because we're so used to rafting. But since you all are newbies, you have to wear the jackets. I'm sorry, but its protocol, you know? Like I said, my dad usually runs this place, but he's out today and since I have a guide's license too he said I could take you guys out. Damn, I'm sorry, I'm sort of ranting here. I'm going to shut up now, because I'm a dumbass who can't function in the presence of a cute girl."
I laugh in an attempt to hide my embarrassed blush, "Hey, you said it, not me."
Damn. A guy who looks like this thinks I'm cute? Nah, on second thought he was probably just joking. He's way too hot to find me attractive in the slightest.
Jesse bites his lip awkwardly and runs a hand through his blond tangles, still grinning. "Well, anyway, glad I could help."
Then he jogs towards the stack of oars, beckoning all of us to follow him now that we've all got our life jackets on.
As I move to follow, I feel an arm slip around my shoulders, pulling me closer into a hard yet warm body.
"Um, what-?" I start to ask, but then I notice it's Jack and shut up because for some reason I really don't want him to let go of me. Jack looks down at me with an odd expression on his face.
"Well he seems nice, don't you think?" Jack raises his eyebrows pointedly at me. He still has an arm draped over my shoulders as we walk towards everyone else, which oddly doesn't feel that out of place.
"Who? Jesse?" I ask, because that can only be who Jack is taking about. He nods, and I elaborate, "He seems really nice, I mean he helped me with my life jacket."
Jack's expression hardens as he says stonily, "Yeah, I saw."
I stare at him, startled, but before I can ask about the shift in his tone of voice, Jesse begins talking about oars and how we're supposed to row the raft along the river, and I slip out of Jack's arm to get a better look at how I'm supposed to hold it.
Even though I'm not touching him, I can almost feel the tension in his shoulders.
After all the explanations are all done, we get onto the raft, and due to our weight distribution, I have to be at the back, opposite Jen. Henry is opposite Jack, and Nat and Melissa are facing each other. Jesse balances on the back of the raft, testing to make sure everyone is evenly spaced out.
Then, he pushes our raft onto the water with his oar, and we start to move along the river. It's calm at first, and we drift past outstretched branches and pretty flower bushes.
A few minutes in, Jesse taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and notice him grinning at me conspiratorially. "We're coming up on the first few rapids," he whispers quietly enough that no one else can here. "You nervous, newbie?"
I scoff, "No, of course not!"
This makes him chuckles and he calls out loud enough for everyone to hear, "Hold on guys, this is going to be awesome!"
Henry lets out a loud whoop and we all laugh as the raft suddenly plunges downwards, twisting and turning as we speed up. I clutch the side of the raft with both hands, but loosen up when I realize that this is actually pretty fun.
I join in as all my friends keep laughing and yelling in excitement, and for a second my eyes catch Jack's before we both quickly look away. But not before I feel my stomach twisting and turning as it it's also a boat on the river rapids.
I spot a couple butterflies flittering around a flower bush as we rush past, and flip them both of my middle fingers just to spite them. Stupid goddamn butterflies.
***
We finally wind up further down the river, an hour later, and soaking wet.
We take the truck up to the original place and drive back.