by Erika Kelly
Evening sunlight glanced off the lake, making it look like a sheet of molten silver. Turning away from the light to cut the glare on the videorecorder’s screen, Fin reviewed the footage of Will’s last attempt at a Rodeo 540. “You’re not holding it long enough.”
Brodie stood next to him on the platform with his arms crossed. “Probably shouldn’t do ramps at the end of the day.”
“He does look pretty tired.” Fin watched his oldest brother bristle. “Maybe you should take a nap after lunch.”
“That’s a great idea, Fin.” Brodie’s exaggeratedly upbeat tone made Will’s expression darken. “You should put that into training programs for the older guys.”
“Fuck off.” Will barely spared them a glance. “I’m not tired.” He shot down the ramp and popped the lip.
As they watched him go airborne, Fin and Brodie bumped fists, appreciating how easy it was to push Will’s buttons.
Will thrust his right shoulder up, pulled his legs in and grabbed his skis, and rotated three hundred and sixty degrees before landing in the lake. Water arced out from the impact.
“His landing’s off.” Turning off the recorder, Fin climbed down the ladder and headed to the edge of the lake. Pine needles crunched under his boots, and a soft breeze sifted through his hair. When Will came into sight, Fin said, “You need a snack? Maybe a juice box?”
With a twist of his neck, Will flipped the hair off his face, droplets glittering as they took flight. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Fin shrugged. “You wobbled.”
Brodie laughed.
“You’re an asshole.” They’d built a ramp with traction to make it easier to walk out of the lake with their skis. Will emerged from the water and dropped onto a log, swiping a hand across his eyes. He motioned with his fingers. “Let me see.”
As Fin handed over the recorder, his phone vibrated in his back pocket. He pulled it out. Wild Thing. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Fin. I…God.”
He paced a few feet away from his brothers. “What’s going on?”
“I just…dammit.”
“Callie.” Both his brothers turned at his sharp tone. “Stop what you’re doing and talk to me.”
“Hang on. I should get a bucket.” She must’ve set the phone down, because the sound of her shoes slapping on the wood floor faded into the distance.
Should he head into town? He shot a look to his brothers. No, he’d wait and see what was going on first.
“Okay.” She blew out a breath. “I found some buckets in the utility closet.”
“Talk to me.”
“The ceiling’s bubbling, so I guess there’s a leak upstairs. I wanted to get a hold of you before it broke through, but it’s already happening. It’s about to rain in the left corner. Oh, dammit. There’s—”
“Shut off the water valve.”
“Upstairs or in the basement?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet. But at least get to the one in the upstairs bathroom. If that stops it, I won’t have to call the town manager.”
“I have to protect the art first.”
“You won’t have any art left if you don’t get a handle on the leak. Turn off the toilet and sink valve. Do it now.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll call you—”
“I’m right here. Take me with you.”
“Oh, good. Okay.” A rush of breath sounded in his ear.
“I’m sagging.” Will sounded like he couldn’t believe his body had failed him. “Is it my speed? Am I not getting enough air?”
Fin held up a finger. Hang on.
Will shoved the camera at Fin. “I’m going again.” Fin turned away, forcing Brodie to grab it instead.
“Callie?” He needed to hear from her. “Where are you?”
“Upstairs. I’m heading down the hall. Can you come over? No matter where the leak’s coming from, I have to get the art pulled away from that section. I can’t believe this is happening.”
Fin glanced to Will, heading back to the ramp. He knew that look of determination. They wouldn’t finish here until the last ray of sunlight dipped beneath the horizon. “Listen, call Mark Gorski, okay? He’ll come right over.”
“Who?”
“The plumber. Just ask your mom. She’ll have him on speed dial.”
“Oh, dammit. I have to go. Can you call him?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“But you’ll come, right? You’ll come and help me?”
Fin watched his brothers climb the stairs to the platform. Brodie said something that made Will tip his head back with a loud bark of laughter. Will shoved him, but Brodie, the brick shithouse, didn’t budge.
“Yeah. I can be there in half hour.” Don’t let her down. “Hour at the most.”
“What’re you doing that you can’t come right now? I mean, if you’re eating dinner—”
“I’m not eating.” Food, he could reheat. “I’m training with Will.”
“Oh.” Resignation made the word sag. “Forget it. I’ll figure it out.” She disconnected the call.
She didn’t even give him a chance to explain that Will just needed to work out this one kink…but even as he thought it, the familiarity of his thoughts made him uncomfortable.
He was doing it again. It wasn’t about putting his family before her. It was about not being dependable. Callie needed him right now, and he was telling her she couldn’t count on him.
He called Marcella.
“What’s up, Fin?”
“Hey, can you do me a favor?”
“I already washed your sweaty work-out clothes. If that isn’t enough for one day, I don’t know what is.”
Fin smiled. “You could’ve left them on the floor. I’d have tossed ‘em in the washing machine tonight.”
“My eyes were watering. Anyhow. Favor?”
“Can you please make two calls for me? One to Brad Solheim, the Town Manager. Let him know there’s a leak in the old Town Hall. He’s got to get someone out there to shut off the main water valve. And Mark Gorski. Let him know there’s an event the day after tomorrow. The art’s getting damaged, so we need him there ASAP.”
“Got it.”
“Thanks, Marcella. You’re the best.” And he meant that sincerely. He pocketed his phone, just as Will popped the lip of the ramp. Standing at the side of the lake gave Fin a different view of his brother’s launch.
When Brodie reached him, Fin grabbed the recorder. “Let me see.” He reviewed it and caught the exact moment where Will was screwing up.
“Everything okay?” Will dropped onto the log.
“Leak at the old Town Hall,” Fin said. “Marcella’s going to get the plumber out there.”
Will nodded. “So, how’d I look?”
“You gotta pick up some speed, man,” Brodie said.
“No.” Fin handed the camera over. “It’s your thrust.”
Will looked between them, but when he saw they weren’t screwing around this time he reached for the camera and replayed it in slow motion. “Holy shit. What’s with my shoulder?”
Fin hit Replay and, when the moment came, he pointed to the screen. “See that?”
“Yeah, man, I do.”
“Easy to correct.” Fin handed him the recorder. “Look, I gotta go. But I think you’re overdoing it. You don’t need to train this hard.” The season had ended two months ago. Will should be working out and eating well but not training. Not yet. Not when competitions didn’t start for another few months.
But there was something in his brother’s eyes that held him in place. A starkness—a fear—Fin had never seen before.
But, of course, he knew. His brother would be twenty-eight at the next Olympics. Likely his last chance at the gold. He had to be in peak condition or forget about it.
Will stood and headed back to the ramp. “I’m going again. Get it right this time.” At the foot of the platform, he turned back and gave Fin a quizzical expression. “Come on.” He gestured impatiently at the
recorder.
“Brodie can film it. I’ll look at it later.” His brother would get in another dozen runs until it was too dark to do more. Meanwhile Callie was alone, trying to save her exhibition. He made his way to the path.
“You said Marcella was calling the plumber,” Will said. “So just watch me one more time. See if I get it right.”
“Brodie’ll watch you.” He headed up the trail.
“One more run. You’re the one who caught the problem.” His brother gave him as close to a pleading look as Will could give.
Heat rushed him, giving him a prickly sensation all over. He didn’t want to let his brother down.
But he had to get over that shit, so he kept walking.
“Fin.” When he didn’t answer, Will said, “You’re not a plumber.”
“Doesn’t she have the Cooters?” Brodie called.
Fin didn’t even turn around. “She has me.”
Chapter Thirteen
Fin leapt up the boardwalk stairs to find the doors held wide open with metal folding chairs.
Inside, Callie leaned into a huge squeegee and shoved a shallow pool of water out the door. He had to jump aside so it didn’t wash over his boots.
“Nice reflexes.” She thrust the water out, and it darkened the wood before cascading down the stairs.
“Thanks. I work out.”
Unsmiling, she lifted the squeegee and went back inside.
He followed her, making a quick assessment of the damage. The ceiling had buckled, but the water hadn’t broken through the plasterboard. She’d caught it just in time. “Where’s the water coming from?”
“The utility room flooded.” She spoke in a monotone.
“Marcella called the plumber. You hear from him yet?”
“Not yet, but I found the shut-off valve in the basement. Judy’s sending some people out in the morning to take care of everything. She says we’ll still be able to open on Friday.”
“Hey.” He stepped in front of her. “I came.”
“I see that.” She wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Thank you.”
“Then why’re you pissed at me?”
She yanked out of his hold. “I’m angry at me.” She tossed the squeegee, the handle landing with a smack on the floor. “I hate that I got all worked up over you not coming here to help me.”
“I did come. I came as soon as we got off the phone—”
She held her palm out, eyes closing in frustration. “I know. That’s not…Look, I never want to have this conversation again. It’s like Groundhog Day. I shouldn’t have called you. This project is your court-ordered assignment.” She shook her head. “I know it sounds like I’ve always made you choose between me and your brothers, but that’s never what I meant to do.”
“I know that. You never had a problem with my family or their call on my time. What you couldn’t handle—and shouldn’t have had to—was the fact that you couldn’t count on me. I haven’t been dependable. My brothers and I…we think nothing’s more important than what we’re doing. I didn’t see it before because it’s just how we roll, but I see it now. It took losing you, but I get it.”
“Well, that’s…good.” She stepped away from him. “But my point is that a month from now I’ll be back in New York, so the only thing I should be focusing on is my work. I don’t want to go back to all that drama we used to have. It’s not you. You’re not doing anything. It’s me. It’s my automatic reaction. I shouldn’t have called you in the first place.” She did that weird thing where she drew in a breath and composed herself, slipping into the role of Calliope again. “So, thank you for coming. I appreciate it, but I’ve taken care of the problem, and I won’t reach out to you like that again.”
“Like hell you won’t. I’m not invested in your museum because of some judge, and you damn well know it. I’m here because it matters to you. And, yeah, you get all wrapped up in us because it’s in your DNA to be with me.”
She flinched, but he kept going. “Which means that’s never gonna change. And, believe me, I know you’re leaving. But while you’re here, I want to be with you. In any way I can, even if it’s to help with a plumbing problem. I can’t change what I did six years ago, but I’ll never make a decision like that again.” He stepped closer to her, tipped her chin. He didn’t like her troubled expression. Something else was going on. “What’s really going on with you?”
She tried to pull away. “Let’s just get back to work.”
“Not until you talk to me.”
Defiance sparked in her eyes, but the longer he held her gaze, the more it fizzled out. She wrapped her hands around his wrists and pried him off her. “I’m just frustrated with myself.”
Pushing her wouldn’t help, so he waited for more.
“Look at me. I come home and fall right back into my old ways. Calling you when something goes wrong?” She raised her hands in frustration. “You’re not a damn plumber.” She forced a bitter smile. “You wouldn’t believe how competent I am in New York.”
It took everything he had not to reach for her, but he knew that wasn’t what she wanted. “I want to be the one you call.”
That sent a shimmer of tears to her eyes. “More than anything I don’t want to fall back into bad patterns with you. I don’t want…” She looked resigned. “When you said you were training with Will, it set off the same tirade I used to go through when you’d blow me off for something that mattered to me.” She gave him a look that said, Can you believe it? “I’m an adult. I can call a plumber.” She shook her head in obvious disgust. “But there I go testing you.”
“Testing me?”
“To see if this time you’ll love me enough to choose me.” Her features turned pink. “I’m just so angry with myself.”
She was breaking his heart, and he was done with the distance. Reaching out, he brought her palm to his mouth and kissed it. “Wild thing, you and me, we go deep. Too deep for us to have a fresh start. So that means whatever bad patterns we have, we’ll break them together.”
“How?”
“Through honesty. Talking to each other. You tell me when I piss you off, and I’ll tell you. And then together we’ll find a new way to be.”
She was too still, too quiet. When she gazed up at him, her eyes glistened. “You have no idea how much I’d like that.”
To his utter shock, she raised a hand and scraped the hair off his forehead. And it felt so fucking good he wanted to toss her over his shoulder and drag her back to his bedroom. Lose himself in all the deliciousness that was Callie Bell.
“But it scares me.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I think the reason I didn’t come home much, the reason I stayed away from you, is because of this. These feelings. There’s just something about you, us, that feels so right. And yet I know how wrong we are for each other.” A tear spilled down her cheek. “It’s just…when I’m with you, I forget.”
He kissed it away, and then another one fell. He kissed it, too, but pretty soon he couldn’t keep up with the tears cascading down her cheeks. “What we have? It’s rare, wild thing. Are we perfect? Nah. No one is. But together we’re magic, and that means it’s worth figuring out how to be right for each other.”
When she gazed up at him, eyes filled with awe and vulnerability, he claimed her mouth. That sweet, hot mouth opened up to him, and he dove right in, seeking the honey he’d missed for so damn long. She got up on her toes, pressing that lush body right up against his.
Mine. Every cell in his body acknowledged the truth: this woman is mine. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss, and she clutched at his T-shirt. He felt her relax into his arms, and he snugged an arm around her waist.
Not letting her go. Not ever.
Their tongues tangled and swirled, and it felt new. Their bodies, their touch, their connection, it meant something new.
It meant forgiveness.
He tore his mouth away and whispered in her ear, “Together, wild thing. Swear to God, we can do anything, as long as we
’re together.” He licked her earlobe, placed open-mouthed kisses down her neck, all the way to her collarbone. Her fingers fisted in his hair, and when he bit into the plump flesh of her breast, she yanked a handful.
Oh, fuck yes. Gripping her ass, he lifted her and carried her over to the wall. Rocking his hips forward to hold her in place, he worshipped that hungry, demanding mouth. The only mouth he’d ever kissed. Her legs wrapped around his waist, locking just over his ass.
When his hand shoved under her blouse and palmed her smooth, warm skin, his pulse thundered. She arched into his touch and, with a sharp exhalation, kissed the ever-loving fuck out of him.
Dammit, he was so hard for her, so desperate to drive it home, that he lowered her at the same moment his hips punched up, notching him right where he needed to be, the closest connection his body could get to her.
When she moaned, his need for her pounded in his blood.
But a signal in his brain reminded him that she still doubted him. Them. Which meant she wasn’t ready. He backed away, even though she was gravity and he felt the pull of their separation deep inside. Yeah, he wanted her, but giving into his selfish needs might cost whatever ground they’d gained, so he reluctantly, gently, set her on the floor. She gazed up at him, cheeks flaming with confusion and maybe even embarrassment.
“I want you enough that I’m going to step away. Let you figure out what you want.”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “My tongue in your mouth didn’t clue you in to what I want?”
“You’re lost right now. And there’s not a chance in hell I’m gonna take my shot with you and have you regret it right after.”
“You don’t have a shot with me!” Callie’s voice carried so far the tourists leaving Sweet Baby Jane’s Tavern two blocks away turned to look at her.
Of course Fin couldn’t hear her because his bike shot off like a meteor into the night.
She felt eyes on her, and she turned to find a woman peering at her from the door of the yoga studio. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she closed her eyes. Oh, my God. All the hard work she’d done to become a better, more mature, person, and there she was shrieking like a harridan on the streets of Calamity.
