While I'm Alive (An Owen Grady Story)

Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"MY BODY STARTED TO UNWILLINGLY REACT TO HIS CLOSENESS, PULSE JUMPING AND STOMACH FLUTTERING"

SONG TO LISTEN TO: HEARTBEAT BY MAT KEARNEY

I watched, wide eyed and shocked, before bursting into laughter. Owen popped right back up, and judging from the look on his face, he was also surprised. This only made me laugh harder. It was the kind of laughter that made me double over and laugh so hard, my stomach muscles began to ache. He glared at me as he grabbed onto his kayak to keep it from getting away.

"Hey, Owen!" I called out, unable to stop myself. "Try not to fall out!" I mimicked him, using the same words he had used to tease me with when we had first gotten into our kayaks.

The water was only about chest deep on him, which I hadn't realized until he suddenly started wading towards me. I pointed my oar at him threateningly. "Don't you dare come any closer to me, Owen Grady." I recognized the mischievous look on his face instantly, which made me feel very afraid.

I jabbed him in the chest with the oar once, which didn't do anything considering the embarrassingly weak state of my upper body strength. He arched an eyebrow, giving me an amused smile. "Really, Rylan? That was pathetic."

"I swear if you even touch me or this boat-" I warned him. He grabbed onto my oar and easily yanked it out of my grasp, like he hadn't even heard me.

He flashed me a wicked smirk that distracted me just long enough for him to grab the edge of the kayak and easily dump me out of it into the freezing cold water. I would've been embarrassed by the scream that left my mouth if there had been enough time before I went under. When I finally resurfaced, gasping for breath, Owen was the one laughing.

"You are such an ass!" I yelled, pushing the kayak from in between us and trying to launch myself towards him. The water was almost up to my chin, though, and he easily dived out of the way.

"You started it!" He protested, still grinning as I tried to come at him again and missed.

"What? You were the idiot that fell out while trying to pet a freaking dinosaur! Oh, don't worry I'm a professional!" I said, in my best imitation of Owen.

He frowned at me. "Was that supposed to be me?"

"Yes. Sorry if that's how you actually sound." I shot back. I pushed a wave of water towards him, splashing him in the face. He sputtered, spitting water out of his mouth and wiping it from his eyes. I couldn't control it. For the first time I could remember in a very long time, I actually giggled. Giggled.

"Oh, so now it's funny again?" He questioned, playfully narrowing his eyes at me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see our kayaks slowly floating further downstream but I was entirely too focused on Owen to care.

I nodded. "I mean, yeah. Kind of!" I was trying to back away from him, but wasn't getting very far thanks to the deepness of the water and the fact that I was trying to push myself upstream.

He dove towards me, and my reflexes weren't fast enough to save me. He caught me around the waist and I let out high pitched squeak as he dragged me underneath the water with him. I was already laughing when I broke the surface.

"Why are you trying to drown me!" I managed to choke out in-between laughs. I tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he held on.

"I'm not!" He protested, blinking water from his eyes. His lashes looked longer than usual, with the beads of water clinging to them. "I'm just trying to teach you a lesson about why it's not nice to laugh at other people's misfortunes!"