He squints as though he’s trying to recollect, but struggling. A look I’ve become familiar with since he started working for me. “You want all that water?”
“There will be more than twenty-four racers,” I say.
“Sure, but the Greenes will be handing out water as well.”
“Just go get the rest of the water.”
He takes the wagon he borrowed from his sister and trudges back up the hill. Meanwhile, I catch sight of Posey walking toward me. Two teenage boys follow her with a wagon similar to Erwin’s. She looks mouthwatering in yoga pants and a sweatshirt that’s stretched across her delicious tits. The night of our date, the tease of her cleavage made me wonder what her nipples look like. Are they silver dollars or small Hershey’s Kisses?
“Oh hey, Gavin,” she says, waving to me from across the path.
I snap out of my daze of imagining her naked. If I don’t get these feelings out of my head, I’m screwed.
“Posey.” I nod. One boy opens up the table they’ve brought, and Rylan, who I recognize as her little brother, puts up their signs. “Good thing you brought help.”
She raises her eyebrows. “I could’ve done it myself.”
I hold up both hands and turn toward the bay, away from her. Maybe it’s just better if we don’t converse.
“Gavin!” Jack Thorne spots me and runs down the hill, tripping and rolling, but the kid recovers as if he meant to do it all along.
Maverick runs down and swoops him up. If gaming doesn’t get that kid famous, he might have a future as a stuntman. Behind Maverick is a dark-haired girl who keeps looking around as though she’s waiting to spot someone as she walks slowly down the hill.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who brought help?” Posey’s snarky retort has me looking back at her.
“Well, I don’t have a huge family.”
“So you pick Griffin and Phoenix Thornes’ kids. Interesting.” She inhales a deep breath and cocks her hip. “Just so you know, the Baileys don’t have the pull here that they do in Lake Starlight. Right, Rylan?”
Posey smacks him in the stomach with her hand, but he doesn’t flinch. Because his eyes are fixed on the teenage girl walking down the hill.
“Hey, we brought our cousin,” Maverick says when he reaches me and puts Jack down. “That’s okay, right?”
“The more help, the better,” I say, more interested in what’s happening between Rylan and their cousin. “What’s her name?”
“Calista. She’s our Uncle Rome’s oldest. Is this all the water you have? Because it’s not gonna be enough.” Maverick looks from the water back to me.
“My assistant is grabbing some more. Thanks for bringing your cousin. Seems like she’s gonna do a great job of distracting one of Posey’s helpers.” I smile across the way.
Posey hammers me with a pissed-off expression. Erwin was right, she has a feisty side that’s a little scary.
“Rylan.” She snaps her fingers in front of his face.
“You might as well forget it; he’s done for the day. Trust me.” Rylan’s friend continues to pour water from the bottles into cups on the table. I’m told that’s so they can down some water and toss the paper cup aside while they’re running, to be picked up later.
Another glare from Posey only keeps my smile in place. I get some sick sense of pleasure at throwing her off-kilter.
Calista finally comes all the way down the hill. Her gaze keeps going to Rylan, making me feel as though I’m in some reenactment of a teenage drama I once starred in.
“Okay, I’m going to stay here and pass out the paper cups, but I need one of you to go with Erwin to the finish line and pass out actual water bottles for when they finish the race. When you give them one, say vote Price.”
As I finish talking, a golf cart pulls up. Inside are Ethel Greene and Dori Bailey, who I’ve met a few times.
“Isn’t this fun?” Dori steps out and comes to my side before encompassing Calista in a big hug, then she moves on to Jack and Maverick.
Ethel walks over to Posey, and I hear her explain how my team will be handing out water at the finish line. Posey looks at me over Ethel’s shoulder. The two of them whisper, and suddenly, Rylan is on the back of the golf cart with a few cases of water and Ethel in the driver’s seat.
“Hey, Gavin, good luck today,” Ethel says, waving at me in what feels like a condescending way.
I nod. “Thank you, Mrs. Greene.”
“I’m going to take Calista then.” Dori swings her arm around the young girl, whose cheeks are now red like a stoplight.
“Okay, Erwin will meet you over there with the water,” I say, fine with Calista going. Hopefully the two kids will equal each other out.
Calista sits in the back of the golf cart next to Rylan, and the two of them are clearly trying to stay as far apart from one another as possible.
Meanwhile, Maverick fills the water cups until the entire table is full. Declan does the same for Posey, and I figure this is a fair fight. Until Hank and Marla come down the hill with pieces of plywood in their arms.
“Great. Mom’s here,” Posey says too loudly.
They put the plywood over their water cups so they can have three stacks of filled water cups.
“Shit, this isn’t their first time doing this,” Maverick says, standing next to me and watching them accomplish a move that will probably seal their win. It might seem silly to compete over water, but I’ve always been competitive, and it’s clear to me that Posey has that same competitive spirit.
Once they’re finished, Posey comes over to me. “So, we never did make a wager, or are you too scared now that you see our setup?”
I widen my stance and put my hands in my pockets, leaning forward. “You don’t scare me, Greene.”
“Good, then whoever gives out the most water by the end of the race is the loser. And you have to be honest with your count. No cheating.”
“And what do you want if you win?” I ask, already knowing exactly what I’m going to ask for.
She pretends to think about it.
“It has to be within reason. I’m not pulling myself out of the election, nor am I moving my campaign headquarters.” I cross my arms.
Her lips purse and suddenly I really wish I would’ve snagged one kiss from those rosy lips before all the shit went down between us.
“I’ll go first,” I say. “If I win, you cut my hair for free every two weeks for the next year.”
She scoffs. “Two weeks? You can at least go three weeks.”
I shake my head. “Three weeks and I’m shaggy. I am trying to win an election.” I wink and her eyes narrow.
Her eyes bore into mine. “Fine. But if I win, I get to cut your hair however I want. Even shave it all off if I see fit.”
Damn. She’s evil. I glance back at our water, then at her water tower.
“I like that look on you,” she says, twirling her pointer finger in my face.
“What look?”
“Fear. Like turkey around Thanksgiving.”
I huff and stick out my hand. “Deal.”
Her small, soft hand glides into mine and all I want to do is tug her into my arms, hug her small body, and kiss her forehead.