Two mornings later, a guy with a tattoo on his bicep reading “Live Free or Die” pulled up beside Eden’s kayak. Straight white teeth flashed with his smile, and although his hair was hidden by a baseball cap, he looked to be no more than twenty-two or -three. “Look at those arms. You must work out.”

“No.” Eden’s arms were skinny, and right now they shook with exhaustion.

“Never?” He raised his gaze to her hair, as though its shortness was synonymous with female jock.

When Eden’s hair had started growing back and she’d started going out in public, she’d been afraid everyone would take one look at her and know she’d had cancer. She needn’t have worried. A clerk at the Cineplex had made some strange comments, and when it had dawned on her that he thought she was a lesbian, she’d been relieved. Still, talk about typecasting. Lesbians didn’t have to have tattoos and short hair. Before the cancer had forced her to drop out of school, she’d been friends with a girl—Bianca Thomas. Bianca had shiny long hair and wore makeup and girlie dresses. She’d also had a girlfriend—and not in the friends sense—and everyone knew it. Now that Eden’s hair had grown out into something she could style, the comments had turned to the more “jock” and “rocker girl” type.

But Eden didn’t want to be rude to the guy, so she shrugged. “Well, this is kind of a workout, right?”

His expression brightened. “That’s all you need to do. Be active. Name’s Travis, by the way.”

“Eden.” She forced a smile, even though she didn’t feel it. The shore stood maybe a hundred feet away, and she wasn’t sure she could make it even that far. Pride hadn’t let her stay in the rear with the geriatrics, and as a consequence her shoulder muscles felt like they’d calcified into a solid piece of stone.

She’d come across the idea of kayaking through an outdoor adventure group on Meetup. Day two after zip-line-gate, she’d confronted her mother with a full arsenal of pamphlets on how exercise was good for building strength, and vitamin D (hello, sunshine!) helped prevent cancer. When her mother beamed and said kayaking sounded like fun, Eden nearly fell off the porch. Her mom handed her the money for it, and before the woman could change her mind, Eden took it and ran. Whatever her mother was on, Eden wasn’t about to wait for it to wear off.

As it turned out, Mom and the owner’s brother knew each other. Eden took note of that and resolved to introduce her mother to as many people as possible.

Live Free or Die reached the dock first, and he hopped out onto the deck and handed off his oar. “Come on, Eden, you can do it. Pump those muscles.”

Back in high school, Eden had been on the track team; she’d been decent at volleyball and field hockey too. She wasn’t an athletic failure, so she’d resented it when the überjocks butted in with unwanted advice. But now she was weak, and the coaching stung even worse.

“I’ve got it.” She forced a smile and paddled as though her arms weren’t threatening to shatter. She even adopted a pleasant expression as she handed the guide her oar and climbed out onto the dock, despite the fact that her head swam and vomit threatened to erupt like a supervolcano.

She took five steps and teetered.

“Are you okay?” asked the guy holding her oar.

“You’d better sit down,” said a guide, a blonde woman with a ponytail and crinkles in the corners of her eyes. “You’re white.”

Eden didn’t resist as the woman led her to a bench. Plunking down, she lowered her head between her knees.

“You’re fine, Eden. You just need to walk it out,” said Travis in a helpful, jock-coaching-the-helpless-girl voice.

Why couldn’t he just disappear?

“Should I call 911?” someone asked quietly

“No,” Eden gasped. “I just…I was showing off. I’m in horrible shape.”

“Are you sure?” Ponytail’s forehead creased as she rubbed Eden’s back. “You look…”

“I’m fine. I just need to catch my breath.” She swallowed back something sour and lumpy. For God’s sake, don’t puke. The clubhouse seemed miles away, and her cell was locked up with her backpack.

Ponytail woman got to her feet. “I think I should call an ambulance.”

“Don’t you dare!”

All three of them—Travis, ponytail woman, and the male guide—froze and stared as Eden shot to her feet. Immediately her head started to spin, but it was already starting to clear.

“I mean, that would be humiliating. I’m fine.”

“If you’re sure,” Ponytail said, studying Eden’s bloodless face.

“If you didn’t exercise for—like—a year, and then you ran a marathon, wouldn’t you puke?”

“Maybe you should take it easy next time?” the woman suggested with a chiding look.

“And hang with the old people?” Never.

Unfortunately Travis remained as Ponytail and the other guide moved back to the dock.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just tired.”

“You need to work up your resistance. You know, run the treadmill some, maybe do a few weights and build some upper body strength.”

“Maybe,” she said, not wanting to encourage him. Trying not to make it look like a collapse, she settled back onto the bench.

“I could meet you at the gym on campus. Show you some pointers. You’d be fit in no time.”

That was just what she wanted, to spend hours at the gym. “No thank you. Actually, I don’t go to Cornell.”

His expression went blank. “Really? I just thought…”

That’s right, Trav. I’m a townie. “My dad’s a professor.”

“Really? Sweet!”

Eden scowled as the guy’s enthusiasm returned.

“Wait. You aren’t still in high school, are you?”

“No! Look, I really should get going.”

“No problem, I just—”

“Eden?”

A wild thrill detonated in her chest at the sound of Darak’s voice. She jumped to her feet and whirled to face him.

“Darak! What are you doing here?” It was all she could do not to launch herself at him.

“Your cousin told me.”

“Really?” Travis gave Darak the once-over and turned to Eden, his face twisted with disgust. “A fucking Krinar?”

Darak’s expression darkened.

Heat rose up her neck. “He’s not a Krinar. Seriously, get real.”

“Whatever,” he said, raising his hands as he backed away. “Have fun with your alien.”

Darak’s expression darkened, and his hands balled into fists.

“Go kiss a goat, asshole!” Eden touched Darak’s arm and found his muscles tight. “He’s just jealous, Darak. Don’t pay any attention to him.”

“It takes a lot more than that to piss me off.”

Krinar are supposed to be super strong. Eden shook off the thought. “This is so amazing! I thought you were gone.”

“I was planning on it.” Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he shrugged. “I know this really great activity director, though. I figured, what’s a couple more days? I didn’t plan on being in the Grand Canyon for another week.”

Eden worked hard to suppress her grin, but she bounced up on her toes. He stayed for me? Despite what she’d said to Thomas, she’d missed Darak. Her little crush was harmless; Darak could never use her feelings to lock her at his side. It wasn’t like he’d park himself in Ithaca and stalk her.

“Was that a mistake?”

The pinch around his eyes twisted her heart.

“No, I missed you,” Eden gushed. “I mean, it’s no fun to do this stuff alone.”

“What about that girl, your friend from the bar?”

“Naj?” She huffed a laugh. “Naj doesn’t do ‘outside.’”

He appeared to ponder that. “That cousin of yours doesn’t look like a wimp.”

“He’s worse. He’s overprotective. Speaking of which, how did you get him to say where I was?”

“I didn’t. I was getting gas at the Sunoco and he came up to me.”

“And he just up and told you?”

He gave a lopsided smile. “He said something about you eating his face off when he wouldn’t give me your phone number.”

Her lips parted. Thomas said that? She was definitely going to eat his face off. “I didn’t… I mean, it’s not like you’re a stalker.”

“How do you know? I stalked you, didn’t I?”

“Did you?”

“I followed you here.” Darak shifted on his feet.

Peeking up at him through her lashes, she shrugged, thrilled that he was with her. Flirting. “Should I be afraid of you?”

“You should be very afraid.”

Her insides thrilled; even her toenails quivered. “Why? What are you going to do to me?”

He tugged her hair in the back of her head and twisted it, drawing her closer until her breasts pressed against his chest. He felt so… He smelled so…

“I’ll make you scream.”

“Good,” she said, her voice husky. “I want Number Ninety.”

“I’m so going to do number ninety.”

“Really? Because I’ve always wanted to go skydiving.” She giggled.

“Skydiving.” Scrunching his nose, Darak loosened his grip. “Am I anywhere on your list?”

“What the hell for?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Mind-blowing sex?”

“Been there, done that.”

Darak barked with laughter and took a step backward. “Skydiving, huh? All right, then.”

“Just an FYI. You don’t just walk up and say, ‘I’d like to go skydiving today.’ You have to make an appointment.” Would he change his mind? She’d done her research, and the chances of getting a spot the same day, let alone the same week, were slim.

“How long does it take?”

“Dunno,” she hedged. “You’ll find out when you call.”

“When I call?”

“You have to. Number fifty-three.” This was fun!

“I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Spend a day getting spoiled rotten,” she said, taking hold of his hand. “Bonus if there’s a hot guy involved.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get rotten on me, babe, or I’ll spank you like the bad girl you are.”

She giggled, but the thought warmed her.

“Fine,” he said, briefly ducking his chin. “I’ll call them, but if I take you skydiving, you have to sixty-nine.”

“Do you mean it?”

“I’m counting on it.”

“Deal. I’d love to interview a celebrity and post it on my YouTube channel.”

“Aw, man. And you still haven’t told me what this YouTube channel thing is.”

“I talk about my adventures and post them on YouTube. That’s how I make money.”

“How does that work?”

“I’ll tell you later. I have to get my stuff.”