Calamity: A Friends to Lovers Romance (The Four Groomsmen of the Wedpocalypse Book 4) by Lilian Monroe

Author:Lilian Monroe [Monroe, Lilian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Method and Madness Publishing
Published: 2024-03-07T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Archer watched Scarlett fly over the bushes, his feet tangled in the tandem bike’s pedals as it crashed into the side of the bridge. Ahead, a black Mercedes accelerated away, carrying the suspect. If he had to put money on it, Archer would bet the murderer had just gotten away.

But Archer didn’t care about that.

Because after the car engine revved, he heard a splash.

“Scarlett!” Archer’s voice was hoarse. He kicked the tandem bike away and tripped on the edge of the curb. Then he stumbled into the bushes that Scarlett had sailed over, screaming her name once more.

The river would be freezing. Could she swim? She didn’t know how to ride a bike. Maybe she’d missed learning all the basic life skills in her childhood?

A vision of Scarlett’s face, chalk-white and blue-lipped, flashed across his mind. He imagined her sodden clothes when the police pulled her lifeless body out of the water.

No.

He’d just found her. Just realized what she meant to him. He wasn’t going to let her go.

With a scream, Archer barreled down the slope and leaped into the water, arms and legs windmilling. As he crashed into the river, he saw Scarlett’s head pop up above the surface, heard her take a gasping breath.

Then the icy darkness closed over his head, and he had to fight the instinctual reaction of his body as it froze with the shock of the cold.

His lungs constricted, but with one powerful kick of his legs, he broke the surface. Scarlett spun toward him, eyes wide.

“What are you doing?” she cried.

His arm was a blade through the water. He wrapped it around her waist and pulled her close, kicking for the shore. “Are you okay?”

“Just c-cold,” she stuttered, then started kicking too.

They made it to land, their shoes sinking into the soft earth where the reeds grew. Archer stood and helped Scarlett to her feet.

Her jacket was drenched, water falling off it in a steady trickle. She pushed her hair off her face and took gasping breaths as Archer ran his hands over her body, checking for injuries. No visible blood. Her limbs seemed to be working. There was a cut on her hand and scrapes on her temple which would need to be cleaned out as soon as possible. The river was picturesque, but it wasn’t exactly potable.

“I’m fine,” she said, but her whole body trembled. “I’m okay.”

The panic in Archer’s chest beat hard against his ribs. He used his fingers to tilt her head toward the streetlight, not liking the look of the bruise forming on her jaw. “Did you hit your head?”

“You folks alive?” Eddie called out from the bridge. In the distance, police sirens wailed.

“We’re okay,” Scarlett called out.

“Need help getting back up here?”

Archer glanced up at Eddie, then surveyed the shore. They were in a bank of mud, with thick bushes lining the hillside. Directly beside the bridge, though, was a clear path wide enough to scramble up to the top. “Should be okay,” he croaked, then gestured to the path, making sure Scarlett went ahead.

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