Page 88 of Class Clown

I sagged back against my chair when they were gone.

“Dude was scary,” Aryn leaned close to whisper.

“Apologies for not believing you,” Meredith replied. “Not much scares me, but I think I saw him once in a horror movie.”

Nico popped back in a second later and clapped his hands together. “Steve took care of everything. Are you feeling any better?”

I nodded. “Me? Oh, I’m totally cool. Maybe the plumbing is old and in disrepair,” I responded lightly. “Could have happened to anyone.”

His return smile was knowing and I squirmed a bit as my friends laughed. “You’re probably right. I’ll see you ladies at lunch?”

Meredith and Aryn nodded and I did too. Then, as Nico turned to leave, they shot me a look that had me standing on my feet and following him onto the back porch.

“Hey, um, thanks for getting Steve,” I said.

He paused and turned to face me. “No problem. He’s crusty, but so were a lot of the people I knew in the military. I didn’t want you to have to worry about it.”

Those darn tingles had my hand reaching out to wrap around his and squeeze. “It was really nice of you to spare me that.”

He stepped closer and said softly, “It’s important to me to make things easier for you.”

“I’m really, really embarrassed right now,” I admitted.

“Don’t be.”

Then, with no regard for the fact that we could be seen by anyone walking by, he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly to mine. The contact was brief, but I felt the effects of it after he pulled back, squeezed my hand and hopped down the porch steps to the gravel path.

When I could breathe again, I turned to enter the cabin, only to find my two friends standing in the doorway with twin expressions of disbelief on their faces.

“I believe in love,” Meredith said, making googly eyes at his back. “I have to, because I just saw a guy unclog a toilet that you’d decimated, and then rock your socks off with a kiss.”

I laughed and swatted at her as they joined me on the porch. “Don’t remind me.”

“That guy is the real deal.” Aryn grabbed my arm. “Please tell me you see that.”

I nodded. I saw. And, oh how I hoped it would last.

Chapter 21

Ruby’s Truth: You should never row your canoe toward the screaming!

“In theory, canoeing should be relaxing,” Meredith said as she dipped one of her hands in the deep blue reservoir water the next day, causing ripples to flow behind the canoe. Her face was shaded by the big black floppy hat she’d worn, but I could easily imagine her cynical expression. “Yet, I spend so much time assuming we’re going to capsize that I don’t enjoy it much.”

Aryn and I laughed and shared an amused look from behind our sunglasses. “We went on an entire river rafting trip and you didn’t seem nervous,” I reminded, referring to our river adventure the summer before that had ended in Lizzie reunited with her first long-lost love.

“Rafts are hard to capsize. They’re designed to maintain equilibrium. Plus, we had an experienced guide at the helm. Canoes are pointy and tippy, and don’t seem to know where their center of gravity is. And we’re in charge – a bunch of amateurs,” Meredith replied.

“You’re wearing a life jacket,” Aryn pointed out.

Meredith tugged at it. “I know. Plus, it’s not like I haven’t made a contingency plan about how to get rescued.”

I grinned. “The reservoir is pretty small. I think we could swim back to shore.”

Meredith continued. “The way I see it, Ruby would get the giggles which would immobilize her. She’d float and laugh here for a bit, which could result in the risk of hypothermia, so, I’d have to towher to safety. Aryn would naturally slip into athletic mode and Michael Phelps it straight to shore, forgetting that we’re all supposed to survive together.”

Aryn nodded and pushed the oars deep into the water to keep us moving. “Fair.”

“Do you think you could actually tow me, Mer?” I asked.

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