by Tina Michele
“Ha! That’s what I thought,” Corey cut her off mid-denial. “Well, if it’s any consolation, she slaps a lot of shit around after encounters with you, too.”
“I…no, what?”
“For two people who’ve known each other their entire lives, you don’t act like it. It’s cute. And weird, but mostly cute.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Haven couldn’t believe that Willa had opened up to someone she just met, and about their relationship of all things. She had no intention of confirming or denying the nonsense Corey was blabbering.
“Right. It took some convincing for Willa, too. No worries.”
To Haven’s relief, the subject changed when Scrat called out the instructions for their first rapid of the day. It was a mild Class I and everyone conquered it with ease. They listened to MC’s direction and followed the flow right through the waves. The next two miles were smooth flats that gave everyone the opportunity to take in the surroundings and get comfortable in their boats. MC showed off his many skills doing rolls and boofing over the boulders that dotted the river.
The group split and merged into different formations as they floated along. It was another opportunity for campers to get to know each other and deepen connections. Sharing the life-changing experience created a bond between each other away from the pressure of their real lives. Haven was blessed to have the chance to capture those moments forever. She needed to make her way toward the front of the pack so that she could set up for pictures as they came over the bigger rapids up ahead.
Wendy dropped back as Haven moved forward. “Getting a closer look, huh?”
“What? No. I need to—”
“Check out her technique?”
“You’re worse than Diego, Wendy.” Haven could hear Wendy’s laughter behind her as she raced away from her and the conversation. “What is with everyone today?”
Chapter Eight
Willa watched in awe as Haven paddled her boat up to the front of the group. Haven didn’t even bat an eye when a traffic jam of boats forced her to paddle straight toward a large rock that rose from the river. Water rushed up and over the rock, pouring over into a swirl of boiling white foam. Willa’s eyes darted back and forth from Haven to the pour-over as she made no attempt to avoid it. Haven did just the opposite, digging in with her paddles and aiming straight for it. Just as Willa was about to shout out to her, Haven hit the rock and took a long final stroke before sailing over the hole and landing with an audible “boof” on the other side.
Willa found herself speechless, but the hoots and hollers from the other campers rose above the sound of both the water and Willa’s racing heartbeat. She didn’t know if she was impressed or aroused by the sheer dominance that Haven had over her kayak and the river. It was a side that in all their years as friends and lovers Willa had never seen. This went beyond a “head high and shoulders back” attitude because it took more than that to conquer Mother Nature.
MC whooped and cheered at Haven’s successful display of skill and used her impromptu demonstration as a teaching point. What they had just witnessed was called a boof, so named by the sound the hollow kayak makes on a successful landing. Even if MC hadn’t told them so, Willa and everyone else could have guessed that Haven’s demo was just that. They spent several minutes in an eddy as MC taught them the different occasions and methods for performing a proper boof. He tossed around a few alternative definitions of the term, one of which involved illicit drugs in a rectum, and that she could’ve gone without knowing.
Willa was trying to keep her attention on MC and Scrat as they ran a few demonstrations of the lessons, albeit none of them as dramatic or exciting as the one Haven had given them, but she couldn’t keep herself from stealing glances at her. Willa was mystified by this new woman she’d become, and long-forgotten feelings were beginning to bubble below the surface. She felt so drawn to her, not just with distant memories of their years together but more with new feelings of curiosity and desire. Haven was a powerful force, and it aroused Willa in an unexpected way.
As she stared at Haven, her boat drifted from the calm eddy and into the current. Her kayak slipped away from the bank that she’d docked herself against. Instinctively, she slapped her paddle at the shore, hoping to get a hold and pull herself back in. One of the worst side effects to losing sight was her lack of depth perception. Unfortunately, she was already too far, and her paddle sliced through the mud as her reach stretched to its max. She leaned over just a touch hoping to give herself that extra inch she needed to keep from being washed out of the eddy, but it was one inch too far. She lost the grip on her paddle as she and her boat went over. Willa gave out a sharp screech and a “fuck me” before going under.
Without a paddle, she was forced to wet exit in the three-foot-deep water, brushing her back along the riverbed as she pushed out of the boat. She kept hold of her kayak and resurfaced to a roar of laughs and whistles. MC declared it the most dramatic swim so far, a record Willa feared she would always hold. Her face burned bright red, and in spite of the frigid water, she could feel the heat on her ears and cheeks. Here Haven was jumping boulders and she tipped herself over trying to reach for the shore. What’s done is done. She gave her audience a quick bow.
So much for the heat that was beginning to churn in her belly thinking of Haven. She just threw an entire river of freezing water onto every part of her body. That was a good thing considering that she had zero chance of making an impression on Haven anytime they were in the water.
“Well, that was an easy win.” As he had predicted, Spartan had been the only one of their group not to turn over that day. While it wasn’t a competition, it was clear that Spartan made everything a game that he needed to win. As Willa climbed back into her boat, she decided that she was done playing around. She might not be able to impress Haven with her skills, but she knew she could beat Spartan at his own game. They were just about done on the water for the day, so Haven decided she would be ready to make him eat his words tomorrow.
Willa’s stomach growled as she hauled herself and the boat up the ramp to the truck. The breeze was crisp and cut through her wet suit, making her nipples sharpen against the fabric. She didn’t know what she wanted more, to be dry or fed. She handed her gear over to Mateo and climbed onto the bus that had been commandeered by the females as a temporary changing room. Towels hung from the seats along the aisle in makeshift changing cubicles as the women shimmied out of their wet clothes and into dry ones. Willa hesitated at first, making sure that Haven wasn’t on the bus. She was not in a place to see or be seen by Haven in all their naked glory. With Haven’s location by the supply truck noted, Willa peeled off her rash guard and swim trunks before slipping on a tank top, T-shirt, and jeans. She skipped over the bra and panties to save herself the awkward struggle of wrestling a tight sports bra over wet skin like Ross in the leather pants episode of Friends. She was just shy of six feet tall, and there was no way to make that graceful in the small space of the bus.
Thankfully, she had just slipped into her sweatshirt before the men and volunteers had enough of waiting and bounded onto the bus. Unlike the other ladies, she’d have changed with the guys without problem; it was just Haven that she wanted to avoid. Willa had done so successfully, and so had Haven because she was no longer in her suit but in a pair of black yoga pants and a long, flowing tunic top. Her short blond hair was still wet and slicked back on the sides with an edgy top poof.
The sight of her took her breath away, and a shiver ran through Willa when they made eye contact. She was thankful for the sweatshirt that hid her unexpected goose bumps and hardened nipples. What was happening to her? She turned her attention away and slunk down into the seat. She was determined to stay that way for the entire ride back to the ranch.
* * *
To Willa’s surprise, they didn’t head straight back to the ranch. Instead they pulled into a crowded parking lot and up to a massive redstone building. She hadn’t been paying
attention to her surroundings so she was at a complete loss as to where they could be. Corey tugged on Willa’s arm and squealed, “Hot springs!”
Hot springs? Willa couldn’t help the disappointment that she felt that they weren’t returning to the ranch. She just wanted to stuff her face with home-cooked comfort food and disappear into her bunk for some alone time. All the camaraderie and group togetherness was making her a bit claustrophobic. After a few moments and a chance to think about it, she decided that a nice hot soak wouldn’t be so bad. She could warm up, relax, and have a quiet moment in nature’s hot tub.
They unloaded from the bus with their bags in hand and filed into the building. Willa was surprised by the commercialization of the space, complete with ticket counter and a gift shop. The group threaded through a theme park turnstile and back toward the locker rooms. So far Willa felt this was anything but nature’s intended presentation. She was becoming discouraged and uncomfortable, and was once again wishing they had just gone right back to the ranch. The men and women split off into their separate areas, and Willa’s heart stopped when she entered the large open room. Women of all shapes and sizes changed in and out of swimwear or toweled off their naked bodies. Great. She has just avoided this a half hour earlier on the bus and here she was again.
The ladies set down their bags on benches in front of their chosen lockers and began to strip down. Willa hesitated and clutched her bag, looking around for a curtain or stall or wall she could hide behind to change. As she glanced around, she saw Haven, who was also looking distressed in the moment. They stared at each other in silence for several moments, until Willa spied an open shower stall. “I’m just gonna…” she said as she motioned in its direction. Haven acknowledged her move and gave an awkward smile before looking down at her own bag. It made Willa feel better to know that both she and Haven were uneasy about the intimacy issues involved with changing in front of each other. It did seem strange, considering their history.
Willa pulled her swim gear from her bag and was a little disappointed that she had to choose between her sporty two-piece or her rash guard. There was no way she could just wear her bathing suit, but her other top would be like wearing a business suit in a hot tub. When she held it up to put it on it was cold as ice, and she ripped it off her skin. “Nope.” Two-piece it is. It was still wet and cold, but the large towel she wrapped around herself helped. She slipped out of the shower and shoved her bag into the nearest open locker. Even with the towel, her shoulders were bare and she felt exposed. Willa pulled the bind tighter around her chest and held on to it tightly. At least she hadn’t been the only one using their towel for that temporary extra warmth before getting into the water. With the entire group changed and ready to go, they headed out to the pools.
Once again, Willa was greeted by the unexpected. Two enormous pools spanned the length of what looked like two city blocks. The shorter was a hundred feet long. A sign indicated that the temperature of the water was a balmy 104 degrees. Older patrons bobbed and relaxed in the pool, and Willa wanted what they were having. In contrast, the long pool on the far end was filled with splashing children and families. A lifeguard guarded the deep end and the diving board. She wasn’t in the mind-set for that pool just yet. As if reading her mind, the group moved and claimed a row of lounge chairs near them. They shed their towels, exposing a variety of different body types. Stoma scars, missing breasts, and chest ports made each of them unique and reminded Willa that they all fought and won major battles. An unexpected sense of pride sparked within her.
She unwrapped herself and dropped her towel onto the lounge to follow the others into the pool. Willa eased herself inch by inch into the scalding-hot water. The scent of sulfur and minerals rose with the steam from the surface of the pool. It was an encapsulating sensory experience. Each of her senses was on high alert as she closed her eyes and sank to her neck in the water, absorbing the elements and energy.
After a few minutes of her Zen-like experience, her mind flashed to Haven and she opened her eyes. Willa realized that she hadn’t seen Haven since she disappeared into the shower to change. While Willa had floated off in her moment of meditation, the rest of the group gathered at the steps at the opposite side of the pool. In the center of them was Haven kneeling at the edge holding an orange mesh bag.
Willa couldn’t hear what she was staying; however, had she been within earshot she’d have heard nothing except the rushing of blood through her ears. Haven was exquisite. Her body was gorgeous, pale, and smooth. She was rounded in all the best places, from breasts to belly. Willa had always thought she had her entire feminine landscape memorized, but Haven had new features Willa didn’t recall. She used Haven’s preoccupation and her own distance to take several minutes to rake her eyes over each inch of Haven’s exposed flesh. It didn’t take long for the heat of the pool and the fire burning in her gut to overheat Willa. She needed to cool off in every way.
The one way out of the pool was via the steps that had been commandeered by the Valiant group or the ladder just to her left. She figured it would be easier and faster to avoid Haven and get out of the pool using the ladder. She climbed up easily enough and wrung out the ends of her hair while enjoying the cool breeze on her overheated body. She reached down for her towel and turned toward the pool to see if everyone was still powwowing on the steps. She began to bring the towel to her face but was stopped cold when she saw everyone’s eyes trained on her. Her heart stopped and she felt the blood rush from her face. Oh, God. What are they looking at? She looked down at herself and made sure her tits and bits were still covered, and they were. She breathed an audible sigh of relief. “What? What’s wrong?”
No one said anything. They just responded with darted looks back and forth from her to Haven. It was then she saw Haven’s face. It was red and her expression couldn’t hide the look of bewilderment. Willa must be mistaken. “She can’t possibly be looking at me like that,” she mumbled.
Corey broke the tension. “Are we gonna play this game or what?” She grabbed the orange bag from Haven, which snapped her out of her haze, and Willa was grateful. Corey bounced through the pool and climbed up the ladder to Willa.
“You’re welcome,” she said as she stood up next to Willa.
“Thanks. I think. Why was everyone staring at me?”
“Come on! Games are afoot!” Corey pulled Willa along toward the larger, cooler pool used for games and activities. “She was talking about the game when all of a sudden her face turned red as a beet, and she forgot all of her words. It took us a minute to figure out what had struck her dumb, but then we saw it was you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. With your rock solid thighs and back muscles for days. No one could blame her. It was quite a sight, actually.”
“Please, tell me you’re kidding.”
“Nope. Not kidding. Haven could’ve choked on her own tongue panting over you.”
“Corey!”
“What? For real. It was adorable and sooo obvious.”
“Oh, Christ.”
“It’s fine. Relax. It’s not like you weren’t doing the exact same thing to her while she wasn’t watching.”
“Wha—”
“Shut it. I saw you. Now, moving on. It’s time for games. You’re on my team.”
“But I don’t—” Willa tried to protest, but Corey gave her a look with a smirk and raised eyebrow, and Willa relented. “Fine. What are we playing?”
* * *
Haven couldn’t believe that she had just lost all sense of control and the ability to talk. When she looked across the pool and saw Willa climbing out of the water, her heart seized and her breath stuck in her chest. It was only in their most private moments that Haven had seen Willa in anything less than a sports bra and swim trunks, yet here she was dripping wet in a fitted contour halter and matching bottoms of yellow and blue. Her stomach was flat but soft, and her breasts were full with an enticing space down the center where they teased to be touched. T
he muscles in her arms were tight as she pulled herself up the ladder before exposing a tight-fitting pair of boy short bottoms. The space where her thighs met her ass taunted Haven for a longer look as her mind flashed back through a slideshow of similar instances, each one enjoyable for its own intimate reason or memory.
Haven remembered a time Willa had picked her up and held her against a wall during sex. The memory aroused Haven as if she had returned in time to their bed as she caressed Willa’s soft thigh from the knee to her ass and ran her fingers over the taut mound before she’d grasped it firmly in her palm.
Corey had to pry Haven’s white-knuckled fingers from the mesh bags, because she’d found herself paralyzed in this unexpected fantasy. And it was just her luck that there wasn’t a single person who’d missed the awkward public flashback she just had. The one thing she could hope for was that each of them had some sense of kindness and wouldn’t drag her through the mud for it. When they split the teams, Haven left herself out of the game. She needed a little time to sit and come up with a plan to deal with the next four days. After counting through the players, they needed another body and wouldn’t let it go until Haven was in the water. Seeing as she wasn’t on Willa’s team, she could manage to keep far enough away from her in a pool a hundred feet wide. She was the last holdout, so as soon as she jumped into the water the game began.
The game was a combination of keep-away and water polo. The rules—if they could’ve been called rules—were ambiguous. It was nothing more than a game that involved sopping wet Nerf balls being thrown as hard and fast as possible at each other. The one thing that made any sense was that the person with ball had to throw the ball, and everyone wanted a ball.