“I figured you’d be kayaking with the rest of them,” I said. IknewChris was a skier, and I figured he’d be in on this, too.
“Nah. I try to limit my hobbies to things that don’t involve a chance of drowning if there’s a minor screwup. How comeyou’renot doing it?” he asked. “You’re all chest muscle, you could kick ass.”
“Can’t swim,” I admitted, stomach sinking as I realized I was probably the only one here who couldn’t.
“Me neither,” Julie piped up. “Deep water scares me.”
Well,thatwas comforting.
“I like to restrict my swimming to a nice, clean, heated pool,” Chris said. “Right after forty minutes in the sauna, right after a full day on the slopes,” he added, bliss in his voice.
“Sounds nice,” I agreed. Slow Falls had an indoor pool, but I’d never been to it. I’dthoughtabout it, from time to time, but it wasn’t as though there were swimming classes for adults. I’d only make an ass of myself if I tried.
We stepped out of the forest into a clearing just a few seconds later, the rush of water suddenly deafening now that the trees weren’t dampening the sound.
Marta, Devin, Alex, and Brad were all staring down at the water.
All I could see was the sheer drop just twenty yards or so upriver. It couldn’t have been more than ten feet, but when I looked past it, there was another one, and another one, andanotherone before the river disappeared over the rise in the land, the top invisible.
“We’re going up there,” Devin explained as he took his gear bag from me. “It’s better if you guys wait down here, I think. You’re in charge of my towel and blanket and dry clothes.”
“I’ll guard them with my life,” I promised.
“Good, because you’re the one I’ll be complaining to if I have to make the trip back damp,” Devin said, stripping his hoodie off and shoving it in his bag before opening the other zip to grab his kayaking gear.
Alex pulled him into a conversation about… something I didn’t understand, and I hung back so I wouldn’t get in the way.
I had a job to do. Devin had even gone to the trouble of making it soundimportant, and I liked that. I liked feeling like I was being useful.
Even if I couldn’t actually help him with this competition. I could keep his towel dry and not lose track of his sneakers.
“The water shoes sure are sexy, huh?” Chris appeared at my elbow, settling in beside me to watch Devin and Alex as they clipped padded vests on and tightened each other’s straps.
“Oh, yeah,” I said, glancing down at the neoprene booties Devin had traded his shoes for.
“There’s a good bit coming up,” Chris promised. “Just keep your eye on them when they go to take their pants off.”
Devin was wearing another pair of sweatpants—these ones not as pilled and worn out as the ones he’d slept in—and I’d kind of assumed he was planning to just… wear those. I hadn’t seen other pants in his bag, and it wasn’t as though he was going to change out here… was he? He could’ve done that back in the van, where he’d have some privacy.
Maybe he didn’t care about privacy. Maybe I was the only person present who hadn’t already seen him naked, and maybe it was no big deal.
“Wait for it,” Chris said as Devin’s hands went to his waistband.
I couldn’t look. Devin had probably forgotten about me, he didn’t want me to see him in his underwear—orless. Right?
But I also couldn’t look away as he wriggled out of them, revealing…
Running tights?
Probably not running tights. Probably whatever pants you were supposed to wear kayaking. I’d ask later.
They didnotleave a whole lot to the imagination, hugging every inch of Devin’s cute little ass like a second skin, so tight I could see the muscles moving as he bent over to pick his discarded jeans up, and again when he straightened to fold them.
“That’sthe good part,” Chris said, laughter in his voice, and I glanced over to see Alex in the same state of dress as Devin, equally tight pants showing off every muscle in powerful thighs.
Devin wasn’t nearly as muscular as Alex was, but there was a lot more definition there than I’d imagined.
… not that I’d imagined Devin’s thighs.
