Page 65 of Truck You

Liam and Christian stayed another day to go rafting with us, which means we’re all piled into one raft with a guide.

I’m sandwiched between Mac and Ash. Garret is behind Mac while Christian, Chase, Liam, and the guide are in the row next to us. Every time we hit a rough rapid, Mac grabs onto my arm like I’m going to fly out of the raft and crack my head open on a rock. I guess that’s a possibility, which is why I wish he’d stop doing it. It’s making me tense.

Besides, with seven men—all experienced rafters—surrounding me, it’s not like I’m contributing a lot to this excursion. It’s killing the thrill and excitement.

We opted to raft the lower river, which experiences class IV and higher rapids. It’s meant for intermediate rafters, but since I’m the only one on our raft that’s never been before, our guide said we’d be fine.

Mac seemed fine with that before we left, but once we hit the rapids, he went all growly bear, overly protective of me. I’m more pissed than surprised by his behavior.

Some of these rapids have been intense, but nothing I can’t handle. I drive racecars for crying out loud. I can manage whitewater rafting with seven experienced rafters by my side.

There are two other groups with us on this trip. One raft is a group of couples. Some of whom have done this before and some who are first timers like me. After sitting through the quick safety training with them, I was confident we’d all be fine.

The other raft is a group of men who apparently travel the world searching for thrilling adventures.

Our guide calls out that we’re approaching some falls. Then he instructs us where to guide the raft. Mac leans forward and yells in my ear. “We’ve got this if you want to hold on.”

I glance over my shoulder and glare at him. “Not on your life.”

“Hold on!” His voice rolls through my body like thunder. I may be pissed at how he’s acting, but it makes me laugh all the same.

“I’ll be fine.” I give him an exaggerated eye roll. “Even if I fall out of the raft, I’m in a wetsuit and life jacket. Plus, I’m a strong swimmer.”

“Can’t swim if you crack your skull open,” he grumbles.

I narrow my eyes on him before I turn back around to follow every one of our guide’s instructions. Maneuvering the raft through the rapids and falls is challenging. It requires an insane amount of upper and lower body strength, but I’m strong enough to manage it.

Mac is being ridiculous. And kind of cute. He’s infuriating, but I like that he cares enough to worry about my safety.

We make it through the waterfall without incident. Mac had to focus on using his paddle to help get us through it without tipping, so he couldn’t hold on to me. It’s the most fun I’ve had since we left this morning.

The river calms and we get a reprieve. I turn back to Mac and smile. “Did you see that? I can do this. Will you stop trying to protect me now?”

He leans forward, slips his hand around my neck, and kisses me. “I’ll try. But no promises.”

Chase says something I can’t make out, but apparently the others hear him because they all laugh. Even Garret and Christian. They rarely ever laugh. But Mac growls and glares at his brothers. I can only assume it’s a jab at his show of affection.

We continue down the river, safely making it through several class IV rapids and even one our guide says is most likely a class V. Mac didn’t grab for me once. I could tell he wanted to, but he resisted. I’m finally enjoying this excursion now that he’s let up.

About an hour into the trip, and just when I thought my arms couldn’t take another minute of this, the guide directs us to the shore where he says we can relax and do some swimming.

The river is calm, and we’re surrounded by several large, flat rocks.

Chase lets out a loud whoop as he jumps up behind Mac. “Race you up the rock.”

He runs past us, but Mac doesn’t take the bait. Instead, Mac sits next to me by a large tree.

“You don’t have to stay with me. Go swimming with your brothers.”

“Maybe in a minute.” He winks at me with a content smile on his face. “You having fun?”

“Now that you’ve let up, yes. It’s intense but I love it.”

“Sorry. I guess you can add overly protective to the list of my annoying qualities.”

I laugh at his honesty. “I can handle it as long as you don’t actually try to stop me from doing the things I love. Are you going to be able to handle my upcoming race?”

His eyes snap to mine. “You have a race coming up?”

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