Chapter Nineteen #4
“Let’s get our pedaling in sync,” he said. “We’ll start on the right.”
He moved his right pedal with the top of his foot until it was up and I did the same.
“On the count of three, we push off,” he said. “One, two, thr—”
In my eagerness, I pushed off early, nearly tipping us over with my shift in weight.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Simon said. He grabbed the bike with one hand and me with the other, keeping us both from falling over. “Let’s try again. We launch at the end of three, Spencer.”
“Got it!” I could feel the amused gazes of our neighbors but I refused to be embarrassed even though Roland’s shoulders were shaking with laughter.
I repositioned myself and waited while Simon counted down. On three, we pushed off together, heading down the road with only a few bobbles and wobbles. I had absolutely no idea how we were going to stop but that was a problem for end-of-the-ride Hannah.
We shot down the narrow lane. Simon looked at me over his shoulder and I tried to ignore how close we were, with my hands clutching the handlebar that was on each side of his seat, putting his butt right in the middle of my grasp. I kept my chin up, refusing to look.
“I think we’ve got it!” Simon said. He sounded uncharacteristically joyous and the smile on his face was so genuine, I suspected this was what he’d looked like as a boy—full of mischief and fun and enthusiasm.
I remembered how Lorelei had said he hadn’t always been so serious and I wondered if this was the real Simon.
His exuberance was contagious. I grinned in return but then saw a car heading right for us.
“Car!” I shouted. I tried to steer us to the side but of course I had no steering capability.
“I’ve got it!” Simon said. “Don’t panic.”
Too late. Being a control freak, I was leaning hard to the right, trying to get us out of the way of the large SUV. Simon struggled to keep us upright but failed. My shift in weight sent us off the road and into the shallow brackish water, which I was certain contained hidden gators.
I let out a shriek just as our tires got sucked into the mud, stopping the bike abruptly and sending us both ass over teakettle into the water with undignified splats. The car came to a stop, but I ignored it as I stared up at the blue sky while lying in the stinky marsh mud.
“Spencer, are you all right?” Simon’s face was pale and his eyes wide as he crawled toward me.
I pushed up to my feet, letting the water and mud drip off me. I reached down and hauled him to his feet. His eyes scoured my person as if reassuring himself that I was intact.
“I’m fine. You?” I looked him over, relieved that he seemed fine, too.
“I think I swallowed an eel.” He cringed and made a gagging noise.
I jumped, grabbing him around the middle in a stranglehold. “Eels? Where?”
He chuckled and I realized he was joking. I shoved him hard and he slipped deeper into the mud, grabbing my hand and pulling me with him as he went. I slid into him and clipped him behind one knee, knocking him down and dragging me with him.
Simon was covered in mud with bits of marsh grass and stray leaves on his face and shirt.
He looked like hell and yet still ridiculously attractive.
I didn’t think about what I did. I was too annoyed.
I scooped a fistful of mud and threw it at him.
It hit him square in the shoulder with a very satisfying splat.
“Be careful, Spencer,” he cautioned. “You might not enjoy where this leads.”
I threw another gob of mud. This one landed on his neck.
He stared at me in surprise and then scooped up a fistful of his own. It occurred to me to move a beat too late and his ball of goo hit me right in the chest.
“Game on!” I grunted, and the next thing I knew we were tossing fistfuls of the marsh muck at each other. I scooted closer to him to make sure I didn’t miss him when I slipped and reached out to save myself by clutching his arm, succeeding only in pulling him down with me.
“Oh, I see how it is,” Simon said. He reached for me but I rolled away, not anticipating him grabbing my foot and halting my escape. When he tried to pull me toward him, he slipped and landed in the mud next to me. I sent a spray of water in his direction and he sent one back.
When Simon crawled by me, I climbed onto his back. He rose to standing, spinning in a circle, trying to dislodge me. I held on like a barnacle. I heard someone laughing. It took me a moment to realize it was me. It was—but it was also him and it was the most delightful sound.
Simon slowed his spin and reached behind, plucking me off his back and holding me high up in the air. My breath caught as he guided me in a slow slide down the front of his body, setting me on my feet but still holding me close.
This had to be the most ridiculous and still the sexiest moment of my life.
I should have been mortified. Instead, I cracked up with more laughter.
Every time I tried to pull it together, I made eye contact with him and we both erupted again.
I laughed until my stomach cramped and then I laughed some more, hanging on him for support even though he was laughing, too.
Simon half carried, half dragged me to solid ground. I reached up and picked some marsh grass off his helmet and he swiped a gob of dirt off my cheek. We were grinning at each other like idiots.
“I can’t remember the last time I heard you laugh like that, Simon.
” A man was standing by the side of the road, watching us.
He was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt.
His dark hair was long and unkempt, and he had a day or two’s worth of stubble on his chin.
When he smiled, a dimple appeared in one cheek and I knew exactly who he was.
I felt Simon stiffen in surprise. He slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side as if to shield me. In a blink, his face became its usual emotionless mask and his voice perfectly even when he said, “Hannah Spencer, this is my brother, Charlie O’Malley.”