Page 88 of This Blood That Binds Us
Chelsea had her stuff on and was standing by Aaron and Luke. The boys were talking too low for me to hear.
William stayed on the other side of them. He stayed casual but caught a glimpse of me and winked.
I sighed aloud and turned away. There was no relief from the stress I was feeling. I was about to start my counting when Zach appeared.
“Here it is.” Zach appeared next to me and put on my helmet. I moved the strap under my chin and clamped it loosely.
“All right, you guys all check out. Are you ready to board?” The burly guy came back up beside us. I could barely see his lips hiding behind his unruly beard.
“Yeah, we are!” Some of the boys let out excitedly, mostly Presley and Luke.
We moved closer to the rafts, and I fell behind. The twins were leading the way toward the roaring river, and Chelsea was busy, asking the guide about summer jobs. A hand grazed the middle of my back. Aaron was ushering me forward. He didn’t say a word and kept his eyes on William. I longed for us to find a placealone. To slow down and figure everything out...together. We all stopped in front of a rubber raft that was beached on the thousands of small rocks covering the water’s edge. The water was clear and smooth underneath the calico rocks.
“Hey. Wait.” Aaron moved his hands to my helmet and pulled the strap tighter. His finger grazed my chin, and my heart jumped in my chest. Somehow, he felt like him again. Our eyes met, and despite the cloudy skies, his eyes burned like liquid honey. “There. That’s better. Safety first.”
My cheek was on fire where his finger lingered. “Thanks...”
“All right, your group is next!” Our guide was knee-deep in the water, holding our raft steady for us to enter.
“Looks like we will all be able to fit. Perfect.” William smirked as he turned to Aaron.
“We’re not going anywhere with you,” Aaron spat.
His brothers were instantly at his side. Zach and Luke took to his shoulders, and even Presley backed him up on his flanks. It was shocking to me how quickly their body language changed.
“Come on. What’s he going to do with all of us here? It’s just a raft ride. We’re here to have fun, remember?” Luke grabbed Aaron’s arm, but Aaron didn’t lose determination.
“Why’s he acting like such an asshole, then?” Zach scoffed.
“Guys, I don’t think this is the place to be doing this. We have some lovely ladies with us who I’m sure didn’t come to see us fight.”
Presley’s voice was soft.
“Really, come on.” Chelsea huffed. “He seems like a normal guy, and he paid for our tickets.”
“There, listen to their reasoning. You wouldn’t want to cause a scene...” William smiled and stepped onto the raft.
“That’s right, come aboard! Watch your step! I need strong rowers to come right over here.” Our guide was still extremelyenergetic despite sounding like he was reciting from a well-rehearsed script.
Aaron’s brothers filed in the boat first after William, and I followed Chelsea.
Aaron stayed on the shore, watching us with disgust.
“Come on, bro! We don’t have all day! These waters are moving with or without you!” Our guide flashed him a toothy smile, moving the raft into position. Aaron moved reluctantly to the raft without saying another word.
“All right, guys, my name is Jared, and I’m going to be your guide today. Someone told me that you guys have done this before, so I’m sure you’re familiar with our movements. I’m going to be in the back, steering and telling you guys what to do. So, follow my lead.”
The boys chattered excitedly as we started to move. I grabbed my paddle, pulled my elbows in, and braced for our journey.
As the sun beat down, it became blatantly clear my day’s struggles were not over. I sat casually next to Chelsea, who was much more interested in talking to me and told me about her studies and expressed her readiness for finals. I was pleasantly surprised that we had some things in common, but I couldn’t enjoy the small talk.
Aaron and William sat on opposite sides of the boat, right in the very front. They were in competition with each other from start to finish. Our guide constantly had to stop and talk to them about working as a team. Though, it didn’t help us from spinning our raft around and hitting things. The twins were busy watching William like a hawk, while Presley was constantly poking me in the back, telling me jokes. It was amusing, though, and after a while, I was ready to get off the hot piece of plastic.
It took us twenty minutes longer than the rafts around us to reach the shore.
“All right. Your stuff should be available to check out with your ticket stub. Thank you, guys.” Jared sounded much less excited.
Our first step on shore introduced us to an open area, where small food carts created a small food court with wooden tables and benches and an area leading to a couple of swimming holes.
