After the Raft Capsized, the Ice Cold Campus Heartthrob Came Knocking Chapter 08
We ran into Earl again.
When he saw us, he grinned from ear to ear. “Sweetheart! Kid! Hop on my raft. I’m the fastest fisherman on this river.”
We exchanged a look, laughed, and climbed aboard together.
The next stretch of river was all rapids. Not long after we set off, a wave flipped us over.
Earl truly lived up to his reputation-he scooped us out like radishes and tossed us back in.
We drifted a little further, then plunged down a near-vertical drop.
I screamed and threw myself against Cole’s chest, wrapping my arms around his waist for dear life
He reacted fast-one arm around my waist, the other shielding my head, holding me securely
against him.
Through his thin shirt, I could feel his warmth. His clean scent wrapped around me. My face heated
up, and my heartbeat went into overdrive.
The next second, the raft flipped again, and we both went under.
Cole held me tight and swam us out of the churning current.
Before we could catch our breath, Earl’s excited face appeared. “Haha! Got you again!”
Seeing him so thrilled, I seriously suspected he’d taken this job just for the joy of fishing people out.
Just as we were hauled back in, two people in life jackets came barreling down with the current and
slammed into our raft.
I nearly got knocked off, but Cole caught me just in time.
The two people were terrified. They clawed at the edge of our raft, trying desperately to climb
aboard.
Seeing them in the water, I instinctively reached out to pull them up-but Cole yanked me back.
He grabbed my wrist firmly and pulled me half a step closer. “Careful. They’ll drag you in.”
Warmth spread through my chest. I nodded, held his hand for balance, then leaned down to offer
my hand to the people in the water.
But when I saw their faces, I yanked my hand back and gave each of them a good hard kick.
Because the two weren’t strangers-they were Derek and Sabrina.
Sabrina burst into tears on the spot.
Derek, shocked by the kick, finally realized it was me.
He was furious. He screamed, “Mia! You’re insane! Not only did you not save us, you kicked us back into the water!”
I looked at him coldly. “Why should I save you? You didn’t save me yesterday.”
He was struck speechless, his face twisting into an ugly expression.
When he realized I wasn’t budging, he turned to Earl behind me and threatened, “You! Security guy! Pull us up right now, or I’ll report you and get you fired!”
Earl glanced at him sideways, poked him further away with his pole, and said slowly, “I don’t fish ugly.”
I couldn’t help it-I burst out laughing.
Even Cole cracked a rare smile.
Earl sure knew how to fish people out. And he sure knew how to roast them too.
Derek’s face went from white to red and back again. Sabrina just cried louder.
Earl paddled away at top speed, leaving the two of them bobbing in the freezing water.
More rapids came one after another-pure chaos and thrill.
Everyone had a blast.
We played in the rapids. Earl played fisherman.
Before long, we reached the finish line.
I said a reluctant goodbye to Earl. He laughed and told us to come back anytime and look for him.
I agreed right away and pulled out my phone to swap contacts with him.
No sooner had I said goodbye than I felt a pair of eyes boring into me, and caught a faint whiff of
sourness.
[Mia didn’t even ask for my number, but she swapped contacts with him without a second thought.]
I sighed helplessly, handed my phone over to Cole, and said, “Cole, want to exchange numbers?”
Cole’s head snapped up, his eyes sparkling with joy. “Yes.”
And just like that, we swapped numbers.
Thinking back to his earlier scheming, I secretly saved him under a little green leaf emoji.
When I snuck a peek at his phone, he’d saved me as a tiny sun.
Curious, I asked, “Why did you save me as a sun?”
He blinked, held my gaze, and said slowly, “Because you used to be my light.”
