She nods before stretching her upper body across the middle seat of the canoe so she can lay a hand on my knee. Gently she squeezes it right before my hand covers her more delicate one. I love touching her. Love feeling connected to her. I almost shake my head in amazement that I’ve so unexpectedly found this with someone.
I lean towards her, wanting to feel her long lithe body pressed against mine. Almost as if we’re magnets straining to connect, she continues trying to close the distance between us. Unfortunately the shifting of our combined weight makes the canoe teeter. It would have been no big deal except that Ivy’s eyes instantly flare wide with panic as she tries scrambling to steady herself. The rocking motion becomes more precarious as I try stabilizing the narrow red boat we’re sitting in. Water sloshes over the edges, splashing onto our clothes.
Trying to keep her from panicking further, I say in a calm voice, “Ivy, just sit back down.” Because right now she seems to be scrabbling for purchase. Her hands are trying to grip the sides. I don’t want to laugh, but she kind of looks like a cat trying to avoid being thrown into a bathtub. When she finally leans her body weight towards one side, I try steadying us by leaning the other way, hoping that will be enough to still the frantic swaying. But I’ve overcompensated and when she desperately shifts her weight to the side I’m already on, I know it’s too late to save us.
“Ivy-” I’m only able to get her name out before the canoe flips and we both get dumped into the spring fed lake. Even though it’s late September, the water is thankfully warm. Otherwise this would suck a whole lot more.
Surfacing, I hear Ivy sputtering next to me as she starts treading water. There’s still a thin veil of shock covering her features as if she can’t quite believe what just happened.
“The canoe,” she gasps because it’s now turned over and bobbing upside down in the water next to us.
Guess a pertinent question to ask at this point would be- “Are you okay? Do you know how to swim?”
A small gurgle of laughter escapes from her lips. “You probably should have asked that before we went out in a boat!”
I can’t resist grinning because she doesn’t seem angry about our current predicament. Some girls would be seriously pissed off to find themselves floating in the middle of a lake. “Yeah, you’re right, I should have.” Since she’s treading water next to me like a champ, I’m pretty sure she at least knows how to doggie paddle. “I better get this canoe turned over so we can head back to shore.”
That turns out to be a ten minute fiasco. It probably would have gone a lot faster if we weren’t both laughing and splashing each other like a couple of kids. But damn, we’re just having too much fun to get the job done. When we finally get the canoe righted, climbing back inside is an entirely new, not to mention, difficult challenge. I hold the red boat steady while Ivy hoists herself over the edge before finally tumbling inside with a loud oomph.
My shoulders shake with silent laughter as I hear her swear like a sailor under her breath.
“You better not be laughing!” She yells from the bottom of the canoe right before her head pops up. She glares down at me looking very much like a drowned kitten.
Instantly I school my features. “I was doing no such thing.”
Her eyes narrow further until they’re nothing more than slits. “Yeah, you were. You were definitely laughing at me.”
Her hand shoots out right before skimming across the rippling surface of the water. She’s got good aim, I’ll give her that. It gets me square in the face. Shaking it off, I launch myself towards the canoe before grabbing the metal rimmed edge. Then I give it a good shake. “You looking to join me in here again?”
She squeals before crashing back onto the floor. “God damn it, Roan!”
Still laughing, I steady the boat. Slowly she crawls over to the middle bench before picking up the oars we found floating in the water. With one hand on the canoe, I slowly begin towing her towards the dock. Thank god it’s bright and sunny out or we’d both be freezing our asses off. Although she does have a pretty cute ass, so maybe I wouldn’t mind seeing that.
Once we reach the shoreline, I pull the boat up onto the sandy beach before helping her out. Once I have her fingers firmly ensconced in mine, I don’t let them go. My eyes run the length of her. Her clothes are still dripping wet. Her hair is slicked back and little rivulets of water continue to slowly trek their way down the side of her face. I can’t resist reaching over and giving her a soft kiss.