Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
‘Ugh,’ said Evie, looking out over the boating lake. ‘Water.’
‘Why do you hate it?’ Leo asked. ‘What did water ever do to you?’
‘Humiliated me,’ said Evie. ‘Made me have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.’
‘Might that, in fact, have been because you were with a total dickhead?’ suggested Leo.
Evie gave him a sharp look. ‘How did you know his name?’
Leo grinned. ‘Lucky guess.’
There’d been a large family in front of them buying tickets, so they’d lingered to one side until the booth was clear. The ticket seller was a young woman, dark-haired, tattooed and pretty, with eyes that looked amazingly like–
‘Do you have a relative who’s a plumber?’ Evie asked her.
She shook her head. ‘Nope.’
‘Or a council worker?’
The green willows outside were reflected in her gaze, as the young woman regarded Evie with withering indifference. ‘Two adults, thirty minutes. That’ll be nineteen pounds forty.’
Evie shut up and tapped her card.
‘She did have eyes like Ash’s,’ said Leo, when they were safely beyond reach of the ticket-seller’s scorn.
‘I know, right!’ said Evie. ‘Maybe they’re more common than I thought? Maybe it’s like when you learn a new word and suddenly you see that word everywhere?’
‘Segue,’ said Leo. ‘I’d never heard of it and then it turned up in every second conversation. Had to go look it up. Which took a while because I had no idea how to spell it.’
‘Ugh,’ said Evie. They were at the lake’s edge, where the bright blue pedalos sat waiting.
‘Like innocent bath toys,’ said Evie, darkly. ‘Not moist instruments of torture.’
‘You don’t even have to pedal,’ said Leo. ‘Just sit back and enjoy the ride.’
He stepped from the wharf into the pedalo with a physical confidence Evie found equal parts attractive and annoying. He held out his hand to her.
‘You owe me,’ said Evie, with bad grace, as she took his hand and wobbled on board.
‘Well, you have thirty minutes to think of how I’ll pay you back.’ Leo had his feet on the pedals and had taken control of the steering. ‘Right now, we sail!’
After five minutes of unhurried progress across the water, Evie had to admit that it wasn’t the worst way to travel. Leo’s pedalling was smooth and steady, and the water lapped gently against the sides instead of slopping over. The sun was exactly the right temperature, and everyone else on the lake seemed happy to be there. Even the water birds cruised calmly. If it wasn’t for the risk of falling in, Evie could almost have relaxed.
‘How deep is this lake?’ Evie asked.
‘Four feet,’ said Leo.
Evie eyed him, sceptically. ‘Did you just pull a random figure out of your head?’
‘Googled it when I was looking up pedalos,’ Leo replied. ‘It used to be deeper but forty people drowned when the ice they were skating on collapsed, so they drained it.’
‘Oh, cool,’ said Evie. ‘Now all I can think about is that there might be bodies still lying on the lake floor.’
‘Just mud. And little mud creatures.’
‘ So much better.’
The pedalo slowed as Leo took a break from pedalling. He leaned back in his plastic seat and smiled over at Evie.
‘Do you like swimming in the sea?’ he asked.
‘I don’t even like taking baths ,’ said Evie. ‘Being in water is icky.’
The pedalo rocked gently. There were plenty of rowboats and other pedallers out on the lake, but for some reason, they were all elsewhere. Apart from distant people on the shore, Leo and Evie were practically alone.
Leo said, ‘Can I kiss you again? I’m asking because I didn’t the last two times, and that’s not good manners.’
‘Of course,’ said Evie. ‘And thank you for asking. Just don’t rock this thing. I have no wish to become acquainted with the mud creatures.’
Their seats were separated by the large plastic curve that housed the paddle wheel. Leaning into each other required a challenging upper body twist. But when their mouths touched, any discomfort was obliterated by a rush of lust that caused both of them to gaze at each other in wonder, and resume kissing with such intensity that there was danger of a lake fire to rival Cuyahoga in Cleveland. Evie had no perception of anything outside her, only Leo’s spicy salty taste and smell, the heat trails of his hands on her skin, and his tongue exploring her mouth. From somewhere there came a sound of bees humming. Oh wait – that was her. Making a sound like horny bees. The hum began to vibrate through her, and set every nerve ending pulsing harder and faster, until–
She grabbed Leo’s hand, and breathed, ‘Quick!’
To her eternal gratitude, he didn’t hesitate, slipping his hand up her shorts leg and pushing aside her knickers. One touch of his finger was all it took. Evie’s gasps caused a couple of nearby geese to honk and flap away. She floated back down to earth like a goose-down feather, to find Leo gently stroking her sweat-damp curls off her face and smiling at her.
‘I was going to make a joke about “oar-gasm”,’ he said. ‘But we’re in a pedalo.’
‘I’ve changed my mind about these things.’ Evie cupped his face, and he kissed the palm of her hand. ‘They’re a fun time after all.’
‘Shall we pedal back?’ said Leo. ‘And then – go to my place?’
‘Absolutely,’ said Evie. ‘How fast can this thing go?’
Leo pushed his feet on the pedals, paused and frowned.
‘What?’ said Evie, her mellow glow fading.
He pushed again at the pedals. ‘I think the mechanism is stuck. I can’t make it move.’
‘ What ?’
‘We might have to wade to shore,’ he told her.
‘Wade to shore,’ said Evie. ‘Through the water. On top of the mud creatures.’
‘The water will only come up to–’ Leo assessed her height. ‘Maybe your armpits?’
Evie spotted a tiny twitch of his mouth.
‘Oh, you shit ,’ she said. ‘You’re messing with me!’
She began to mock beat him. ‘You absolute and utter shite .’
‘Careful!’ Leo fending her off, laughing. ‘Don’t rock the pedalo!’
Evie stopped and settled for glaring. ‘That was despicable . You owe me twice now!’
‘Haven’t I paid back at least one debt?’ he enquired, with a smile. ‘I mean if it was enough to frighten the geese, it must have been pretty good.’
‘You get points off for evil-minded joke-pulling,’ Evie informed him. ‘And an extra deduction just now for arrogance.’
‘I’ll buy you an ice cream,’ Leo said, as he set the pedalo in motion.
‘Okay,’ said Evie. ‘But you only get points back if it has a Flake.’