Selena had never done anything that remotely resembled whitewater rafting, but if Hunter was involved, then she was happy to learn. Once she agreed that his plan sounded like fun, he suggested that she go ‘get ready.’

“Sounds good,” she smiled and tried to look confident before retrieving her luggage and heading to her camper. Once inside, she frantically dug through her clothing bag. What exactly did one wear to go rafting?

She finally settled on a bathing suit under sporty dark gray capri leggings, a soft pink v-neck tee shirt, and her brand new water shoes. After pulling her hair back into a low ponytail and smearing on some tinted lip balm with sunscreen, she decided that she looked the part of a whitewater rafter––even though she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

Once they had signed their lives away on waiver forms, her palms grew sweaty at the raft launch zone as the guide rambled on about the class three and four rapids they would be encountering on their intermediate rafting tour. She almost raised her hand to admit she had never done this before, but the fear of looking even more like a dork kept her from speaking up.

She donned her helmet, grabbed an oar, sat on the edge of the raft, and tried to look as confident as the jovial people in their group seemed to be.

Their guide sounded excited when he said, “We are going to have some fun today. I love taking out groups of people that know what they are doing!”

Selena almost cracked and admitted that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but she didn’t want to look silly in front of Hunter or admit that she had mislead him. Besides, this would be a group effort, right? One person doing the wrong thing wouldn’t be enough to upset the boat would it? Deciding that she was smart and observant enough to fake it, Selena bit her tongue and mimicked what the others were doing.

Tucking her feet into the raft, she used her leg strength to brace herself and hold on. As the raft took off and began to cruise smoothly over the bubbling and churning river water, she decided that she was an incredibly fast learner and already had the hang of rafting. She even turned to the side and beamed a smile at Hunter, who heartily returned it. Relaxing the tension in her legs a bit, she decided that this nature activity might not be as bad as she had feared. In fact, she was almost having fun.

That short moment of enjoyment ended quickly when their guide started barking out orders as the rapids began to increase in both size and velocity. She desperately tried to remember what he had indicated “right back” and “high side” meant when he had explained them back on shore, but in the heat of the moment as they were crushing through the rapids at a high rate of speed, she would have been lucky to remember her own name.

She tried to paddle like the others, but water kept splashing into her face and the intense jostling of the boat made it difficult to see what her companions were doing. She ended up copying their movements, but a second or two too late, which caused her paddle to crack into those of the people in front of and behind her.

The water felt like it was engulfing the little raft, ready to pull it under. When Selena peeked ahead and saw the swirling, bubbling rapids ahead of them, her eyes bulged out in shock. There was no way they were going to make it through the rough waters ahead with the boat in tact and right side up.

She glanced over at Hunter and was surprised to find him beaming from ear to ear as if he were having the best time of his entire life. Did he not realize they were quickly floating towards their death––or at least serious injuries?

If these were her last moments, she wanted to go out with confidence, so she attempted to return his smile. It surfaced more like an uncertain grimace, but it was the best she could muster under the extraordinary circumstances.

When the tiny raft began barreling through the hazardous, boulder-infested swirling section of whitewater, she tightened her grip on the paddle and dug into the violent churn with all of her might. She might not have any clue what she was doing, but she was going to do it with vigor.

One second she was fighting for her life. The next thing she knew she was flying through the air. She landed with a shock in the bracing, fast-moving water. It took her a moment to comprehend what had happened. As she saw the raft, Hunter, the guide, and the others floating quickly past her, the panic began to truly set in.

Hunter extended his paddle out in her direction from the back of the raft. She stretched her hand out and tried to grasp it, but it was just out of the reach of her fingertips. Fear overtook her as she watched him float further away from her. Turning her head to the side, she tried to swim sideways to get to the river’s shore, but the water was moving her along too quickly. She felt completely out of control, like she was being swept away against her wishes.

Fighting, kicking, and gasping for air, she worked to take command of the situation, but the river was in charge. Just when she was becoming convinced that she would be pulled under to her death, Hunter appeared in the water beside her.

He wrapped his arms around her and whispered near her ear. “Just relax. Let the water support you and float you to safety.”

She hadn’t thought of it like that before. His soothing embrace and calming words helped her to stop fighting against the rapids. She leaned back in his arms, and they floated together feet-first on top of the bubbly, fast-moving river. Hunter steered them away from smashing into boulders or low-hanging tree limbs. She let herself trust him, tilted her head back, and enjoyed the ride.

Once the rapids began to give way to calmer water, they caught up to their raft. “Come on in and cool off. Selena was right. The water feels great!” Hunter called up to the others.

To Selena’s surprise and delight, everyone except their guide jumped into the chilly river. Instead of feeling like the only loser that fell off the boat, she suddenly felt like a trailblazer that had tested the waters for everyone else. She loved it that Hunter was willing and able to shift the perception of the group in her favor.

Having someone on her side made her feel warm and fuzzy, despite the cool water. He hadn’t let go of her when they reached the calmer waters, and she liked the feeling of being protected in his arms. For the first time in a long time, she began to allow herself to wonder what it would be like to let someone into her life. She liked being strong enough to be alone, but the idea of not having to live her life in solitude was intriguing.

When Hunter turned his head to press his soft lips against her cheek, she felt it tingle all the way down to the tips of her toes. She decided in that moment that maybe this relationship idea deserved another whirl. Hunter didn’t seem a bit intimidated by her money or power, unlike all of her previous love interests.

As they floated together in the water, she realized that he just might be the one. This evening would be the true test of where this relationship was going, if anywhere. She wondered anxiously if he expected to sleep in her bed. Surely it was too soon for that, wasn’t it?