Honeymoon Rivals

21| Racing

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Racing

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Chapter 21: Racing (Poppy's POV)

After about an hour of kayaking, all the kayaks slowed down as everybody started paddling slower, taking in the trees all around us while the sun had gotten a little less bright, the sky becoming a few shades lighter of orange and pink.

"Huh," I mumbled, looking at Josh. "I guess you were right about that sunset looking pretty." 

He shot me a smug look and then nodded silently, continuing to paddle. 

A little bit later, when we knew we'd been around the whole swamp and it was time to start heading back, we all took a little break, stopped paddling, and waited to watch a little bit more of the sunset and talk. Except it was Josh and me, so there wasn't a lot of talking. A little more of just... staring at each other and... waiting to see who'd be the first person to look away. But surprisingly, for once in my life, it didn't feel like it was a competition between us. 

"Can I get my phone?" I asked, holding my hand out. "I want to take a picture of the sky." 

He fished it out of his pocket, handed it to me and I took a few pictures of the sunset before handing my phone back to him. He secured it in his pocket again before we went back to sitting in silence and having a staring contest. 

I rested my elbow on my knee and held my chin in the palm of my hand, holding his gaze. 

"What?" He lifted a brow at me, his lip twitching to smile but he held it back. 

"What?" I asked mockingly. 

He shook his head and looked away, glancing down at the water once. 

I looked at the water before glancing up at the sky. "How stupid would it be to stand in this kayak?" I questioned. 

"Very stupid. Because once you fall into the swamp," he laughed dryly, "I'm not giving you a hand out of there." 

"You so would," I retorted. "You act like you're so mean and rude. And you act like you despise me—" 

"I did." 

"No, you..." I trailed off, blinking in surprise. "Did? As in past tense? Really?" I grinned, straightening up. 

He rolled his eyes. "Forget I said anything." 

I huffed, ignoring him. "You act like you hate me and sure, you did. We were archenemies at work, sure, whatever. Now is it safe to say we aren't?" I was really hoping he'd say yes because I was exhausted from pretending to hate him and truth be told, I was having more fun with him than I expected on this trip. He was much better company than I thought he would be. 

"I suppose it is safe to say we aren't," he shrugged. "But we're not friends, Valentine. Don't get your hopes up too high." 

"No," I said slowly, shaking my head. "Of course not. I don't want to be your friend, Josh," I told him, a small smile tugging at my lips. "Us? Friends? No, that's not what we're doing here."