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“Looks like you’re working hard,” Willow deadpans, playfully narrowing her eyes at Benji.
He pushes his shaggy locks away from his face and grins. “You know me, always got my nose to the grindstone.”
Wyatt snorts. “We do know you … and that’s how we know that statement is complete bullshit.” He turns toward Willow. “What have you two been up to today?”
The guys are aware that I’ve been spending time with Willow; they just don’t know exactly how much time we’ve been together. I can tell Wyatt is still interested in her, and it irritates me even though it shouldn’t.
His arm goes over her shoulders, and I clench my teeth. Willow squeezes him and then moves away. I relax and then narrow my eyes when I see Benji watching me with interest … and a whole lot of amusement. I flip him off, and he chuckles.
“We woke up late and then went into town for some breakfast,” she says.
Wyatt’s eyebrows rise. His eyes flit between her and me. “Oh,wedid, did we?” There’s a hardness to his tone.
Willow moves closer, and I pull her against me with my arm around her waist. I kiss the side of her head. The lines between Wyatt’s eyes deepen as he watches us, realization sinking in.
That’s right, my friend. This one’s mine. You can back off now.
Wyatt scoffs out a humorless laugh and shakes his head, glancing out the window.
“Well, let’s go!” Benji suddenly says, fully aware of the unspoken tension in the room. “The day’s not getting any younger.”
I drop my hold on Willow as we follow them outside and select life jackets. I help Willow put hers on and secure the clasps infront. She watches me with the shadow of a smile ghosting her lips as I tighten the straps around her chest. I grab her by the vest and pull her into me for a quick kiss.
“Now, stop that shit right now,” Benji orders jokingly. “You’re making me jealous.” He moves a little closer to Willow. “Unless you have some of that sugar for all of us.”
Willow laughs and rolls her eyes, shoving him away.
“I guess I’ll take that as a no,” he murmurs.
Wyatt is quiet as he gathers one end of the raft and waits for Benji to grab the other side. I beat him to it, lifting it from the ground. Our eyes meet. I’ve seen this look before. There’s a question and a challenge in his light-brown gaze. And more than a hint of envy.
I hold his stare, but not in a gloating way. I try to silently convey that Willow is different. She’s not some trophy to me or somebody to compete over. I genuinely like her. And we’re too old to be fighting anymore—over things or women.
He shakes his head and then turns away. We drag the floating device down to the river. When it’s half in and half out of the water, Benji and Wyatt steady the raft so Willow and I can climb inside. I sit across from her. Benji takes the front position. Wyatt shoves us the rest of the way into the water before jumping in the back. Part of me wonders if he took the rear position so he could push me in at some point and drown me.
I’ve been on this river more times than I can count. It starts off smooth and easy before we hit the rapids. Wyatt and Benji are paddling as Willow looks around.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she murmurs. “Living in this town and seeing this every day … do you all take it for granted?”
Benji turns to smile at her. “Nah. I love it. I never get tired of it.”
“I can imagine living here all the time. I think I would love it too.”
“You should,” Benji replies sincerely while facing forward again. He pushes the oar through the water, propelling us forward like he’s done this a thousand times before. “With your job, you can work from anywhere, right?”
“Right.” She nods. “That’s the good thing about medicine.”
There’s a lump in my throat and an unidentifiable feeling in my chest at Benji’s suggestion. But I don’t have time to decipher it. We drift along for a while until I hear the thrashing of water over rocks. We’re approaching the rapids. Willow’s cheeks are flush from excitement.
Wyatt yells out some instructions to Willow. He tells her what to do when the water gets rough. He walks her through how to react if she’s tossed overboard. These are things I’ve heard a hundred times, so I tune him out. I’m like that passenger who flies frequently. There are only so many times you can listen to the flight attendants go over emergency situations.
Wyatt and Benji steer us around a set of boulders as the waters become choppier. We drop a few feet as the river dips and flows, and Willow shrieks from the motion. The smile on her face is priceless though. She isn’t scared; she’s enjoying the ride.
Wyatt and Benji purposely aim for some rougher currents, bouncing Willow and me and trying to launch me out of the float. This isn’t my first trip though, and I expected their shit, so they’re unsuccessful. Not for a lack of trying, however.
“Oh my gosh!” Willow yells as the waters calm and we approach the shore again. “That was so fun! I can’t believe you get paid to do that every day.”
There are two vehicles parked in the lot once we dock. One is a small bus with a driver, Jimmy, waiting to take us back to the starting point.
