10. Tristan
TRISTAN
T he sound of Winter’s phone ringing snaps the moment we almost just had in half. She fumbles, nearly dropping the phone after she fishes it out of her pocket.
I pull back before I do something I can’t take back, and she’s mumbling something about it’s weird that we have phone service over here, but not in the main entryway.
She answers with a quick, “Hello?” but it’s not just a call, it’s a video and I’ve never wanted to throat punch someone more in my life than in this moment.
Callum’s big, dopey, punchable face fills the screen. He’s got a caramel apple in his hand, and Lilac pressed in beside him. “You guys okay? Service is shitty. We keep trying to call, but it’s so spotty.”
No fucking shit.
“One of the tents caught on fire, so we got stuck over here by the rides,” Winter says, voice calm even though her hand is still shaking.
I know it’s because I almost kissed her and not because there was a stupid small fire in an empty tent.
“Everyone’s fine. Looks like they’re letting everyone back in this area.
Stay where you guys are and we’ll come and find you. ”
Callum chews on the apple, loud on purpose, and I’m going to lodge the whole thing down his throat when I see him. “You look more pissed than usual. Something wrong, buddy?”
I glare into the camera. He smirks like he loves irritating me.
Lilac elbows him, then leans toward the screen and speaks quietly as if that will make it so only Winter can hear her.
“Hayden’s losing his shit because he thinks the games are rigged.
It’s about to be a whole thing, and Madi had to take his phone because he threw his wallet at the attendant because he laughed at him. ”
Callum shrugs like he sees nothing wrong with assaulting someone for laughing at you. There are so many better reasons.
I roll my eyes. “This is why we should have stayed home. And of course they’re fucking rigged, it’s a carnival.”
Lilac purses her lips and looks at me admonishingly before she turns her attention back to Winter. “Reese wants this stuffed octopus, and Justin keeps trying to win it for her, and Ramsey is on his way so can’t wait to see how that plays out.”
“Oh my God, can someone please just kill Justin? I’m so tired of hearing about him,” I snap, sneering into the phone. Winter’s hand pats my chest like she’s trying to soothe me, and Lilac bursts into laughter.
“My money’s on Hayden accidentally killing him while he’s ripping the basketball hoops off the wall,” she says, eyes gleaming. She’s enjoying this, and I can hear Madi in the background coddling Hayden, telling him it’s just a game.
Before anything else can be said, Callum announces, “I’m ready for funnel cake,” and ends the call, no goodbye, no warning. Just gone.
Winter shakes her head, smiling faintly at the empty screen. I don’t smile. My blood’s still running hot, because all I can think about is how close I was to kissing her before that call.
Winter says softly, “Lilac and Callum are good together, don’t you think?”
My hand moves before I can think better of it, sliding down her arm until my fingers circle her wrist. Tight.
Claiming. I have to just feel her in my hands right now, and I could not explain fully in words right now just how much.
“She should be named a saint or deemed a witch for putting up with him,” I say flatly.
Winter laughs as we walk and I love that sound.
It only comes second to the time I recorded her whispering my name in her sleep.
It makes me want to cage her against me and never let her out again.
She’s looking all around, and I’m watching her, only looking away every few seconds to make sure I’m not going to run over anyone.
When we reach our group, they’re crowded around a game booth.
Lilac is holding several half-eaten food items in her small arms, and Callum is chewing what looks like roadkill mixed with funnel cake.
But he’s holding a stuffed fawn under what I can only imagine is the sweatiest armpit known to mankind.
He must have taken a food tasting break to win his girl a prize.
Reese looks over her shoulder to wave at Winter, but only gives me a look of disapproval.
She’s still mad at me for punching Ramsey when he put Winter’s tracker in.
It was a reflex. He’s my cousin. And I’m not sorry.
She’s going to have to get over it. Her bobblehead boyfriend doesn’t acknowledge us because he’s too busy shooting tiny basketballs at a hoop. He misses every single one.
Madison’s arms are wrapped around a ridiculously large pink bunny when she practically skips over and pulls Winter into a side hug like she hasn’t seen her in a year.
I get it, I really do. I feel the same way.
Hayden is shadowing Madi, moving when she does, but his neck is cocked, and he’s glaring at the guy running the game.
The poor dude looks like he’s been through it, and knowing Hayden, he probably has.
Winter teases, her voice lilting, “So you figured out how it was rigged?”
Hayden scowls. “I did not. I threatened to put his head through the hoop, and miraculously Madi won a prize.”
“After spending two hundred bucks and then having to climb over the counter to get your wallet back,” Callum adds, smirking.
Hayden points at him, but doesn’t say anything because Madi is in front of him, beaming up at him and saying, “I love it. It’s so soft.” She knows exactly how to work him because he’s no longer ready to fight Callum, and is all heart eyes.
I can’t deal with this right now.
“Maybe I’ll try,” I mutter, just to shut them up.
That’s when I see it. Not the flashy stuffed dragons or neon stuffed dogs hanging from hooks, but a small teddy bear shoved off to the side.
Worn. Different. Almost forgotten. It almost looks like it wasn’t intended to be a prize here at all.
Winter’s eyes linger on it for half a second too long, and that’s all I need.
She doesn’t say she wants it. She doesn’t have to. I know her too well.
I step forward, slap some cash on the counter and take three balls from the attendant. He doesn’t meet my eyes, and steps over to give Justin another round. I line them up and eye the hoop. One after another, they sink clean. No rim, no wobble, just precision.
Winter’s breath catches, a soft sound that hits me in all the right spots. “Oh my gosh. You’re amazing at this.”
That praise, quiet, reverent words she doesn’t offer to anyone else, lights me up from the inside. It makes my cock hard, makes me want to earn it over and over until she’s breathless saying my name.
I could be amazing at a lot of things I don’t have any practice hours invested in. I know I could. I know I could drag breathless moans from her that only I’ll ever be allowed to hear.
The booth attendant stares, wide-eyed. “Winner. Pick whatever you want.” He’s looking over my shoulder, probably to see if Hayden is going to crash out over how easy this was for me.
I don’t even look at the flashing prizes. My eyes are only on my girl’s profile when I say, “Choose, dushen’ka.” My voice is low and rough, meant only for her.
She lifts her hand, pointing at the battered little bear. Not the shiny things everyone else would choose.
The attendant hesitates, as if he can’t believe that’s what she wants, but he glances up at me and I’m already glaring at him because he’s taking too long, so he quickly hands it over.
She takes it carefully, like it’s fragile, like it’s worth more than all the gaudy prizes dangling above.
Then she rises up on her toes, close enough that her lips brush my cheek.
“Thank you,” she whispers. I want to haul her against me, taste her thank you from her mouth, and show every bastard here that she’s mine.
Instead, I stand there pretending this is enough when it will never be.
Justin is still at the booth when we circle back, shoulders tight, jaw clenched.
He’s been at it for a while, missing shot after shot, trying to win Reese the octopus she pointed out earlier.
Her voice is soft, encouraging, but even from here I can hear the edge of embarrassment creeping in. The basket rattles again, another miss.
Winter leans close, her voice barely audible through the noise. “You could win it for her.”
I glance down at her. Of course she’d think of someone else’s feelings before her own.
Of course she’d want to save Reese from standing here while her boyfriend fumbles.
I bend my head until my mouth is near her ear, my words for her alone.
“I love how kind you are, dushen’ka. But Ramsey has eyes everywhere, and I’m not in the mood to fight him to the death because I won his girl a stuffed octopus.
” I want to tell her that I wouldn’t do that anyway, she’s the only one that deserves this side of me, but I leave the blame on Ramsey.
She shakes her head, laughing quietly, and says, “Speak of the devil.”
My cousin Ramsey strides up, and the crowd seems to part for him. His eyes are locked on Justin like a predator sighting prey. I know that look he has right now. It’s the same way I look at Winter. It's possessive, warning, ready to destroy everyone in his path.
“How’s my north star?” Ramsey asks Reese smoothly, ignoring the rest of us.
Justin visibly freezes as if he didn’t realize that Ramsey would be showing up tonight.
Without asking or even acknowledging Justin, Ramsey takes the ball, sinks one basket.
Then another. Then a third. Casually, he wraps an arm around Reese as she excitedly points out the prize she wants.
He hands the bright purple octopus to Reese without looking at her boyfriend once.
The message is clear. It’s Ramsey’s job to take care of Reese, and Justin’s existence is tolerated only by a thread.
I don’t waste time watching it play out. I’ve got no patience for Ramsey’s performance because I’ve got enough of my own shit going on right now. I curl my arm tight around Winter’s waist, pulling her flush against me.
I’m feeling fucking antsy, but having her against me helps.
She tilts her face up to me, her eyes soft just for me. “Ready to go?”
I study her, and for once I don’t bother hiding it. I’m tired and if I’m honest, I just want to be alone with her right now.
“You’re not sleeping again,” she says quietly, brushing her fingers along my cheek. “Even if you tell me you are, I know you’re not.”
The touch undoes me. I lean into it, heavy, as if her small hand is the only thing holding me upright. For a moment I think about what melting into her completely would feel like.
“We just got here,” I mutter. I mean, I’ll win her some more stuffed animals or buy her whatever junk food Callum hasn’t devoured.
Her smile is knowing, tender. “Then I’m tired.”
I huff out a laugh because she lies so sweetly for me, and she doesn’t even know how much I need it.
She threads her fingers through mine, squeezing tight as she pretends to use all of her bodyweight to pull me. I let her, walking slowly behind her. “Come on, we’ll go home. You can read to me.”
That promise, simple as it is, makes something in me loosen. She turns, calling back to the others, her voice carrying over the noise: “Don’t let Hayden fight anyone or Callum eat anymore sugar.”
The group erupts into laughter, used to our early exits, used to the way I always steal Winter away. They can joke all they want. I’ve got her hand in mine, her voice in my ear, and that’s all I need.