"Lanes," Finn groans beside me, I crack my eyes open, my mouth feels like sandpaper.
"Finn," I reply, I know we are both miserable from the tone of his voice.
"Are you hungover?"
"Yes," I say pulling myself out of the bed. I pad to the kitchen to grab a kombucha for the two of us and hand him one.
"No, that shit is gross," he shakes his head at me.
"I promise it will make you feel better," I force him to take the drink. Truthfully, I hated the taste too, but I kept them around for when I drink too much. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was a miracle cure for hangovers.
"So, I was really drunk last night, but it seemed like I interrupted a moment between you and Noah," Finn says before taking a tentative drink and making a sour face.
"You were definitely drunk," I scowl, turning my own drink up and searching the cabinets for a pop tart.
"I don't know..." he teases finally finishing his drink, "I hate that you were right about this."
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I ask him, desperate to get away from this subject.
"Unfortunately," he kisses my cheek, "see you Friday."
I watch him disappear up the stairs and I know I'm alone when I hear the door slam shut. I didn't have any plans today, and I knew being alone with my thoughts wouldn't be good for me. I had been trying way too hard to not think of Caleb at all, but I found my thoughts drifting to him.
I feel like I should have noticed the signs, maybe if I had been paying more attention, I could have stopped this trajectory somehow. I knew things weren't great with us, but I thought it was because we had been together so long. He was bored or I was getting on his nerves. I had felt both of those feelings for him on occasion, like when he never helped around the house or made me cook when I didn't feel like it. I knew things weren't perfect, but I thought we could have worked through anything.
We had talked about getting married, for fuck's sake. I guess the promises are just words now as I wipe the tears that had escaped my eyes. He didn't want to work on anything, he never told me he was unhappy. He didn't even help me move my things out.
Despite all of this, I still missed him fiercely. Before we started dating we were friends, and he quickly became my best friend. I told him absolutely everything. I guess he didn't feel like he could tell me everything.
I wipe my face again and reach for my phone. It chimes with a message from Finn.
Wanna float tomorrow
Fuck yeah
I wasn't going to wallow in self pity, so I threw on some clothes and drove to the boxing club Noah had taken me to yesterday. It didn't matter that I was still sore from my session the previous day.
I pull open the doors, suddenly overwhelmed by myself and not quite sure what I should do.
"Back already?" Dan chirps, slapping a hand onto my shoulder.
"I had so much fun yesterday that I think I would like to make this a regular thing," I lie. He didn't need to know my personal issues.
Dan led me over to a reception area and I had to sign several papers saying I couldn't sue anyone if I got hurt. He waived the membership fee for me since I was providing free advertising and I was very grateful for that.
"Delaney, this is Damon, he's a trainer here and he will help you be more productive," Dan stood next to a tall man with bright blue eyes and his hair was pulled into a bun at the nape of his neck.
I reach out and shake his hand and try not to look away from his intense gaze. "Nice to meet ya," his tone was friendly and his hand shake was firm.
Dan left us a moment later and Damon was already down to business. "Hands up, protect your face," he commands. I throw my hands up and he nods in approval. "Alright, now dodge my punches and if you don't it's going to hurt."
I'm not ready for the first shot and he lands a blow, I stumble back a step before I throw my hands up. I can tell where he's going to throw his punches now, and I easily dodge them. My abs burn when he finally lets up.
"Not bad," Damon praises, "now you throw shots at me and I will block them."
I throw my first punch but he scolds me with, "release your heels."
I throw some more, desperately trying to land a hit on him.
"Breathe, Delaney," Damon instructs and I realize I have been holding my breath.
"You are focusing too much on trying to hit me, just feel it. The opportunity will present itself. You will tire yourself out like this and your opponent with destroy you," Damon calls as I try to remember to fucking breathe and release my heels and wait for an opportunity, whatever the fuck that means.
Finally understanding what he means, I see the perfect opportunity and land a blow to his ribs.
"Great job, Delaney," He smiles and high fives me, "felt good, huh?"
I nod enthusiastically as we move over to a large bag hanging from a chain.
"I'm going to hold the bag and call out commands, remember to breathe and release your heels that's where all the power comes from," I nod in understanding at him as he takes his position.
I try to follow his commands as best I can, getting scolded several times in the process. When the session is over, I'm sweaty and sore and I have a better attitude than what I came in with.
"It was a pleasure working with you today, Delaney," Damon says as we stretch on the floor.
"I really enjoyed myself too," I smile back at him.
I arrive at Noah's house to find him pulling out of the driveway as I pull in. I return his wave as he drives away.
I take a long shower and lay on the couch and binge watch the new season of Stranger Things.
At some point I had fallen asleep and I wake to several texts from Finn.
You up?
Let me in!
I'm getting Noah
Just then I hear the door opening. Finn and Noah appear at the bottom of the stairs a moment later. Finn laughing at me and Noah has one eyebrow raised.
I look down, I was wearing an oversized T-shirt that hung off my shoulder and Christmas socks that went over my knees.
I roll my eyes at them.
"Do you still want to come?" Finn asks.
"Yeah, just give me two minutes," I reply shutting my bedroom door. I throw on a black bikini and shorts and go to brush my teeth and brush my hair. I pad to the kitchen to grab a bagel.
Finn and Noah are still laughing at me, I bend down and pull off the offending socks and toss them at the jackasses.
I slide into Finn's car and Noah gets in the back. I should have known he would be coming too.
We stop at a gas station on the way to load up on beer and finally we make it to the river.
When we pull up Jenna and Thad are waiting for us at the office, a blonde is standing next to them.
"What is she doing here?" I ask him, my tone accusing.
"I invited her," Finn says, rubbing the back of his neck. This had to be a joke. Candice was the toxic girlfriend of all toxic girlfriends. The final boss, if you will.
Then I did the math in my head, I was going to be in a canoe with Noah. Fucking great.
"I hate you," I groan as we make our way over to them.
"Delaney!" Candice fake coos and pulls me in for a hug. She hates me as much as I hate her, so I find this extra ridiculous. I hold my hand up to stop her from actually touching me.
Noah chuckles from behind me.
"Where's Caleb?" She asks in her shrill voice, it's a cheese grater to my nerves.
"I don't know," I shrug. I wasn't going to tell her we broke up. She was always trying to flirt with Caleb.
"Who's this?" She asks moving over to Noah. Noah introduces himself, at least looking uncomfortable.
This is why I don't like her. Don't get the idea in your head that I have dormant feelings for Finn because I definitely don't. I am fiercely protective of him because he picks the worst girls to date. She flirts with all of the guys in our group shamelessly and Finn is oblivious to it. I try to stay out of it, because it's his life but I have made my opinion known.
Jenna catches my eye and rolls hers. We were on the same page with this Candice thing.
"Let's go, shall we?" Finn asks and we all climb onto the bus to the drop point.
"Looks like we're gonna be partners," Noah bends to say into my ear when we get off the bus.
"You better not flip us,"I warn and grab the other half of the canoe. Noah loads his cooler into the middle and we both set the thing in the water. I get in first and Noah gets in the back.
Noah and I push off and row down the river a bit so the others can get in. I pull my long straight hair into a bun and pull my tank off. I twist in my seat to grab a beer and find Noah watching me.
"Are you going to make me do all the work while you drink?" Noah calls from behind me. I look him dead in the eyes as I pop the tab on my White Claw and take a long drink.
Noah raises his eyebrows in challenge and grabs his own beer. Both of us have stopped rowing, staring and chugging our beers, stuck in some bizarre stare off.
The rest of our group was getting farther away, but I don't care. I wasn't going to back down. I had planned on getting piss drunk today, but I hadn't intended for him to do all of the work. His assumptions provoked me into this stupid stare off. He was proving to be just as stubborn as me.
"Fine, you win," Noah acquiesces and grabs the paddle to start rowing again. I smile triumphantly and pick up my own.
We catch up to the others easily and I grab another drink. The others talk easily about how nice the weather was today and about the shows. I wasn't into talking much and I close my eyes to listen to the music that was coming from Finn's canoe.
Finn caught our canoe right behind me. "Penny for your thoughts?"
I smile at him, "just enjoying the water and the music." He squeezes my shoulder before releasing us and rowing ahead.
"You guys want to pull off for a while?" Thad calls back to us, "the rope swing is coming up."
We all agree, we had already done half of the 26 mile journey. I was anxious to stretch out my limbs.
Noah bumps us up against the shore and I get out and drag him the rest of the way up so our canoe doesn't get swept away.
We both grab another beer and follow the others up the hill where a tree twists out over the river. A worn and frayed rope hangs down from the highest branch. I sit down on a thick branch that was over the water as the others took turns swinging and jumping into the water.
"Aren't you going in?" Noah asks, taking a seat next to me.
"Oh, I don't think so," I tell him, that pesky height thing.
"Don't you ever get tired of playing everything so safe?" He asks, eyes searching mine.
"Don't you ever get tired of prying into my life?" I snap.
"Nope," he grins and grabs my hand. He tries to pull me off the branch I was perched on but I cling to it with my other hand.
"Delaney," Noah scolds and pulls even harder on my hand. I lose the grip I had on the branch and stumbled into Noah's bare chest. His solid, firm torso littered with ink I hadn't seen yet. The hand that had been gripping the tree now splayed across his faint abs while the other still held his.
"Noah, I'm not going, I mean it," I tell him trying to yank my self free of him. To my complete surprise Noah lifts me off the ground with one arm. I was embarrassingly shorter than him and my feet flail as they try to make contact with the ground.
"I won't let anything happen to you," he whispers close to my ear and I stop struggling. "I need both my hands, so hold onto me." I wrap both of my arms around his neck, my legs locked around his torso. Noah winks at me as he grabs the rope and launches us to the water.
A surprised scream escapes my lips until we reach the water. I fall down, down, down. My limbs move frantically trying to get my body back up to the surface. I feel Noah reach out and pull me up. Instinctively, I grab onto him and let him take us back to the shore.
"Noah, how'd you get her in?" Finn calls out from his spot on the hill.
"I didn't take no for an answer," Noah smirks down at me. I was going to have to stop drinking around him, touching him like this was clouding my judgement.
"Are we ready to move along?" I ask the group, choosing to ignore their banter. I open another beer and sit down on the canoe.
Everyone else follows suit and we were off. I tried not to think too hard about how Noah and I had been in perfect sync all day long. The way he looked when I saw him out of the corner of my eye when I was getting a drink, the way his arms strained with the effort of keeping us moving.
We finally made it to the end of our long trip and Noah and I drug out canoe out of the water and hand it off to a man that worked at the rental place.
"Lanes were gonna jump off the bridge, you coming?" Finn asks pointing up to the bridge that people had been steadily throwing themselves off since we had arrived.
"There's a lesson in there somewhere, I'm sure of it."
"Come on Lanes," Finn whines.
"You guys go ahead."
"Fine, come on Noah," Finn calls over his shoulder. Noah shakes his head, looking intently at me.
"Stop looking at me like that," I snap at Noah.
"Like what?"
"Like you want to make me go up there."
"I do want you to go up there."
"Well, it's not happening."
"Delaney, you can't expect me to go alone."
"You are sneaky , but it's not going to work on me."
"You already jumped from the tree, come on Delaney, let's conquer this too."
"No, Noah."
"Yes, Delaney."
Noah holds out his hand to me again and I know my face holds as much surprise as his does when I take it.
I turn my brain off completely as I let him lead me up to the bridge. He never let go of my hand.
"Look at me," Noah commands softly as we climb over the guard rail. I lock eyes with him as he begins to countdown.
"Count of three... one, two, three," and on the last number we both jump into the cold water below. My stomach lurches into my throat as I grip onto his hand tighter. His hand doesn't leave mine as we kick our way to the surface, Noah pulling me up more than I was helping myself.
"That was incredible!" Noah exclaims holding my face between his hands. I laugh with him as I cling to him while he keeps us afloat.
"Lanes!" Finn calls, swimming over to us. "I can't believe you did that!" Noah lets go of me so I can hug my best friend. I can see him treading water beyond Finn, a proud smile tugs at his lips and my stomach flips at the sight.
No, it was the adrenaline, not Noah.