Page 66 of A Little Complicated

“Shush.” I cover his mouth and look over my shoulder like any of my previous coaches might pop out at any second and yell at me for avoiding the ice bath like it’s the Plague.

Maverick smiles against the palm of my hand as he grabs my wrist and slowly pries me away from him. “Do you wanna try it?”

“What? Cornering you?”

He steps closer. “I meant the plunge.”

“Oh.” I glance at the tub of water as Griffin and Everett each dump a fresh bag of ice into it. “I’m good.”

He lifts a brow. “If you were good, you wouldn’t have been rolling your eyes.”

“Do you want me to do it?” I counter.

“I want you to do whatever you want, Opie.”

“Fine, I’ll do it,” I snap. “If it’ll get you off my back, then…fine.”

The same stupid, amused smirk teases his lips until he hides it behind his hand. “Did you bring a swimsuit?”

I look down at my tank top and jean shorts and shake my head. “Nope.”

“Here. You can use my shirt.” He removes it from the waistband of his shorts and offers it to me.

Grudgingly, I take it. “What now?”

He lifts his finger in agive me two secondsmotion and yells, “Yo, Reeves!”

Reeves jogs toward us. “Yeah?”

“Can you man the ticket booth for a minute? Opie wants to try the plunge.”

“My name isn’t Opie,” I remind him.

He ignores me and points toward the bathroom. “Go change. When you get back, we’ll see if you survive three seconds.”

“And if I make it to ten?” I ask.

With another stupid smirk, Mav starts walking backward toward his teammates and offers, “I’ll buy you two churros.”

Before I can talk myself out of it, I march to the bathroom and slip out of my tank top and bra, sliding his shirt over my head. It smells like him. Like warmth and summer and cologne despite the dampness clinging to the soft material from one of his plunges. Resisting the urge to drag it to my nose and breathe in deep, I slip my shorts off and add them to my small pile of clothes, choosing to keep my underwear on for the plunge while deciding I’ll go commando afterward because no one likes wet underwear.

No, thank you.

To be fair, going commando in jean shorts doesn’t exactly sound like a walk in the park either, but letting Maverick think I’m a wuss isn’t on my Bingo card today, so I’m going to pull on my big girl panties by…notwearing panties at all after the plunge.

Yeah, it makes perfect sense.

The sun heats my cheeks as I head outside again. Whistles ensue when the team sees me. I offer Maverick my clothes and pull my hair into a ponytail. When I do, the warm sun kisses my upper thighs, and Maverick’s eyes heat, taking in my exposed skin. He steps in front of me, blocking his teammates’ view of my body.

Once I finish, I mutter, “Thanks,” and he faces me again.

“You ready?”

“For two churrosanda cotton candy?”

“Someone’s greedy,” he notes.

“Confident,” I clarify. “And, yup.”

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