“Did you get over her?”
Owen snorted. “No. That slap was so hot.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. I’m a boar! Being toxic is normal. She slapped me, and I jerked off to that memory like eight hundred times.”
“That is so disturbing,” she punched out through her laughter.
“Look, I learned my lesson.”
“Oh yeah? If I slap you right now, what will you do?”
Owen scrunched up his face and looked out at the trees.
“You would get a boner, wouldn’t you?” she asked.
“I’m getting one right now.”
She belted out the weirdest sounding laugh. It was like the bray of a donkey, but she couldn’t stop. He was so honest, and self-deprecating and it was such a relief seeing someone own their shit. Her Pride always pretended to be perfect, but Owen? She could sit here and listen to a thousand of his weird admissions, and live happily ever after.
“Okay, that is my favorite laugh of all time,” he said through his chuckling.
“The donkey laugh?” she asked, her cheeks heating with warmth.
“Hell yeah. I like when you let loose. Okay, I take it back. I don’t want you to tell me about King Asshole. It will piss me off, and right now, I just want to be happy. No bad vibes on the river.”
“I love that motto. No bad vibes on the river,” she repeated.
The sound of splashing captured her attention, and up ahead, there was a strange sight. A giant man on what appeared to be a blow-up mattress was paddling his way upstream with a canoe paddle, directly for them.
“Captain?” Owen called.
“It’s meee, motherfuckers!” Captain sang out.
“I said no bad vibes on the river,” Owen yelled. “Go away!”
“You go away. Hi, Silver.”
“Um, hi Captain,” she greeted him.
Owen asked him, “Why are you on a blow-up mattress?”
“Because Gunner popped my raft.”
“Oh my God, Gunner’s here too?” Owen asked, pushing up into his innertube to scan the shoreline.
“The whole Crew is here to meet my new girlfriend,” Captain said with an empty smile for Silver. “Hi, honey. Want to tie me to your raft?”
“I’m going to murder you,” Owen promised. Truth. Huh.
“She gave me her number first!” Captain growled, shoving Owen’s innertube. Captain lost his balance and fell off his blow-up mattress and into the water.
Owen jumped directly on top of him and they both sank like rocks. A great swell of splashing occurred as they apparently were trying to drown each other, and Silver yelled at them to stop.
On the river bank they were passing, a group of familiar faces were launching rafts and kayaks into the water. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered under her breath in horror.
The entirety of the Fastlander Crew was here, including the Alpha himself, the Fury, the Monster, Gunner Walker.