Rites of Passage

by Catherine Gayle

  But we couldn’t quite turn the afternoon into a sex marathon with Carter and his puppy hanging around.

  Other than that, I didn’t mind having the kid here. He and Snoopy were actually a hell of a lot of fun. I’d only met Carter twice before. Because the kid was so young, he stayed with his mother most of the time, and Bear got a month with him over the summer, when he could be back in Minnesota, close to his ex-wife.

  But Carter was old enough to fly alone now, so this year was going to be different. Which meant his father had to have an actual house and furniture and all that jazz, instead of living out of a hotel like he’d been doing. Since the house he’d bought was only a couple of blocks away, something told me I’d be seeing an awful lot of Carter this season.

  And apparently Snoopy, too.

  At the moment, the two of them were doggy-paddling around in the shallow end of the pool. Shallow was a relative term, of course, as my pool went from four feet on one end to seven feet at the other end, all of which was far too deep for a six-year-old boy to be able to touch the bottom.

  After feeding everyone and finding a pair of shorts with a drawstring she could tie around her waist so they’d stay on for Ravyn, I’d slathered the kid with sunscreen and brought everyone out back. Carter wasn’t a bad swimmer. He probably didn’t need the floaties, but he felt more confident with them on, and it meant he wasn’t hanging all over me, so why give the kid a hard time about wearing them? That puppy, though? I doubted he’d ever been in the water before other than the bath Carter claimed they’d given him last night in the hotel room, but Snoopy was swimming like a champ.

  Those two were playing full tilt and had been for a while. Something told me that both of them—hell, you could even add me into the equation—would need a serious nap later. My nieces were a few years younger than Carter, but I doubted there was much difference when it came to how hard he’d crash after this kind of fun and exertion.

  Ravyn still hadn’t gotten into the pool with us, which disappointed me like nobody’s business. She had her hair tied up on top of her head, either to keep her neck cool or to prevent her hair from getting wet, I assumed. She’d tied a knot in my T-shirt, slightly above her waist. No, it wasn’t exactly a bikini, but it would do since we hadn’t planned on taking a swim when I’d brought her home with me.

  She said she could swim, so that wasn’t the problem. No matter how many times I’d invited her into the water, though, she still hadn’t joined us, choosing instead to sit in one of the deck chairs under the big umbrella.

  “You really shouldn’t be in the pool right now if you want that tattoo to heal properly,” she called out to me after Carter made a flying leap into my arms.

  I released him and let him paddle over to the ladder to climb out. He’d been jumping into the water repeatedly at various points during the afternoon, and I kept moving farther away from the edge. So far, he hadn’t complained that I was too far away or the water too deep. I tossed a ball for Snoopy before turning my attention to Ravyn.

  God, she looked sexy as hell right now. The thought of that T-shirt being wet and plastered to her breasts was all it took to get me hard. Good thing I was in the water so no one could see. I checked my watch again, wondering how much longer Bear would be. Three o’clock already, and no more word from him, damn it.

  But I winked in Ravyn’s direction. “I know. I remember the rules, but sometimes a guy has to break the rules, you know?”

  “If you break the rules, you get a yellow card!” Carter shouted. “Then you have to sit in the quiet corner.”

  He’d almost reached the ladder, so I figured I had about thirty more seconds before he launched himself toward my head. “I’ll be sure to let your dad know you completely understand how that works,” I replied, never turning my attention from Ravyn.

  Because holy hell, I liked looking at her. Too much for my own good, I was almost positive.

  “So what do the three of us have to do to convince you to join us?” I asked. “Promise not to splash your hair?” I didn’t have the first clue what went into taking care of dreads. Chlorinated water probably wasn’t the best thing ever for them, though, and I doubted all the pool chemicals would be good for the color, either. It didn’t take a genius to figure that much out.

  But she shook her head, crossing her arms in front of her. “Don’t think it’s a good idea today.”

  Today? But it might not be a horrible idea some other day? Color me confused about that, but Carter launched himself into the water with a delighted cackle, splashing water all over the place—especially in my eyes—distracting me from Ravyn’s answer. I blinked the chemicals away and made a grab for him since he was flailing like a drowning cat. Once I had him, I realized what the problem was—his arms were bare.

  “Where’d your floaties go, little man?”

  “I took ’em off,” Carter said, like it was no big deal. “Wanted to swim all by myself.” Never mind the fact that he had both arms wrapped around my neck so tightly he might cut off my airway and his legs were holding on to me in a monkey-boy grip.

  Snoopy paddled for us, yapping up a storm, but he was getting tired. The puppy was swimming a lot more slowly than he had been only a short while ago. I swooped out an arm and fished him out of the water, settling him in Carter’s arms. Snoopy shook and sprayed water all over both of us.

  “How about next time you want to try to swim by yourself, you give me some warning first?” I suggested.

  Carter giggled in response.

  I swam him over to the side and set him on the edge. “Go get those for me, so we can put them on again.” I pointed toward the floaties.

  Then I took Snoopy out of his arms, setting the pup on the concrete. He stayed, at least for the moment. Something told me he’d be back in the water in three… two… one…

  Splash. Should’ve put money on that one. I watched the puppy out of the corner of my eye.

  “I don’t wanna wear them,” Carter said with a pout that would do my nieces proud.

  “Well, here’s the deal.” I looked him straight in the eye, talking to him like he was a man. “Your mom and dad don’t let you swim on your own yet, do they? You have to have your floaties on if they’re with you.” I waited for him to nod his head. “Right,” I said. “So that means I need to have both eyes on you if you don’t have your floaties on. But Snoopy hasn’t ever gone swimming before, either, so I need to have at least one eye on him, too. I’ve only got two eyes, and I’d need at least three for that to work out.”

  “Ravyn could help,” Carter said. “She’s got eyes.”

  True enough, but there was a possibility that she couldn’t swim and she’d only told me she could to save face, not that I’d care one way or the other. Why else wouldn’t she get in the pool with us? And if she really couldn’t swim and she came out with us, then I’d need more than three eyes, because I’d need to be watching her, too.

  But what I told him was, “She’s a guest. She’s not here to act as a lifeguard.” Although I wouldn’t mind practicing a variation of CPR with her later… Thoughts like that weren’t helping right now, though, so I shook it off. “Go on. Grab your floaties for me so we can put them on again.”

  He rolled his eyes like a well-rehearsed teenager, but he got up and went to fetch the floaties. I settled them back in place—without a single iota of help from Carter, I might add—and gave him a wink. “Good to go. Now you can jump in to your heart’s content. How far out do you want me to go?”

  “Way back!” he said, pointing toward the opposite side.

  “Like, to the middle?”

  “Farther.”

  I laughed, but I swam out into the middle of the pool. “Think you can jump this far?”

  Instead of answering, he backed up a few steps, then ran for me, pinching his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. I had to close some of the distance because, of course, he couldn’t make it anywhere near as far as he wanted to. I scooped him out of the water, and Snoopy
came paddling over to us with a miniature tennis ball in his mouth.

  “They’ll keep you doing this all day, if you let them,” Ravyn called over.

  And wasn’t that the truth…

  I pried the ball free from Snoopy’s mouth and tossed it a couple of feet in front of me—sending it toward Ravyn, actually. He took off after it, and Carter followed. Which meant they were both between me and Ravyn, so I could actually look at her again.

  I gave her a sheepish look and mouthed, Sorry. Because there wasn’t a doubt in my mind this wasn’t how she’d imagined spending her afternoon. It wasn’t what I’d planned for, either, but I was enjoying myself a lot more than I ever expected to.

  “You don’t need to be sorry,” she said quietly.

  “No?” I raised a brow. “But you still won’t get in with us.”

  She shook her head, but there was a hint of a smile on her face.

  Carter reached the puppy’s ball first, and he gave it a toss, sending Snoopy off in a different direction. Those two were having so much fun it should be illegal, if their excited barks and infectious laughter were any indication.

  But I was focused on Ravyn’s eyes. She was laughing, too, and it completely changed her face. She looked so relaxed and carefree right now, and something in my gut clenched. I’d do just about anything to see her laugh like this more often—a realization that nearly stole my breath.

  My phone started ringing. It was sitting on the table next to Ravyn.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  She peeked over, and her expression turned comical. “Someone named Huggy Bear?”

  “That’s Carter’s dad. Answer it for me.” I picked both Carter and Snoopy up in a single swoop, setting them on the edge of the pool before dragging myself out.

  Despite an uncomfortable pinch of her eyebrows, Ravyn answered the call. “Drew’s coming,” she said. “Hold on just a second.”

  Snoopy was about to dive back in, so I put him under my arm like a football and turned to Carter. “Stay out for a minute while I talk to your dad, okay?”

  He pouted. “Okay…”

  When I got to the table, I handed Ravyn the puppy, ignoring her look of shock, and dried my hands on one of the towels we’d brought out before taking the phone from her.

  “Hey, how’s it going?” I said.

  “You didn’t tell me you had company,” Bear grumbled.

  “You didn’t give me the chance.”

  “True. Anyway, I’m done. On my way over, but I thought I’d see if you wanted me to grab some beers. But since you’ve got company—”

  “Beers are good,” I cut in. “And maybe some steaks for the grill?” I covered the mouthpiece and caught Ravyn’s eye—which wasn’t easy, since she was thoroughly distracted by the way Snoopy was trying to climb her and lick her into submission. “Do you like steak?” I asked.

  “I…” Then she shrugged. “I guess?”

  That was as good as a yes, as far as I was concerned. I mean, it was only steak we were talking about. And I wanted her to stick around. Having her over for dinner seemed like a good plan, even if it meant having Huggy Bear and Carter around, too. “Yeah, beer and steaks. We’re just about to put on more sunscreen, so no rush.”

  “Got it. Be there in twenty.” Then he hung up.

  “Can I get back in the pool?” Carter shouted. He’d stayed on the edge, his feet dangling in the water.

  “Not yet,” I said. “You need more sunscreen first. And a drink.”

  “And a snack!” he added.

  “Right. So come over here so we can deal with all of that.” I held out the towel, and he raced into it. While I dried him off and covered him in another heavy dose of sunscreen, Ravyn dug in the cooler for one of his Kool-Aids and a string cheese.

  “You ever going to get in the pool with us?” I asked, trying to sound casual. “No one cares that you’re not in a swimsuit.”

  “It’s not that,” she said, and she sounded like she really meant it, which surprised me.

  I cocked a brow at her, spinning Carter around so I could lather up his back now that I’d properly covered his face and chest with the lotion. “Then what is it?”

  She licked her lips, glancing at Carter before meeting my gaze. “The cuts on my arm,” she said quietly. “I just… What if they haven’t closed enough yet?”

  And then it all made sense. “You haven’t known about your diagnosis very long, have you?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Five months?”

  “Weren’t you listening this morning in the session? Everyone was repeatedly pointing out to me that I wouldn’t be putting anyone at risk if I started playing hockey again.”

  “I wasn’t able to focus,” she admitted with a sheepish expression.

  “Well, that’s what everyone was telling me. And they’re right.”

  “But you’re still nervous about playing hockey.”

  “I am. But my nerves are unfounded.”

  “Seriously?

  “Completely. Let me put your mind at ease. If you’re not bleeding so badly that you should be in the hospital because you’re about to die, there’s not much chance of you passing it on to someone. Once the blood leaves your body, it dies faster than you think. And when you’re in the pool, the chlorine’s probably going to kill the virus even if it wasn’t already dead. So it’s fine.”

  “Yeah? Promise?” The look in her eyes was full of hope.

  “Promise.”

  “So are you gonna come swimming with me now?” Carter demanded. “I wanna splash you!”

  “Guess I’d better put some sunscreen on.”

  There was no wiping the grin off my face after that, especially because I was imagining how sexy she’d look with my wet T-shirt plastered to her chest. I didn’t even care that my teammate and his kid were going to be here to see it, too. I was just glad that at least for a while, Ravyn was going to step outside of her head and allow herself to have a good time.

  And later, once the others left, I could get her out of that wet T-shirt.

  That was my plan. And I fully intended to stick to it.

  AS SOON AS Carter’s father came out lugging a few cases of beer, I knew I was in well over my head—and I wasn’t talking about the water level.

  I still didn’t fully understand why Ethan Higgins was called Huggy Bear by Drew and the rest of his teammates. When I’d questioned him, Drew had mumbled something about it being a play on the last name, but the way he’d kept his voice down made me think he didn’t want to say anything in front of Ethan’s son, like maybe he didn’t want to embarrass the kid. I might be reading too much into it, though.

  The bear part I got, no problem. Ethan was massive—probably six foot six, at the very least, with a muscular build that made Drew seem almost scrawny in comparison, and I knew firsthand that there was nothing even remotely scrawny about Drew. But Ethan looked like the sort of man who’d bite your head off if you tried to hug him, and he could definitely crush me like a bug if he had a mind to.

  Even if I was a hugger, I’d steer clear of this guy. Good thing I wasn’t overly affectionate by nature, because that meant there was a zero percent chance of me getting any silly ideas like that in my head.

  We were all in the pool, and both Carter and his puppy were chasing me when Ethan arrived. Drew got out to help his teammate unload everything.

  They spoke for a minute—too quietly for me to hear anything they said, especially with all the noise coming from Carter and Snoopy—while unloading the beers into a small refrigerator in an outdoor storage shed. Then they headed back into the house together through the kitchen door. When they returned, they had enough steaks to feed a small army, and Lord only knew how many other snacks and side dishes. They made a third trip, bringing bottled water, more Kool-Aid, and other nonalcoholic drinks…as well as Razor and a woman I could only assume was Razor’s Russian wife.

  Apparently, there was going to be a party. Now I wished I’d never come. Or
that I’d insisted on having Drew take me back to my car before all of this had gotten started. Or that I’d just put my clothes back on and ventured out on the walk back to the community center, like I’d debated doing earlier.

  But I hadn’t done any of those things, and now it appeared I was stuck.

  I stared at them longer than I should have since I was supposed to be on child-and-puppy safety duty, but my thoughts were racing. Just exactly how many people were coming over? Looked like dozens, based on the amount of food and drinks Ethan had brought with him. What was Drew planning to tell them about me? What was I supposed to say to them about…well, about anything?

  The four of them stood near the grill, talking and laughing like old friends—which, yes, I realized that was exactly what they were, but that only made me feel more out of place than I had initially—and I saw Drew say something while pointing in my direction.

  Cue my panic.

  But Snoopy and Carter made a diving, giggling, barking leap for me, combining to dunk me under the water. It was enough of a distraction to get me out of my head for a moment.

  Not for long. I came up spluttering in time to see the back door of the house opening again and more strange faces streaming out, adults and children alike. It was too late for me to streak out of the pool, race inside, find Drew’s laundry room, throw on my own clothes, and head home, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was, but that didn’t stop me from trying to estimate the time it would take me to do exactly that.

  The urge to run was so strong it was almost overwhelming.

  But before I could do anything, Carter’s father stripped off his shirt, kicked his sandals to the side, and belly flopped into the pool like a champion. Carter laughed so hard he took in water and started choking, but he still couldn’t stop laughing. I tried to pat him on the back, but Ethan was there in a flash, taking over.