Ace chuckles. “Chrissy is the kayaker I was telling you guys about.”
“Oh,” Joel says, raising an eyebrow. “I hear you’re fast.”
My skin flushes at the compliment. “Thanks.”
Rayna’s whole face lights up, like she’s just had the most brilliant idea ever. I can practically see a glowing light bulb above her head. “Isn’t your team short a relay racer?”
“Yeah,” says Joel. “Liam’s shoulder is still messed up, so we’re down a paddler.”
Ace explains the situation to me. “Every year, we participate in the kayak relay race, but our buddy Liam is injured. You’d be an excellent replacement.”
“I don’t know…” I say, my voice trailing off. But my heart kicks up a notch at the thought of participating in a real race.
"Come on, Chrissy,” he says, “you kept up with me this morning—”
“I beat you!”
Joel snorts loudly.
"They could really use your help,” Rayna says.
Ace’s eyes meet mine. “We really could.”
Dani returns from the cooler, and it’s immediately clear she’s been hanging on every word. “She’ll do it.”
“Dani!” I protest.
She rolls her eyes. “Stop protesting. You love racing.”
She’s not wrong. And Idomiss competing. I love that feeling when your lungs burn and your muscles ache and your whole brain narrows down to nothing but movement and instinct and momentum.
I raced competitively for a couple of years in college. Then life happened. Work happened. Bills happened.
Ace tugs gently on my braid. “You know you’re dying for a rematch, Speed Racer. Maybe you’ll even beat me, if you practice enough.”
That does it. “I’ll beat you every time, Show Off.”
His grin flashes bright and immediate. "So that's a yes?"
"It's amaybe.”
“Practice is at four. Meet us at the kayak launch.”
I watch helplessly as he leaves the bait shop with Joel and Rayna.
God help me. I think I just joined his relay team.
Chapter Three
Ace
Bythetimefouro'clock rolls around, the lake is chaos.
Boats crisscross the water in every direction, music drifts from half the docks on the shoreline, and the marina is packed with tourists buying ice cream and forgetting where they parked their golf carts. A pontoon full of college-aged guys is attempting, badly, to do donuts near the swim buoys, just begging for law enforcement to show up to issue a ticket.
I spot Chrissy the second she steps onto the dock beside the boat launch. She’s wearing a ball cap, black athletic shorts, and a fitted tank top that shows off her banging curves. And she’s carrying her kayak down toward the water with easy confidence,barely glancing at the crowd around her. She’s beautifulandstrong.
And damn, that’s hot.
