Chapter 6 #3
I return, and in no time, we’re up near the races where they hold lots of games.
Locals love them, but I rarely participate.
There is a roped-off track about fifty yards long.
A dozen teams are already lined up, some bouncing on their toes, some laughing, some already arguing about who is going to drop whom.
I manage one full second of normal.
Then I spot Tanner.
He’s near the starting line, wearing that smug expression I know too well, like the world was built to applaud him. The moment our eyes meet, his face twists into something ugly.
He detaches from the woman beside him and starts toward us with purpose.
“June.” His voice cuts through the fair noise like it owns the air between us. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
Kai’s arm tightens at my shoulders, subtle but unmistakable.
Carter steps closer behind me, close enough that my back almost brushes his chest.
And I have to fight my own body all over again, because fear and heat are a messy mix, and I refuse to let Tanner see either one.
“It’s a public fair,” I say, keeping my voice flat.
Tanner’s gaze flicks over me, then past me, sharp and sour. “Public fair,” he repeats like it tastes bad. “Including the men you’ve been hanging around with?” He jerks his chin at Kai and Carter. “Working your way through the whole pack now? What are you trying to prove?”
I feel Kai shift at my side, his posture going still. Carter doesn’t move, but the space around him tightens anyway, like he’s suddenly taking up more room without trying.
Tanner holds my stare for another second, like he wants a reaction he can use. Then his eyes dart past us to the people nearby. A couple of heads have turned. Someone at the starting line is openly watching. A volunteer in a bright vest is staring like this is better than the race.
Tanner’s jaw works. He swallows whatever he was about to say.
Because he must be thinking of last night and how fast it went wrong today. How close it came to becoming something he couldn’t smooth over with a badge and a story.
His gaze snaps back to Kai and Carter, and for a heartbeat, the bravado falters. Not fear exactly. Calculation. The kind that knows the consequences.
He straightens, forcing his expression into something hard and dismissive. “Whatever,” he mutters, like he’s bored, like this is beneath him.
But he takes a step back. Then another.
“She’s not worth it,” he spits, louder, for the audience. He turns and stalks back to the woman beside him, shoulders tight, pretending he didn’t just retreat.
Carter watches him go with narrowed eyes. “Fucking asshole.”
“He’s not worth thinking about,” I mutter.
Kai exhales through his nose, the tension easing out of him. “Agreed.” Then his grin slides back into place like he’s flipping a switch. “Let’s go beat his ass in this race. Now, get on my back.”
He’s tall and solid, and when I jump, his hands catch the backs of my thighs immediately, big palms warm against my jeans, fingers curling around muscle as he hoists me up.
My chest presses against his back, arms wrap around his shoulders, and my face is inches from the curve of his neck.
This close, his scent is overwhelming, flooding my senses until I feel dizzy with it.
“Comfortable?” His voice vibrates through his back into my chest.
“Define ‘comfortable.’ ”
Kai laughs like I’ve entertained him. “Are you gonna fall off?”
“Probably not.”
“Great.” He bounces once, settling me higher, and his hands slide up my thighs with zero hesitation, like he’s adjusting cargo he intends to keep. “Hold tight, doll. I don’t lose.”
Carter is hooting.
“I’m starting to think this is less about winning and more about you getting to manhandle me in public.”
“Multitasking,” he says smoothly. “I’m talented.”
I open my mouth to hit him with something biting, but the starting horn blares and my entire body forgets how sarcasm works.
We launch forward, and now I understand why they call it a race.
Kai moves like he was built for this. Long legs eating up the ground, shoulders steady under my hands, muscles flexing beneath me in a rhythm that feels indecent.
Every stride bounces me against his back.
My thighs clamp around his waist on instinct.
My breasts press into his shoulders, and I hate that I can’t decide if I want to apologize or do it harder.
“You doing okay up there?” he calls over his shoulder, still not even slightly winded.
“I’m trying not to die!”
“That’s the spirit.”
“Kai,” I gasp, “I swear to God, if I face-plant in front of this whole town, I’m going to haunt you.”
His laugh is all heat and arrogance. “You’ll be fine. I’ve got you.”
His hands squeeze my thighs like punctuation, like he wants to make sure I believe it, and my insides flip with a tinge of arousal.
Around us, other teams are running, stumbling, laughing.
Someone wipes out spectacularly to our left, and the crowd roars.
A kid near the rope line yells, “Go, cowboy!” like this is the Olympics.
I catch a glimpse of Hazel in the distance with a tall, dark-haired man, phone held high, and I don’t know whether to be grateful or furious.
“She’d better not be filming,” I wheeze.
Kai doesn’t even look. “She’s filming.”
“I’m going to kill her.”
“She’ll post it with a caption,” he says, dead serious. “ ‘Local girl discovers cardio and sin.’ ”
I choke on a laugh and tighten my grip. “Stop talking!”
“Can’t,” he says. “I’m in my element.”
And then Tanner appears beside us.
He’s running hard, face red with effort, partner bouncing on his back, but his attention isn’t on the finish line. It’s on us. He drifts closer, deliberate, angling in like he’s trying to clip us without making it obvious.
My skin goes cold. “Kai, watch out.”
Kai’s head tilts, like he already felt it. “I see him.”
Too late.
Tanner’s shoulder slams into Kai’s side.
We lurch. My scream rips out before I can stop it, my arms locking around Kai’s neck as the world tilts and my stomach drops. Kai stumbles two steps, boots skidding in the dirt, and for one horrible second, I’m sure we’re going down.
But Kai plants his foot in the ground, catches his balance, and his hands clamp my thighs like a promise.
“Hold on,” he states, voice suddenly like steel.
“I AM HOLDING ON,” I shriek, half terrified, half furious.
Kai glances sideways at Tanner.
“Oh,” he says, almost cheerful. “So that’s what we’re doing.”
And then he surges forward again, stronger, faster, like Tanner just gave him permission to stop playing nice.
“Oh my God, I’m going to die!” I call out. “Kai, do not make this worse.”
“You mean don’t make it fun,” he calls back.
Tanner sticks close on our right, breathing hard, drifting in like he’s lining up another hit. I tense, clutching Kai’s shoulders.
Tanner crowds in, shoulder angling toward Kai’s side again, and Kai cuts toward the center of the track where an orange cone marks the lane, then whips around it at the last second with a sharp pivot that makes my body swing.
I squeal, gripping tighter.
Tanner tries to follow the turn, boots skidding in churned-up dirt. He clips the cone. It goes flying.
The crowd roars.
Someone yells, “FOUL!” like this is professional sports.
I’m laughing so hard I can barely breathe. “Kai, that was evil!”
“It was all strategy,” he says, not even winded.
Tanner snarls and pushes harder, catching up again, and this time, he commits for the shoulder check like he’s determined to send us down.
Kai slows for half a second.
Just enough.
Then he slips sideways and surges forward, letting Tanner’s momentum carry him past. Tanner stumbles over his own feet, fighting for balance, his partner shrieking as they wobble.
Kai takes the opening and accelerates, hands clamped on my thighs like a promise. “We got this, doll.”
The finish line is right there, lights and cheering and Carter somewhere yelling our names. Tanner lunges once more, but he’s a step behind now, too late.
Kai drives us through the line first.
The announcer hollers, the crowd erupts, and I slide off his back on shaky legs, laughing like I’ve lost my mind.
“You’re insane,” I gasp.
Kai is howling with victory. “And you loved it.”
“I did not,” I lie, and Carter’s laugh carries from nearby like he doesn’t believe me for a second.
Carter is there immediately, lifting me off my feet and spinning me in a circle before setting me down. His hands linger on my waist.
“That was incredible,” he says, grin spread wide.
“I thought we were going to eat dirt when he hit us,” I state.
“Please.” Kai appears at my side, barely winded. “I never lose. Especially not to assholes.”
Tanner stalks past without looking at us, his face a mask of fury. His partner trails behind.
I really, truly don’t care.
“And now,” Kai announces, going over to the organizer to collect our prize. Then he’s back in moments, cradling a plush horse nearly as big as his arm, electric blue with a glittery mane and the most ridiculous cross-eyed expression stitched onto its face. I love it instantly.
“For the champion,” Kai says, presenting it with a dramatic bow.
“It’s hideous.” I clutch it to my chest. “I’m naming him Glitter Bastard.”
“Glitter Bastard,” Carter repeats. “A noble steed.”
“The noblest.” I stroke the sparkly mane. “He’s been through a lot.”
Kai grins. “We won you one prize. But I think we can do better.”
“What do you mean?”
He exchanges a look with Carter. “We are very competitive.”
“Dangerously competitive,” Carter confirms. “It’s basically an illness.”
“By the end of the night,” Kai continues, “you’re going to need a truck to haul everything home.”
“That’s not necessary—”
“It absolutely is.” He grabs my hand, pulling me toward the game booths. “The competition begins now.”