Page 32 of Hooked On The One That Got Away
‘Hope you’re not expecting any underwater funny business,’ he said. ‘My cock’s shrunk to the size of a cashew nut.’
‘Admit it,’ said Willow. ‘You’re having fun.’
Charlie turned slowly and took in the view. ‘It has its good points, I suppose.’
Willow flicked water at him.
‘Oy!’ Charlie flicked water back at her.
Then they had a mad splashing water fight, which Willow was totally winning.
‘Now, now children,’ came a nearby voice.
Panting a little, Willow and Charlie stopped and looked around. Coming alongside was a rowboat, and in it was …
‘Harvey!’ said Willow.
He was wearing cricket whites, complete with grass stain on one knee, and holding a bottle of cider. On the oars was another man, also in cricket whites. A solid, muscular man with grey-speckled dark hair. He manoeuvred the boat to a stop beside them.
‘Willow, may I introduce my old chum from school,’ Harvey said to Willow. ‘P–’
‘Jasper,’ the man said, with a smile.
‘Hello,’ said Willow, with a smile of her own. ‘And this is Charlie. Charlie, this is Harvey and – Jasper.’
As she said it, she looked for a hint of recognition, but neither man showed any sign that they’d met before. Willow remembered that Harvey had said the group operated in separate cells. Perhaps she was the only one who knew the connection? She quite liked that idea. And, of course, would never, ever tell.
‘Match finished early?’ Charlie asked. ‘Thought cricket usually went on until teatime.’
‘There was a bit of a fracas about an LBW call,’ said Harvey. ‘The umpire had to retire on medical grounds. By which I mean he was carted away with a broken nose. Nothing to do with us,’ he added hastily. ‘So, we decided to spend the morning messing around in boats.’
‘Unlike this maniac,’ said Charlie, gesturing to Willow, ‘who thinks beinginwater is preferable to beingonit.’
‘The river’s a gift,’ said Jasper. ‘We should give thanks for how lucky we are.’
And he pulled on the oars to put the boat in motion.
‘Toodles!’ Harvey waved.
‘Toodles? Truly?’ Charlie asked when the men were out of earshot.
‘Harvey’s from a different era,’ said Willow, fondly.
‘AndI’min the ice age,’ said Charlie. ‘Seriously, I’m one giant goosebump.’
‘Weenie,’ said Willow. ‘All right, let’s go back.’ She grinned, wickedly. ‘Race you!’
‘That’scheating!’ Charlie yelled after her, fumbling with his goggles. ‘You are a VERY BAD PERSON!’
Willow dried herself as she waited for him on the bank. Handed him a towel as he trudged out of the water. He accepted it with a grunt and sat down heavily on the grass.
‘I can’t believe you do this every day,’ he said. ‘I barely have the strength to lift my arms.’
‘Do you want me to dry you?’ Willow asked.
‘Sure,’ said Charlie. ‘And while you’re at it, you can screw up the remains of my dignity and chuck it in the bin.’
She kissed the top of his damp head. ‘Get dressed and let’s go for a walk in the lovely sunshine.’
