Page 81 of Rum Sips and Salty Lips

“Thanks.” I put the hat on. It’s the perfect moment to kiss him but I keep my distance.

“No problem. I’ll go pay the entrance fee,” he says, squeezing my shoulder briefly.

We reapply sunscreen as I inflate the other boards. Quickly enough, we’re at the water’s edge. I give Brooklynn and Spencer instructions on how to navigate the paddleboards, and we’re off.

thirty

ORION

I love watching Carina teach.I’ve made her weekly class a priority because I can’t get enough of her. I love watching her do the thing she loves. I could get grumpy for an arbitrary reason, but I want to see her sharing her knowledge and her unconditional love of nature.

Of course we have a ton of fun. She’s paddled here before and navigates us through the waters. She could go so much faster than the rest of us but pauses to point out wildlife. More than once, she’s asked by someone passing if she’s a tour guide.

She laughs, and I love everything about it.

I’ve fallen in love with her, and she doesn’t even know. She won’t admit we’re more than fuck buddies and is still convinced I’ll leave at any moment.

Soon, we’ll have a conversation. I’ll get through this trip with Brooklynn, and then I’ll have Carina to myself again.

I pull up next to her. “You want to hand me your phone?”

She looks over at Brooklynn and Spencer who float a little behind us on the river. “You don’t have to do this,” she says.

“It’s fine. This place is beautiful. You’re dressed completely in your gear. Let me take a few pictures.”

She thinks it over for a moment, then gets her phone from her dry bag and hands it to me with her hat and sunglasses. She paddles a short distance away so it’s only her in the shot.

“You two do this a lot?” Brooklynn asks, pulling up alongside me.

“Paddle together? A few times,” I say.

“No, the picture-taking thing,” Brooklynn says.

Carina never asks me to, but I offer often. It’s a chance to get her to show off. I’d capture every moment with her if I could. “A few times.”

“He would make a very good Instagram boyfriend,” Carina says.

She’s said it before but this time it hurts. Because I want to be her Instagram boyfriend. I don’t care how much time I spend taking pictures of her as long as I get to be with her.

“You can do a video,” Carina says. “Then you don’t have to get the exact moment. I’m going to do a headstand.”

“Wait, what?” Spencer says, his eyes shooting between Carina and me.

Neither Carina nor I respond. It’s better if he watches her.

I check the background, so she’s centered. “Ready.”

She places her forearms on her board, clasping her hands together, and braces her head between them. She slowly inverts, making it look easy when the board is moving and tilting ever so slightly in the river. She stays steady for several seconds and then falls out.

“You okay?” I ask. She’s not in the water, but something might be wrong. I grip my paddle with my free hand, ready to be at her side in an instant.

“Yep,” she calls back. “Can we go again?”

I give her a thumbs-up, and she repeats.

This time she doesn’t fall, but instead inverts and moves her legs through several variations before landing softly on her feet.

Brooklynn cheers. “I can’t believe you did that! That’s amazing!”

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