Page 65 of From LA to London, With Love

My heart sank.

“Chris! The boat’s coming back!” Julie said quietly, relief in her voice.

It was docking now, and Steven was helping them to lower the gangplank.

“Thank Christ,” Chris muttered. “You guys all get safely on board, and then I’ll try to get on. Tell them to pull the gangplank up if anyone else tries to board. If the worst comes to worst, I’ll just stay here and take a million selfies until they get bored.”

I felt bad leaving Chris, but with Elliot so distressed, I only paused a second to squeeze Chris’s hand before walking briskly toward the boat.

Safely on board with Elliot, who had stopped screaming and was now emitting heart-wrenching little sobs every so often, some of the tension in my body dissipated. But I was still worried about Chris. I didn’t think the crowd, which must have been at least twenty people deep, would intentionally hurt him or anything but…it looked pretty intense from my vantage point.

Julie patted my back. “It looks scary, but Chris has done this before. He’ll be okay. And they’re just kids.”

Chris glanced toward us, a calculating look on his face, and then down. A few seconds later, my phone pinged.

Chris: Tell them to leave and get you guys to safety x

My stomach plummeted. I really wanted him safe on the boat with us. I showed Julie, grimacing.

“He knows what he’s doing, love,” she said, before turning to the captain of the boat, who was talking to Steven nearby. “Chris just texted Sophie to leave.”

They pulled up the gangplank and started the engine. I stood at the rail of the boat, watching Chris speaking to the crowd, my heart heavy.

Just as the boat started to move away from the boardwalk Chris waved at the crowd, turned, and started sprinting toward us.

“Stop!” I yelled to the captain, hoping he’d turn around and pick him up.

But just as the words spilled out of my mouth, Chris, instead of slowing down as he reached the edge of the boardwalk, picked up speed.

“What the…,” Mitch exclaimed.

And then Chris leaped off the boardwalk.

And everything slowed down.

He won’t make it. We’re too far away.

He flew through the air, arms outstretched, toward us. I stopped breathing.

Oh god. If he falls in the water…it must be freezing.

His legs moved as though he was peddling the air, propelling himself forward.

And then his hands grabbed the boat’s railing, his body hitting the side of the boat hard, causing it to jolt. We rushed to help him, but he smoothly pulled himself over the railing and onto the boat. The crowd, now standing on the edge of the boardwalk, went wild, yelling and clapping, beside themselves at having witnessed Chris pull a superhero move.

“I knew insisting on doing most of Muscle Man’s own stunts would pay off one day,” Chris said with a sheepish grin. “I had to do something very similar in Muscle Man 2 and practiced it a million times.”

Still holding Elliot, who had cheered up watching Chris clamber over the railing, I put my other arm around Chris and held tight.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. That was terrifying.” I looked up at him, worried. Not just about this incident, but also about how many similar incidents would be in our future. While it was unlikely the teenagers would have purposefully hurt us, I hadn’t felt safe. What if they’d surged forward in excitement, accidentally knocking us over? Physical injuries aside, what impact would that have on Elliot’s mental health, and mine for that matter? Next time, there might not be a boat to rescue us.

He kissed my head. “I’m sorry, Soph. I’ll just check with the captain about where we’re heading and see if I can get my security firm to send some people over to meet us. I’ll be right back.”

Chris strode over to the captain, who was still chatting to Steven as he steered the boat down the Chicago River, and spoke to them for a few minutes before making a call. He walked back to me, smiling.

“Okay, that’s all sorted. They’re going to drop us away from the tourist area, and the security firm will pick us all up and drive us back to our cars.”

I’d taken a seat, tired of standing with Elliot in my arms, and Chris sat down next to me.