Rushing In (Bailey Brothers #4) - Claire Kingsley Page 0,84
towel draped over one of his broad shoulders. His outfit—or lack thereof—left little to the imagination. He was all lean muscle and olive skin. The sight of him—especially almost naked—sent a flurry of tingles through my body.
Ginny leaned close and lowered her voice. “Wow. I do not blame you.”
“I know, right?” I said quietly.
“Damn it, Gav,” Asher said. “Did you have to wear those?”
“What?” Gavin asked, looking down at himself. He wasn’t just wearing underwear. He was wearing underwear with Asher’s face right on the crotch. “They’re basically a Speedo.”
I stifled a laugh.
“You’re utterly ridiculous,” Cara said. “You know that, right?”
He just grinned at her.
“No more boot?” I asked.
“Nope. I’m officially healed.” He lifted his legs one at a time, bending them at the knee, as if to emphasize his point. “Feels good to be back.”
“I take it you’re jumping in?” I asked.
“Of course I am. I do it every year.”
He waved to his fellow river jumpers. They didn’t look pleased to see him. A few crossed their arms and they grumbled to each other.
“What’s that about?” Ginny asked.
“They’re disappointed Gavin showed,” Logan said.
“Why?”
“Because he wins every year.”
“Aren’t you cold?” I asked.
Gavin shrugged. “Yeah.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
“Not really. I’ll warm up later.” He winked at me, then turned back to his brothers. “Am I really the only one taking the plunge this year? I’m disappointed in you.”
“We’re happy to let you represent the Baileys,” Logan said. “Also, you’re nuts and we’re not.”
“Or I like to have fun and you’re all boring.”
“How is jumping into ice cold water fun?” Logan asked.
Gavin grinned, his eyes widening. He looked a little crazed. “How is it not fun?”
Cara’s phone rang and she smiled when she pulled it out of her handbag. “Oh good. I’ve been waiting for her to call me back.” She winked at me—which was kind of odd—and wandered away to take her call.
Quite the crowd had gathered along the riverbank. I caught sight of my dad a little bit downstream. My mom was with him, wearing the cutest knit hat and very impractical shoes. She teetered a little, but Dad caught her before she could fall. Their eyes met and I held my breath. Oh my god, was he going to kiss her?
He didn’t, and a second later whatever had been happening over there—if anything—had passed. Dad put his hands in his coat pockets and Mom turned her attention to the river. I’d probably imagined it anyway.
“Is it just me, or are your mom and dad hanging out a lot these days?” Ginny asked.
“Yeah, they are. Mom tends to invite herself along whenever he’s going somewhere that isn’t work. Although come to think of it, he asked if she wanted to come down here this morning.”
“Interesting.”
The truth was, I didn’t know what was going on with my parents. They could go from sharing happy memories of my early childhood to snipping at each other in seconds.
I was also pretty sure I’d caught my mom trying to peek in Dad’s bedroom while he was changing the other day.
A man in a dark coat climbed onto a rock near the water’s edge and raised a megaphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, the great city of Tilikum would like to welcome you to the forty-fourth annual Pumpkin Plunge.”
A cheer went up from the crowd. Gavin hollered and punched his fist in the air.
The announcer held up a crown decorated with pumpkins and orange, yellow, and red leaves. “The winner will be crowned Tilikum’s Pumpkin King! Or queen, but I don’t think we have any female plungers this year.”
“That’s because women are too smart!” someone yelled, earning a laugh from the crowd.
“All right, all right. Gentlemen, make your way to the front.”
Gavin handed me his towel. “Mind holding that for me?”
“Sure. Be careful.”
“I’ll be fine.” He winked, then made his way down to the river’s edge.
The rest of the plungers stripped off their sweatshirts and bathrobes. Gavin was the lone twenty-something in a sea of middle-aged beer bellies and gray-haired chests. He smiled and shook hands with a few of his fellow daredevils, then started jumping and shaking his limbs out, like he was getting ready to run a race.
Cara came back and stood next to me. “He is a cutie, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, he is.”
“So I know I haven’t gotten back to you about Sven.”
“Sven?”
“My massage therapist. I was going to set something up for you, but I actually found a better way to thank you.”
“For picking up Gavin? You really don’t have to do anything.