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As we finally arrived at the lake entry point, we got out of the cab and headed out, following the instructor who was waiting. There wouldn't be more than six people on our boat, with Valerie and Jamieson there, only two people more would be let on in our boat.

Airboats aren't like rollercoasters, but it seemed like that's what Poppy genuinely thought they were like and I didn't want to burst her little bubble of fun. The boat is powered by a huge fan, so sure, it could go really fast, but it's not a fucking rollercoaster. Far from it.

Once we made it to the outdoor deck, we were given a small briefing. Don't get out of the boat or stick any limbs out, don't lean over the edge, don't make any loud noises or sudden movements when we see animals and don't throw anything in the water. And after that, we got on.

The two strangers joining us were a father and son, who was no older than six or seven years old. As we all got on and started taking our seats, the instructor with us, called for everyone's attention. "Please keep your purses or any other belongings under the seat. And um, kiddo, what's your name?" he asked, pointing at the little boy.

"Noah," the boy answered, squinting under the sunlight despite wearing a Spider-Man hat.

"All right, Noah. Since you're still little, we're going to need to sit between two people, all right? Now, I know you won't be able to see everything, but we're going to stop the boat and I'll make sure you get a good look at all the animals we have here. Sir," the instructor turned to Noah's father. "Would you like to sit with him or can he sit between any of the two couples we have here?"

"Oh, we're not couples," Valerie laughed and then faced Noah with a grin. "You can sit between us," she offered, reaching to pinch his cheek.

He frowned, swatting her hand away furiously. Poppy and I glanced at each other as the man pulled Noah's hand away, scolding him gently before mumbling an apology to Valerie.

"Well um," she spoke up again, "I can sit at the front with Poppy and Josh."

Poppy groaned softly before pulling me closer, fisting my shirt. "You are not sitting in the middle."

I looked down at her, amused. "Jealous, are we?"

"Yes, we are," she gritted back.

"I'm sure Noah here can be a gentleman and sit with them, can't you Noah?" Jamie asked, leaning down to the kid's level. "I see you like Spider-Man. So does Josh. Don't you, Josh?"

Everybody turned to me. I blinked before clearing my throat. "Sure. Yeah, Spider-Man is the best."

Noah watched me doubtfully. "Do you think he's even better than Superman?"

"Absolutely," I nodded. "I'm a marvel boy."

He laughed, tugging at his Dad's shirt. "I wike him."

I bit down a smile.

"All right then. Sir, you can sit behind your son between the other two and Noah, you can sit between the lovely couple here."

"Not a couple," Valerie laughed forcefully.

"Not a couple," Noah mocked in a whiny tone before hopping into the front middle seat.

Poppy snorted, quickly covering her mouth and sitting down to Noah's right, closest to the edge of the boat. I sat down on the other side and once everyone was settled, the boat started moving slowly away from the bank.

We would stop every time we saw a turtle and considering it's only been five minutes, that's the only animal we've seen so far. Poppy and I gladly took turns holding Noah while he stood while pointing out into the distance to help him spot said turtles. It was when the boat slowed down at the river bank and the instructor said that we were getting to an area where there were a lot of snakes that Poppy scooted away from the edge.

"Switch seats with me," she demanded, looking at me.

"She's scared," Noah laughed, pointing at her.

"Uh, yeah, I am. They're snakes."

"Snakes are cool," Noah replied.

"We'll see, big guy. Get a look at one," she told him, playfully nudging him. So, Poppy and I switched seats as the boat stopped and Noah stood up, peering over the railing.

I held onto his shoulders and the moment he spotted the huge black snake by the bank, he was gasping and hiding his face in my shirt.

"See, told you," Poppy mumbled.

He moved away from me and to her in a panic, whimpering and covering his eyes. His Dad sighed behind us, "Noah, it's okay."

She held onto him as he climbed into her lap and busied him with Spider-Man talk until we passed that point.

The rest of the ride, the instructor stopped and showed us more snakes that only freaked Poppy and Noah out, huge alligators that almost made Noah cry, hawks that got too close to the boat, and a white-tailed deer that yelled so loud, we all wanted to cry. And Noah really did. But hey, at least we saw raccoons that didn't bother us at all.

"All right, we're going to head back now," the guide announced.

Noah hopped out of his seat before the boat started moving again, mumbling with a teary face, "Daddy," before sniffling and running back, climbing into his Dad's lap.

Poppy sighed and shifted over, sitting beside me now. She nudged my arm and I faced her. "Is this what you had in mind when you asked Lydia to book this for us?"

I huffed, "Of course, not. I had no idea it would be so bad. They had good reviews."

She stared at me incredulously. "This company? What if Lydia booked us for the wrong tour? They don't even have a logo on the boat."

I blinked in thought before leaning forward on my elbows. "Excuse me," I called for the guide.

"Yes?" he asked, lifting a brow at me.

"This is the New Orleans Airboat Breakaway Tour, right?"

He laughed softly and shook his head. "We're the New Orleans Airboat Hunter Tour. The Airboat Breakaway Tour is ten minutes away from ours."

"Well, there you go," Poppy snickered, "that explains it, thanks," she told him sarcastically. We turned to each other in disbelief. "Is it just me or is Lydia slowly losing her mind?" she asked. "She keeps messing things up. First, our—" She lowered her voice, glancing at Valerie. "First our rooms, now this tour."

I didn't know what to tell her because I was just as lost as her with this.

"Okay, to get back a little faster, we're going to pick up the speed now," we were told.

As the boat got faster, the wind blowing hit us harder and Poppy had to hold down her hat. The most enjoyable part of this ride was going back. The boat was pretty fast and with Noah laughing in the background, the water occasionally making big splashes, and the wind flushing everyone's faces, we all had a good time.

Poppy laughed, still holding onto her hat and tucking away strands of her hair that blew past her face. I caught myself before I reached over and fixed them for her when I remembered Valerie was here too. I watched Poppy as she laughed and giggled, briefly touching her nose before telling me it was getting cold from how windy it had gotten. I couldn't do anything but stare at her, I wasn't able to take my eyes off of her.

She was unbelievably beautiful in every sense of the word. I was really glad about everything that has happened between us so far, it made me happy to be a part of her world and finally let her in and be a part of mine. But we were worlds apart and that didn't change because we got closer and started to enjoy each other's company.

I wasn't good for Poppy. I don't know how to do relationships properly and I'm pretty sure that was exactly what she was looking for. The thought still haunts me and lingers in the back of my mind that we'll be far too deep into this and I'll leave or back out or hurt her feelings. Or she'd leave me and back out because she'd find something wrong with me. Something about me might push her away, she might think I'm not good enough for her and maybe I wasn't.

Maybe I'm really not good enough for her. I've never been good enough for anyone else, so why would she think that I'm enough as I am?

The boat slowed down to a stop at the bank and the guide got out, instructing everybody to step out, starting from the back, so we remained seated.

"Hey."

I snapped out of my thoughts, facing her.

She frowned slightly, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing."

"Josh."

"Nothing, I swear. I was just thinking."

She watched me warily but didn't push beyond that and stood up. "Come on."

I got out first and took her hand, helping her down before pulling my hand out of hers.

As we walked back out, she linked her arm with mine. "Valerie and Jamieson are gone now," she said, smiling. "Should we get lunch together? You and me?"

"Sure," I nodded. I felt her gaze on me.

"We can just go back to the hotel if you want. Are you feeling okay?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I said I'm fine, Poppy."

She paused and then mumbled, "Okay," pulling her arm out of mine. "Lunch then, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "let's have lunch."

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