“Ollie, no,” Molly cried out from behind Gavin.
The fear in her tone had him pushing his feet against the ground with more force. Faster. He had to be faster. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken off ahead of her, but there was no way she could make good time in that dress. Though he’d appreciated the cut and style when she’d sauntered into the kitchen earlier that day—more so after she announced she wasn’t wearing underwear—the getup was not conducive to running toward a child on rollerblades attempting to break his neck.
“Don’t do it,” Gavin shouted, even though Oliver didn’t pay attention to anything but the skates and the air in front of him.
But Gavin was making headway.Nearly there.
“You’ll get pulled under,” Molly yelled.
Oliver didn’t respond. Whether he didn’t hear or chose not to hear was a debatable point. Gavin was betting on the latter.
“He’s gonna stop right before the water. It’ll be epic,” Kellan announced as Gavin bolted past him toward Oliver.
Lucky for them, Oliver wasn’t great on the rollerblades, so he was sliding across the wooden planks of the dock at a turtle’s pace.
Gavin could catch him. He was close.
“Don’t distract him,” Kellan hollered. “This takes concentration.”
They’d be discussingthislater. Along with a consequence.
“Ollie, stop right now.” Molly heaved from several yards behind Gavin.
“Don’t worry,” Oliver yelled, his focus straight ahead on the body of water. “I know what I’m doing.”
Ten bucks said he didn’t. Another ten said he’d spent too much time with Gavin’s children, because there seemed to be some genetic transfer going on here that was going to cause extra gray hairs on Gavin’s head.
Pretty soon they’d start tree surfing and then everything would really go to shit.
The thud of Gavin’s shoes reverberated against the wood of the dock. But Oliver picked up speed. He was too far toward the end.
Gavin wouldn’t get to him in time.
His pulse thrummed faster, and he pushed forward harder, pulling off the jacket of his tux because, it appeared, he’d be taking a dip in the lake.
Not that he didn’t enjoy swimming. He did. Just not fully clothed in his best tuxedo.
But there was no way Oliver would tread water or stay afloat with those weights strapped to his legs.
“Dad, you’re in the way,” Kellan called from the dock steps. “I’m gonna miss it.”
Gavin kept his focus on Oliver. He’d deal with his kids afterward.
Oliver nearly reached the edge when he did a slow turn of the skates, stopping precisely on the lip of the dock.
Gavin stopped running, slowing to a jog because well, damn, that was actually a pretty excellent trick.
Color him impressed.
Oliver held his arms up in victory.
Gavin stalled mid-step. The victory salute knocked Oliver off balance, and he tumbled backward into the lake.
Damnand a whole slew of cuss words slipped under Gavin’s breath as he bolted the rest of the dock and dove in after him.
Cold lake water embraced him, saturated his tuxedo, and stole his breath. He swam to the spot where Oliver sank, only a couple feet away. Close enough that Gavin caught a mask of underwater shock on his face.
Gavin had a hunch his face looked similar. He looped an arm around Oliver’s thin waist to tug him up.
