Lincoln POV
It was a little surreal. I hadn't seen Ronnie Anne in a swimsuit since we were kids. I guess I just hadn't noticed how much her body had changed since then. She was a lot more muscular now, with her well-toned arms, legs and abs. She still kept her hair in a ponytail, but now it was long, silky and wavy. And her breasts? I knew they were decent-sized (not that I ever gave them that much attention before), but thanks to that top of hers, now I could see how big they really were. As large and round as Renee's. She was also blessed with a large, firm butt that had clearly been tightened thanks to lots of exercise.
This was a problem. I'd just convinced Renee that I had no more feelings for Ronnie Anne. But maybe that was still true. I mean, just because I thought she was hot, doesn't mean I was in love with her. Which I definitely wasn't!
Ronnie Anne's voice broke me from my thoughts. "So how are things going with that new lady friend of yours?" she said.
"Huh? Oh yeah, no! It's going great! She's so awesome," I said. "She's funny and sweet and super smart. You know she won third place at the town science fair last month? Plus, she's an incredible artist."
"That's great. I'm really happy for you."
"Thanks. You know, I always used to gag when I saw Lori and Bobby acting all gooey with each other, but now… I'm not saying we do that, but I get it."
"Hm. Almost makes me wish I could find someone."
"Oh, I'm sure you will someday."
"I don't know. I think most guys find me a little too intimidating. Like I'd punch their teeth out if they even tried to ask me out."
"I could totally see that."
Ronnie Anne chuckled at that, but it was kind of a sad chuckle. Then she just sort of stopped talking. "Ronnie Anne? Are you okay?" I asked.
There was a short pause before she answered. "Lincoln, how did Renee feel when you told her you were coming on this trip with me?"
"Well, she was disappointed that we wouldn't be doing it together, but she understood why. Besides, I already explained that there was nothing between you and me, so you don't have to worry about her being jealous."
"Oh, good. That's great to hear. I'd hate to cause a problem between you two."
"What? No way! Trust me, you do NOT need to worry about that. Plus, I've already planned to make it up to her with a picnic when we get back."
"I'm sure she'll love that. Just don't go giving each other cheesy nicknames like Sugar Pie or Honey Bunch."
"Ech! Not a chance."
We both had a good laugh about that and I realized I was starting to feel better. I just had to be reminded of how great Renee was and how lucky I was to have her. Not that Ronnie Anne wasn't great. She was a great friend and our relationship was perfect the way it was. Now I could go back to daydreaming about my actual girlfriend without being distracted.
Suddenly, I noticed our boat was pulling to the right and drifting away from the group. "Uh, Ronnie Anne, what's going on? You know we're supposed to meet the others over there."
"I just thought we could make this trip a little more exciting."
She was leading off course where the lake split off into a river. "I don't know. I really feel like we should stick with the group."
"Aw come on, man. I thought you wanted to have adventures out here."
She made a good point. And I wasn't gonna be scared off by a little running water. So I went along with her.
The first part wasn't so bad. The water was calm and steady and the scenery was beautiful. There was even a nice cooling breeze. "I have to admit, this is pretty nice," I said.
"See? What'd I tell you? Nothing to worry about."
Of course, just when things seem perfect, that's always when they head straight down the pooper. It felt like the river had started speeding up, which was not a good sign.
"Why are we moving so fast?" I asked nervously.
"Oh boy," she replied.
"What? What's 'oh boy'?"
"That is." She pointed straight ahead to where the river started twisting and turning rapidly like a water slide.
"Oh crap! What do we do?"
"Lincoln, you've played Raging River Racers for the Zii, right?"
"Yeah, but that was just a video game!"
"Just act like it's the same thing, okay?! It's the only way we're gonna get through this!"
Video game skills didn't usually translate well to real life in my experience, but it wasn't like I had a better idea. "Alright, let's do it!"
As we approached the first curve, we both paddled to the left with all our might to avoid hitting the bank. Then we had to go right, then left, then right again. It went on like that for what felt like hours. The river kept swerving and we had to keep paddling, curve after curve, using all of our energy just to keep our tiny canoe afloat.
Finally, things starting to ease up. The river straightened out and I felt like I could breathe again. The water was still moving pretty fast, but I was confident that we had made it.
"How you doing back there, Linc?"
"I'm okay. Barely alive, but I'm okay. How about you?"
"Yep, I'm good. Man, that was… that was nuts!"
"I know! I can't believe we-" I stopped talking mid-sentence when I saw what was ahead of us. "Rock," I said weakly.
When Ronnie Anne saw it, she tried to paddle around it and I tried to help, but it wasn't working. I just kept going "Rock rock rockrockrOCKROCK…"
"I see the stupid rock!" she shouted.
We managed to turn the boat on its side, but the space between the rock and the bank was too narrow to get through. So we ended up colliding right into it, which sent us flying through the air until we plopped like fish on the shore.
I opened my eyes and found myself lying face to face with Ronnie Anne. Her eyes widened like she had just seen a ghost. "Are you alright?" I asked her.
"Yeah," she said. "Are you?"
"Yeah," I replied. That was one heck of a crash. I was a little sore, but otherwise, I felt fine.
Then, without any warning, Ronnie Anne grabbed my head and pressed her lips against mine. I was so shocked, I didn't know how to react. My first instinct was to pull away from her, but before I could, she did it first.
She held my gaze for a second before she turned away. "Ronnie, what…"
"I'm sorry, okay? I-I don't know what got into me."
"Wh… Why did you do that?"
"I just said I don't know! It was a fluke, so just let it go!"
"Okay, fine."
"Good. Now help me lift this boat. We're gonna have to carry it back upstream. And not a word about this to anybody. Got it?"
"I got it. I won't tell anybody. Let's just get back to the others."
The canoe was heavy, but not quite as heavy as the guilt I was now carrying around. As we hauled our boat back up the hill, I went over a ton of questions in my head. Why did Ronnie Anne kiss me? Did she plan this all along? Is that why she wanted to split off from the rest of the group? Did she actually still have a crush on me after all this time? And most importantly, should I even try explaining this to Renee? She'd understand, wouldn't she? She'd know it wasn't my fault, right? Oh God, I was in some real deep doo-doo right now.
"By the way," Ronnie Anne spoke up, "you might wanna get that boner under control before we get there."
I looked down and, sure enough, there was a spear sticking up in my trunks. It was aimed right at Ronnie Anne's butt. 'Oh come on, little dude! It wasn't that great!'