41. Brooke
Brooke
Matt and Melanie swim back to the boat, and Ben’s head appears on the other side of the raft.
Logan and Beck extend hands to Melanie and haul her in, where she sits dripping wet but weirdly glowing because, apparently, my twin brother loves her.
Weird. And gross. I can’t contemplate too much about that because Ben hops into the boat, swinging his legs over like he’s a gymnast on a pommel horse.
Matt’s reentry is not nearly as smooth as Ben’s or Beck’s, and does it make me a terrible sister if that fills me with a tiny bit of glee? More teasing ammo is always a good thing when you have a twin, so no. Not terrible.
Matt grabs his paddle. “What do we need to do, boss?” he directs at Logan before winking at Melanie.
Beck catches my side eye and mouths, “You ok?”
I nod back, listening while Logan tells us about how we’ll be approaching this rapid.
He’s more serious than he has been before, and his instructions reflect that.
We have a few moments of paddling before we round the bend, so I drop my voice to a low whisper and ask Beck, “What’s their story?
” I tip my head to indicate Ben and Logan.
Beck gives a watery sort of smile and shakes his head.
I can tell he isn’t saying he won’t tell me, just that now isn’t the right time for that conversation.
If the mark of a man is the company he keeps, Logan and Ben are definitely interesting company, and I’d like to know their stories.
Mainly why Logan keeps frowning at Matt and Melanie, and why Ben dove out of the boat when they started locking lips.
The rapids hit right after the curve in the river, and there’s a moment of hushed concentration as the boat twists around the bend.
Beck, Logan, and Ben know this river. It’s clear from the way they’ve approached the entire afternoon of fun, but even they tighten the grip on their paddles and face this rapid with an uncharacteristic seriousness.
As soon as we’re in the rough water, I understand why.
“Back two! Back two!” Logan hollers as Beck begins paddling backward twice. “Four! Four!” Logan shouts again.
I attempt to paddle, but the rapids are buffeting the boat, and my side of the boat is popped up in air above them, so my paddle doesn’t even dip into the river.
I’m paddling air . My stomach swoops as the nose of the boat tips under the surface, and spray flies into my eyes, my ears, and my open mouth.
Somehow, I don’t lose my paddle in the chaos as Logan continues to shout different numbers.
“Three! Three!” he yells over the roar, and this time, when I start to stroke, the paddle slices into the water.
It might be only a few minutes, but it feels like much longer before the raft slips out of the white water and into the calmly flowing river again.
My heart ran a marathon in just a short expanse of river, and I take a deep breath as the raft lazily slides along.
I let it out shakily. It’s not enough to still my racing heart, so I do it again.
As I inhale, I catch Beck watching me with concerned eyes.
It’s enough to completely undo the calm that was starting.
“Have fun?” he asks.
“Y-yeah,” I say. “That was a lot more wild than I thought it would be.”
Beck turns to face the back of the boat. “Hey, is Lynette picking us up?”
“Yep, in about twenty minutes,” Logan calls back and then tips his head to the river.
“Anyone up for a swim?” Beck asks before setting his paddle down and gracefully jumping over the side.
“I think I’d rather stay in the boat this time,” Melanie says to Matt.
I set down my paddle and attempt to exit the inflatable boat as gracefully as Beck. Again, my short legs don’t let me leap over the wall of air-filled plastic, and my skin makes a slapping sound as it hits the wet material before I slide off the raft and into the water.
“I’ll hold the boat at the next shallow spot,” Logan calls as he passes by us with Matt and Melanie still in the middle. Just when the boat clears us, Ben stands at the edge of the back and falls purposefully backward into the river, where he lands with a huge splash.
“Sooo, Brooke,” Ben says as he floats over to me. “How’s your grandma’s car?”
“Oh, it’s fine,” I say, looking around the water for Beck. My heart is in my throat because I can’t see him.
Suddenly, something pulls on my leg, and I kick it, shrieking.
Beck’s copper hair breaks the surface of the water, and he grins at me.
It’s an actual grin, a playful one, the kind where he doesn’t look like the weight of saving lives is pressing down on him.
The seriousness usually present in his posture is gone.
“Are. There. Snakes. In. Here?” I ask, looking around, even though I know it was Beck that grabbed my leg.
Beck shrugs. “Probably, but I wouldn’t worry about it. The rapids wouldn’t be good for them.” He swims closer to me and loops a finger around my life jacket strap. “Are you scared?”
I shudder at the idea of snakes. “Definitely.”
“Did we just find someone who likes snakes even less than you?” Ben asks, surfacing on my other side.
“Doubtful,” Beck responds as I say, “Absolutely” at the same time.
Ben’s eyes twinkle with a knowing light. “Well, I’ve heard that snakes are romantic.”
Beck’s gaze snaps to Ben. “Don’t you dare use Bea’s lines on me.”
Beck splashes water at Ben, but Ben ducks behind his hand before laughing.
“One day, we’ll get her to bring a python or maybe a boa constrictor and leave it in your bed.”
Beck smirks. “That’s illegal, thank goodness. And I happen to know you don’t want to live a life of crime.”
“For the record, I’ll have no part in this prank,” I say.
Beck pulls me a little closer and wraps an arm around my life jacket girth before he leans in. He plants a brief kiss on my temple that makes a warmth linger on my skin against the coolness of the water.
“Not a life of crime,” Ben corrects, “but if Bea asked me to help her prank you like that, I would.”
“Threatening me, Benjy?” Beck questions, a glint in his eye.
“Of course I am,” Ben says back. “That’s what friends do. Right, Becky ?”
Beck lets go of my life jacket and begins chasing down Ben, who clearly anticipated this because he is booking it down the river as fast as he can go. I swim after them, not wanting to be left behind because now I’m thinking about snakes, and that is a hard pass for me.
Beck overtakes Ben, and the two of them start good-naturedly wrestling in the water. I’m glad to have grown up with brothers, because the entire thing doesn’t strike me as odd at all.
But Melanie must not have grown up with brothers because she’s shrieking from the boat. “Stop! Matty, stop them! They’re going to get hurt!”
I forget for a moment to tread water because I’m so incredulous at her overreaction.
My head bobs under the water, and I force myself back up only to find that Logan and Matt stare at Melanie slack-jawed while Beck and Ben continue trying to shove one another under the water. It’s difficult in life jackets.
I swim to the shallow area where Logan has let the raft bump up against a boulder.
“They’re just playing, Mel,” Matt says as I pop my head over the side of the raft.
I reach my hand out to try to pull myself over the wall, but I can’t, so Logan helps me in.
“That’s barbaric,” Melanie says, shuddering.
I slump onto a seat and turn to see that Beck has pushed Ben under, but at the last second, Ben pops up and pushes Beck under. I know how this goes. I put two fingers in my mouth and whistle at the loudest, shrillest decibel I can.
Beck and Ben break apart and turn toward the boat.
“Boys,” I say, putting my hands on my hips, although it’s difficult over the personal flotation device. “That’s enough.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Beck calls back, laughing with Ben.
“Our ride’s picking us up in ten, so everyone back in,” Logan yells.
Beck and Ben look at each other for a half beat before they launch into a race, swimming as fast as they can over to us. When they get to the raft, they both swing in like they’re some sort of water cowboys.
Beck situates himself across the boat from me, and when he catches my eye, it’s the unbridled joy in his gaze that has me feeling like I’m about to go over a Class V rapid.