Jason's Best Canoe Trip

As it had before, the closeness with her affected me to an almost embarrassing extent. I was fixated on her facial features, just inches away. Her wet eyelashes stood out, looking unnaturally long and accenting her expressive eyes. Her cute little nose was tinted red and her skin was flushed more pale than usual due to the cold rain, increasing the prominence of the freckles scattered across her high cheekbones. Her lips were nearly colorless, but still so feminine and inviting. Even in her weather-beaten state, she was a strikingly attractive woman.

Adding to and almost overshadowing her beauty was her incredible, positive personality, on open display as she shrugged off her discomfort and extolled the virtues of this song in her energetic, lively way. It would be hard to overstate how attractive she was to me at that moment. My heart rate was up and my throat was dry just from standing close to her. When she finished talking, I smiled, pretended to understand what she had said, and continued toward the bus before she could recognize her effect on me.

Reaching the school bus, I was pleased to find its door open. I left the cooler on the ground outside and jumped right through the doorway onto the stairwell. In the process, I startled a man sitting in the driver's seat. He looked to be in his fifties, with thin-rimmed glasses and long, graying hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was a dead ringer for the late comedian George Carlin, a classic hippie look straight out of central casting. "Hey," he said. "You jus' come off the riverr?" I confirmed that his guess was correct and took another couple of steps up the stairway, making room for Emily to get in out of the rain behind me.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I looked down the aisle to find that the bus was devoid of passengers. The only occupied seats were the first one on either side, each of which contained a fit-looking young man wearing a notably dry campground t-shirt. I figured they were the ones who were supposed to be manning the takeout point. Their lazy, unconcerned posture, along with their dry shirts, made me angry, considering that their help down at the riverbank could be crucial in that weather. I suggested they go down there and look for stragglers coming down the river, but both looked uninterested in my opinion and neither of them budged. Shrugging off my frustration with them, I turned to the driver, provided the name of our campground, and asked if that was the right bus to take us there.

"It's the raht bus, but it don't sound like we're gonna make no more runs outta 'ere today," he said. "Gimme a minute and ah'll trah to figger out fer sure." He keyed a handheld radio and began trying to raise someone on it.

It hadn't even occurred to me until he said it that our ride out of there might be canceled by the weather. As soon as I heard it, though, it made sense to me. The road out of the campground was a winding little gravel one that traversed at least two low-water crossings before connecting with the main road. Those crossings were likely impassable during a heavy downpour like that.

I thought to suggest we have a seat deeper in the bus and dry out while the driver waited for an answer, before noticing an uncomfortable gale of cold air blowing from the passenger area. They obviously had the air conditioner cranked up back there. Wearing only wet swimsuits and already chilled by the rain, Emily and I were better off staying near the door. I settled for standing aside slightly on the platform, allowing Emily to come all the way aboard. She climbed up the last few stairs and stood next to me in the space I had vacated.

It hadn't occurred to me previously, but the two slacker boys in the front seats hadn't been aware of her presence until then. Their reaction when she came into their view was hilarious. They both shot out of their slouchy poses and became ramrod straight, their interest in our situation seeming to grow tenfold in an instant. I nearly laughed out loud. She flashed her eyes almost imperceptibly in my direction, telling me she had noticed the same thing.

The driver got hold of whomever he was trying to reach on the radio and began a shorthand conversation that was difficult to understand, given the language being used and the background noise from the rain's unrelenting assault on the metal roof. Though he was immersed in his radio interaction, he too took notice of Emily. Without any attempt at subtlety, he checked her out head to toe, even adjusting his glasses for a clearer view at one point.

While I struggled to make sense of the campground's radio codes and the terminology being used in the static-filled discourse, Emily surreptitiously leaned into my field of view. She gave me a mischievous and conspiratorial look as though she was about to do something sneaky and wanted me in on it. I responded with an encouraging grin and waited to see what she would do.

She began by making a show of curiously checking out her surroundings. High and low, this way and that, she craned her neck and swiveled her head around looking at things. All the while, she had her shoulders pushed forward so her cleavage popped out impressively. When her gaze landed on each of the boys during its circuit, she met his eyes and smiled politely at him.

Next, she faced the front right of the bus, leaving her ass pointed in the direction of her admirers, whose eyes all widened when they saw how little coverage her swimsuit provided. She played as though she was looking over my shoulder through the windshield of the bus at the storm, standing on her toes and flexing her legs and ass in the process. Both of the young guys leaned over in their seats for better view angles and Hippie Driver just blatantly stared. Her intention was clearly to tease them and she was succeeding at it, but she wasn't done yet.

For her finale, she pivoted as though something had caught her attention outside the doorway through which we had entered the bus. Acting like she couldn't see well enough from her standing angle, she bent at the waist, grabbing the handrail along the stairway for support, and leaned her head down almost to the floor. It wasn't a natural movement that a normal person could make, looking more like a ballet or gymnastics stretch, but it did get her head down to an angle facilitating a view through the door. It also had the effect of causing her labia, covered down the middle by the bikini but bare along the edges (as I had noticed earlier in the day), to pop out prominently at the base of her ass and between her legs. The image presented, her little taco not completely covered and bulging out between all that tanned, toned, flesh, was a sight to behold. She held that pose for a few seconds, letting us all get a good look, then straightened back up.

Turning back around, she wore a serious and satisfied look on her face as though she had gotten the view she was looking for and was oblivious to any display she had put on in the process. The boys looked stunned and sat with their mouths open, one of them with beads of sweat running down his temples. Hippie Driver literally licked his lips and broke into a stupefied grin, ignoring radio traffic intended for him in the process. Emily turned to me and flashed a knowing grin that I returned as well as I could without the others seeing.

The driver eventually recovered his composure and finished his radio call. The final word was that no buses, or any other vehicles, were allowed to leave the campsite until the following morning, at the earliest, due to high water blocking the road. We were welcome to camp there for free or rent a cabin at a reduced price for the night. He gave directions to the campground office and a covered pavilion where he believed some other stranded canoers could be found. He was pretty certain that nobody else from our campground (which meant nobody else from our camping group, too) had been stranded there. It seemed that my time alone with Emily was going to last a while longer.

I suggested to her that we head over to the office and see about some accommodations for the night. There was no reason to stay on the bus. Drying off would be pointless as we would be drenched again whenever we left and neither of us were eager to hang out with those guys any longer than necessary. Emily agreed with my plan of action.

Before leaving, she exhorted the two young men to go down beside the river and see if anyone needed help. They put up no argument and headed off into the rain almost immediately, acting as brave and manly as possible. I snickered as I watched them go. Sometimes results just depend on who's asking. I enjoyed seeing those lazy bums scramble to impress her and hoped maybe they learned something from the interaction.

It took several minutes of sloshing through the deluge for us to reach the campground office. It was a wooden building resembling a log cabin with an extensive covered porch out front. Reaching the porch, we dropped our belongings and stood around letting the water drain off us. After checking out our surroundings, we looked at each other and shared a smile.

"Sorry about that back there," Emily said. "I couldn't resist."

"Don't be sorry. It was entertaining. Their reactions were priceless." I didn't mention how much I had enjoyed the show as well. "You had those two boys eating out of your hand afterward."

She laughed at that statement. "Yeah. They were certainly eager to please." Changing the subject, she asked, "so, I understood the part about us being stuck here until tomorrow. What are our options for tonight?"

"Well, we need to hope they have a couple of cabins available. Campsites won't do us any good without tents and such. After that, we need dinner."

"I didn't bring any money, but I can pay you back later."

"I'm not worried about that. I have it covered. Let's just see what they have." I retrieved my credit card from the dry bag and gestured toward the door, then added, "I'm sorry we got stuck here."

"Not your fault," she said. "I'm the one who suggested taking our time." She gave me a reassuring smile.

We walked into the office looking like drowned rats and leaking water all over the floor. I was anxious to find out what accommodations were available. I hadn't ever stayed at this campground, but knew that cabins normally had to be reserved far in advance. If none were available, I had no backup plan in mind.

The campground manager, a dour looking older woman, greeted us from behind the counter, introducing herself as Ann. She looked us over and sighed audibly, a look of disapproval on her face. My guess was that she saw us as a couple and found the age difference inappropriate. Whatever the reason behind her unfriendliness, our interaction didn't begin well.

I told the old sourpuss we had been stranded by the rain and needed two cabins for the night. She only had one to offer, but my request must have put her concerns about us as a couple to rest because her demeanor brightened. The available cabin had a full bathroom and two full-sized beds, which was plenty for our needs. She even gave me a discounted price due to our late check in and involuntary detention there.

I was incredibly relieved to have secured a dry place to sleep for the night. My only remaining concern was about whether sharing a cabin would be uncomfortable for Emily. I had requested two of them to avoid any awkwardness. At least Emily had overheard my request and wouldn't think I had us rooming together by choice.

As Ann finished running my card, I noticed her face cinch up into a scowl, her gaze directed over my left shoulder. I turned to determine the source of her ire and couldn't help but smile when I saw what it was. Emily was watching the storm out a window, her back toward us. A puddle of water had pooled around her feet and water continued to trickle down her body. I knew the puddle wasn't what had her upset, though. From the front, Emily's swimsuit was fairly conservative. However, from the rear it left her basically naked. To this judgmental woman, Emily had gone from classy young lady to scandalous slut simply by turning around.

Of course, Ann's opinion of us wasn't terribly important to me, but I thought keeping on her good side during our short stay might be beneficial. In an effort to redirect her attention from Emily's bare ass, I asked her a whole slew of questions about the campground and such. I was mostly successful, her mood lightening up again, and I got some important information in the process, as well.

There was a large covered pavilion in the campground that served as a gathering place, particularly during rainy weather. Dinner of some sort would be served there. With another swipe of my card, I purchased dinner tickets and some bottled water as well. I was glad I had asked. At least we wouldn't go hungry all night.

I looked over the campground map on the wall to get my bearings and was ready to head out when Ann's husband appeared out of the back room. A tall, lanky guy with a good-natured way about him, he introduced himself as George and offered his sympathy for our storm-related troubles. He queried Emily about herself and then launched into endless small talk with her about her university. I let them go on for a while before suggesting we get going. As friendly and accommodating as they both were, their conversation could have gone on for hours.

On our way out of the building, I noticed a clock on the wall. It had been quite a day up to that point and it was still only slightly past five o'clock.

Before leaving the cover provided by the building's porch, we took out our phones and messaged our people. My text to Andy received an instant reply. The rest of the group had come ashore before the rain even started and bussed back to our campground before the road was closed. He was hunkered down in his tent, but promised to tell everyone else what happened to us when he had a chance. He concluded the exchange by saying, "have a fun night with the prom queen. Keep your hands to yourself." The text was punctuated with a winking face emoji. Emily messaged her parents, filling them in, but got no immediate response.

Despite the heavy downpour, we didn't run the couple hundred yards to our cabin. We were already so drenched that ambivalence had set in. The rain, still coming down in sheets, was making too much noise to make any conversation practical, so neither of us said anything the whole way. We slogged along through huge patches of standing water, me carrying the cooler and her the dry bag.

I spent the walk overthinking our situation and worrying. Concerns about how Emily felt about us sharing a cabin and how her parents were going to feel about me disappearing with her all day and night were gnawing at me. The smartass tone of Andy's text seemed to confirm my fears about how our disappearance would be viewed among the others. Though I had hoped for more time with her earlier in the day, I was less than excited about the extra time we had coming. Far from expecting the rest of the evening to be a blast, I found myself just hoping it wasn't too awkward.

***

Arriving at our cabin, I was pleased to see it was a little more refined than some I had used elsewhere. It had a roofed porch outside and the inside was basically equivalent to a standard chain motel room. There were two beds, a TV on the wall, a small refrigerator, and a full bathroom. The beds were made up with linens and the bathroom had hotel towels and sample size soaps and shampoos. I was actually glad to be spending the night there rather than a tent, given the horrendous weather.

Once inside and finished with the cursory tour, I felt awkward toward Emily, just as I had feared. Throughout the day I had been careful about not appearing to have designs on her, treating her inappropriately, or making her uncomfortable in some other way. Given the turn of events, my concerns in that regard had become so acute that I was the one who was uncomfortable. I was not at all unhappy about spending the rest of the night around her, but I needed reassurance that she was okay with the situation and trusting of my intentions.

"It's not bad, huh?" I asked her.

"Beats the hell out of sleeping in a tent," she replied, smiling.

"I'm sorry they only had one available. I can see about some other arrangement for me if sharing it makes you uncomfortable."

"This is just fine. I'm not uncomfortable at all, outside of being completely waterlogged, I mean," she said, smiling widely. "Let's make the best of things. We still have plenty of hard-earned beer to drink. I say we head over to that covered area and eat some time soon. I'm starving." I was relieved to see no sign of discomfort or frustration with the situation in her demeanor and decided to quit worrying about it.

"That sounds good to me. I'm ready whenever you are."

"The only problem for me is what to wear. I've been in this wet suit for hours. I need to get into something dry," she said.

I dumped out the dry bag on the bed and took stock of our clothing options. The only dry clothes we had between us were her jean shorts and my t-shirt.

"I don't mind hanging out in my trunks for a while longer if you want to change into these," I offered.

"That'll work." She said, clothes in hand and heading for the bathroom.

Two minutes later, her suit was hanging near the air conditioner vent and she looked ready to go. I liked the way she looked in my t-shirt. It was way too big for her, but she knotted it along the side at the bottom, taking out some of the slack. The movement of her braless breasts when she walked was sexy as hell. It wasn't a terribly modest look, but I already knew how little that mattered to her. She had taken down the ponytail she wore most of the day and her hair looked pretty good, despite still being wet. It occurred to me that she hadn't been wearing any makeup all day and I shuddered at the thought of how good she could look all made up for a night out. She gave herself a once over in the bathroom mirror and stood by the door, waiting.

I collected two beers in each hand and we headed out. Still shirtless in my wet swim trunks and water socks, an armload of Busch Light, my hair a disheveled mess under my ratty old ballcap, I probably looked about like Cousin Eddie from the 'Vacation' movies. It was lucky for me Emily was such a good sport, otherwise she might not have been willing to be seen with me. The sight of us together was likely to cause a few raised eyebrows, I imagined.

Pausing on the covered porch of our cabin, we both realized that we didn't have a plan to keep us dry during the trek to the pavilion. It was at least a hundred yards away, smoke from the fire there being just visible from our cabin, and rain was still falling steadily. The rain didn't matter much to me as I was still completely soaked, anyway. Emily, on the other hand, was wearing the last dry clothes we had and probably hoped to keep them that way. I was considering taking the plastic trash can liner from the cabin's bathroom and turning it into a poncho for her when the rain abruptly let up.

"Run for it?" Emily asked.

"Yep." It seemed like our best bet and there wasn't time to debate it if we wanted to cover the distance before the lull ended.

I took off for the pavilion at a jog, the best I could do without shaking my beers such that they wouldn't be drinkable any time soon. Emily was beside me before I had gone far, laughing at me as she worked to jog in her flip flops without tripping. Rain was still coming down sporadically, but the pace we were making would deliver us dry to our destination if the lull would just last a couple of minutes. We weren't that lucky, but it wasn't a resumption of the downpour that ruined our plan.