Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,53

ground.

“That was extremely gentlemanly,” she teased.

“Anything for the lady.”

She slapped her hand on my chest. “I’m going to go say hi to everyone. Do you want me to introduce you, or do you want to lay low?”

I glanced over her shoulder at the ten or twelve guys crowded around the other side of the boulder, watching someone climb. I wasn’t out here to sign autographs or draw attention, so laying low was my best bet.

“I’ll hang out here, in the kiddie section,” I said.

Kat walking away stole my breath. It wasn’t even her ass—which was round, sexy, perfect—it was how she carried herself. Shoulders back, chin high, easy and loose. And when she got to her buddies, my chest went tight, like it had been pumped full of air until there was no more room for my organs. This was her life, this sun-soaked forest, climbing and hanging out with friends, spending time with her kid. No wonder she carried herself with such ease. I’d be pretty pleased with myself if I had a life like this.

Or would I? There was no spotlight here, not unless I counted the sun streaming through the trees. The crowd’s attention was only rapt when they were spotting a climber. And applause...well, it happened. Kat and her friends cheered when one of the guys made it to the top, lying flat on his back, yelling at the sky.

“Devon.”

Jerking my attention from Kat, I looked down at Ellie. “Hey, little sister. Ready to climb?”

“In a minute. I want to make sure you’re not mad at me.”

Brow furrowed, I frowned. “Why would I be mad at you?”

She pointed to her fanny pack. “I’m not wearing the belt you got me.”

“And?”

“And...I know you think this one’s nerdy.”

Goddamn, did I regret ever opening my mouth about her fanny pack. I thought I’d fixed my mistake, but some scars ran deep as hell. It killed me to know this girl paused for even a second to worry about what I thought of her. She was ten times cooler than I could ever dream of being.

I shook my head. “I thought we went over this. I’m a jackass...errr, butt. Don’t listen to me. You’re cool as hell because you’re good at being yourself. Not everyone is so good at that.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Like you?”

I spread my arms out, then let them fall to my sides with a slap. “I’m a fine example. You really know how to twist the knife for such a short stack.”

She scrunched her nose. “I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings, promise.”

My palm came down on her head, ruffling her red hair. “I know, kid. Now, are you gonna show me how to climb or what?”

Molly came to stand beside her, and their crossed arm stances mirrored each other. “I heard you’re up for a competition, Mr. Chambers,” Molly practically growled at me. The kid was even smaller than Ellie with a face like a cherub, but she had me shaking in my boots. What was up with this town and fierce women? They ran amok.

“It’s on, Molly.” I pointed from my eyes to hers. “I’m taking you down.”

By the time Kat made her way back over to us, I’d fallen on the crash mat three times, and my ego had been shredded. Ellie and Molly were like little monkeys or mountain goats or something equally ridiculous, working their way over the side of the rock like they did this shit every day. Kat stood over me, the sun dappling gold flecks on her skin through the trees. She smiled, and I groaned. It was a groan of both humiliation and frustration—humiliated she was seeing me in that position, frustrated I couldn’t drag her down on this mat with me and see the rest of her skin in this light.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

“I think I’ll stay down here. This seems to be where I’m going to keep ending up,” I said.

“Nope. I’m going to teach you.” She reached for me, so I took her hand and hopped up. Her fingers curled around my bicep, her mouth curving so pretty. “Why have all these big muscles if you can’t put them to good use?”

“I seem to remember putting them to good use when I had you against—”

She covered my mouth, her eyes shining with humor. “There are children present.”

There were, but they weren’t paying attention to us. Molly was posing on top of the boulder while Ellie took pictures of her. So, I licked Kat’s