Page 62 of Pumped

Ivy gasps in excitement. “Can she?”

I nod toward Nell. “You’ll have to ask her.”

“Can you, Nana? Please, please, please?!”

Nell smiles and nods. “Of course, sweetie. We can do it tonight when we get back from the zoo.”

Ivy squeals and claps her hands in glee.

“The zoo?” I ask. My mind immediately runs through an inventory of Ivy’s go-bag. There’s usually a bottle of sunscreen in there, but the last I checked, it was running low.

“I mentioned it to them yesterday before you guys arrived,” Mom explains from the kitchen counter where she’s making the fixings for omelets. “Remember when we used to take you and Jeremy? You two ran off on us once. Nearly gave us heart attacks.”

I chuckle at the memory. “We wanted to see the giraffes.”

“I wanna see giraffes!” Ivy exclaims.

I pat Ivy on the head. “Sure, sweetie. We can go see the giraffes.”

Dad comes lumbering down the stairs then, leaving only Everest still in bed. I grab an empty mug and fill it with coffee. Plenty of milk and sugar. Just the way he likes it.

In the basement, Everest is still curled around the pillow. I stand and watch him for a moment. His light brown hair is a messy halo around his head. The hairs on his forearms are so light and fine they look like golden dust. The blanket has fallen halfway down his torso, leaving his upper back exposed. His shoulders are so damn wide. The muscles on his arms and his back are defined even when he’s relaxed and unconscious.

I wonder what he looks like when he’s at Mars. Sweaty and panting. Muscles all pumped up from working out. Giant grin on his face and his playful brown eyes sparkling with mirth and adrenaline. I bet he’d be a sight to behold.

I grab Everest’s ankle and give it a hard shake. “Hey, wake up.”

“Mmm.” Everest rolls over and slaps the pillow over his head.

I shake his foot again. “Wake up, Ev. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

He pulls the pillow down just enough to peek out at me and immediately zeros in on the mug. “Is that mine?”

I hold it up and pretend to drink from it. “Maybe.”

Everest shoots out of bed, flying at me. “Gimme.” He grabs the mug from me with both hands and brings it to his nose. “Mmm, perfect.”

His voice is gravelly from sleep and warmth fills my stomach expanding up to my chest. I fight the smile that tugs on my lips. I fight the need to comb my fingers through his hair, the urge to take the mug from his lips and replace it with my lips instead.

I take several steps away from the bed, not trusting myself not to dive back in—to hell with the rest of the family upstairs.

I don’t think I like this love thing. This staggering compulsion that overrides every logical cell in my brain.

“O?”

My head snaps up and I realize I’ve been scowling at the floor.

“You okay?”

I nod, the movement jerky. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Everest throws me a lopsided smile. “Thanks for the coffee.”

I clear my throat to push down the tenderness rising inside me. “You’re welcome. Um, we’re taking Ivy to the zoo. We’ll need to stop and pick up more sunscreen for her.”

Everest shakes his head. “Nope, I got a new bottle yesterday. It’s in her go-bag, along with her hat and sunglasses.”

I curl my hands into fists as my heart threatens to burst from my chest. Fuck. Mom’s right. I’m in love with Everest.

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