Page 37 of Sunshine

“Hell, we’re going to watch. The booth can wait.” Ember popped up.

Decided, my entire family walked behind me as I went to meet my fate.

Chapter 12

Sunshine

Iapproached the ice bath with a mixture of excitement and dread. I’d researched ice baths on the Internet and found out there were health benefits. Good for inflammation and swelling, also inconclusive studies showing it promoted relief from anxiety and depression.

Mostly it was a funny gimmick to draw interest to the booth. When we got there, Chloe was sitting in it as the fire crew’s support person, encouraging a teenage girl whose face had turned pale. Her family stood to the side cheering her on, while a massive digital clock with red letters counted down her time.

Thirty seconds.

The girl huffed and puffed, and Chloe was telling her to breathe in and out.

Julian’s shorts and tank top were damp, and he’d taken his flip flops off at some point.

There were two other firefighters standing around in damp clothes, so I assumed they had taken turns in the ice bath.

His tattoos were on bright display, and I saw the rest of the dragon curving around his back, some koi fish done in watercolor style swimming around each other in yin and yangstyle, and other tattoos I couldn’t pick out without staring more than I already was.

“Not too late to back out.” Julian grinned at his wrung water out of his damp hair. Logan and Luca walked toward us from around the back of the booth.

“I only made it a minute last time,” Luca admitted as he came to stand near me.

“A minute is a great time.” Julian smiled. “Any time is good.”

“I would take a bullet for you, but I’m not jumping in that ice bath again.” Logan looked at me. “Did you eat?”

“Too much.” I patted my stomach. “There’s nothing left. We licked it clean.”

“Licked it clean, huh?” Julian winked. “I got something for you to lick.”

“Sure you do. Jump in that bucket of ice water and then let’s go.” I rolled my eyes. He was wet and beaming, clearly in his element. Adrenaline rush my eye.

Luca and Logan both laughed, a surprised sound.

Julian tapped his forehead. “Good thinking, babe. Let’s wait a little bit, that ice won’t do my anatomy any favors.”

I blushed at his shrinkage reference, and the voice in the back of my mind whispered that his pack wasn’t closed. Then I felt bad, remembering Becca asking me if I was going to chase Julian’s pack too. They hadn’t been on a date in the years I’d known them, so nothing really had changed.

I couldn’t help that I liked dating multiple men at the same time. I’d dated betas in high school, but one of my boyfriend’s designation as an omega came in when we were seventeen. Even though we’d never had sex, it was amazing dating him and his two alphas at once. Someone was always around, and they’d fitted my personality. It took the pressure off being perfect for one person.

It must have left a mark, because whenever I dated a beta man it felt weird, like we were missing someone.

The teenage girl tapped out, and Julian and some of the other firefighters helped her out of the tub. She was shivering but beaming with pride, and her family clapped. She’d made it almost a minute.

I would have to beat that. There was just no way I could let myself lose to Luca.

“Your turn.” Julian held out his hand, and I stepped up to the small stage. It was much less crowded now that the fair was basically over, and I was glad I’d decided to do this when the fairgrounds were mostly empty.

Julian led me over to the table and handed me his shirt. “Use my shirt so you have something dry.”

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one giving you clothes?” I joked, nerves fluttering in my stomach.

“I will totally steal your clothes if I can get away with it.” Julian smirked, tugging gently at my tie-dyed t-shirt.

I should have gone and got my bathing suit but going home just for that that had felt too weird. There was a small partition you could change shirts in, so I ducked behind it and changed out of mine and pulled Julian’s on. It was too big but didn’t swallow me whole. The combination of pineapples and coconut reassuring me.

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