Chapter 10
LEVI
CHAPTER TEN
I had no idea why I was still at the carnival. Logically, I knew I’d have the apartment to myself if I went home. But logic didn’t come into play when it came to Harper.
It never had.
So there I was, forty-five minutes later, wandering around as if I didn’t have anything better to do with my time. All the while pretending like I didn’t know exactly why I’d stayed.
“Well, holy shit. Has hell actually frozen over?” Chase called from in front of the duck hunt game, Addison glued to his side. “That has to be it because the Levi McKenzie I know would never willingly be at a town event his sister didn’t drag him to.”
I changed course, dodging passersby as I strode toward Chase and Addison. “Since this is apparently where boring married couples hang out on Friday nights, my stance stands.”
“You take that back right now!” Addison swatted me with a giant teddy bear and glared up at me. “We’re not boring. And didn’t you just tell me you’d rather stab toothpicks under your fingernails than attend the carnival?”
I definitely had said that when she and I had been catching up on Vampire Diaries last week. But that had been before. Before Mabel had screwed up my entire life. Before Harper had shown up in my apartment. Before I’d had her sweet-smelling shampoo in my shower and her scent invading every square inch of my space. Before I’d been close enough to feel a shiver skate down her spine and remember exactly what it had felt like to be inside her.
I flicked a glance to Chase, who wore a smirk that said he knew exactly why I was here and exactly why I needed to avoid my own damn apartment. But I’d be taking that shit to my grave. No way was I letting my sister in on any of it. The less she knew about my relationship—or lack thereof—with Harper, the better. Chase was the only one on earth who knew the whole story. Knew why I’d shoved her away all those years ago, with force and without mercy. And even that was one more person than I would have liked.
“I came to get a lobster corn dog. And I can’t seem to make it ten feet without somebody stopping me to talk. Case in point.” I lifted my chin at them. “So I’ve been stuck here ever since.”
Not entirely a lie, just not the whole truth.
Chase clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Well, you came to the perfect spot at the perfect time. I just got the high score. Twenty-seven of those little fuckers.”
“And?” I asked, brows raised.
“And how about a wager? I’ll make it worth your while.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, interest piqued. “I’m listening.”
“You beat me, and I’ll take care of unclogging the outdoor shower drains.”
Now that was damn tempting. Chase knew exactly how much I hated doing that. Addison did, too, for that matter, which was exactly why the little demon shoved it onto my plate every chance she got.
“Oh my God, you’re such a baby, Levi.” Addison rolled her eyes. “It’s not that bad.”
“No? Then why don’t you ever do it?”
Addison ignored me, suddenly pretending to be very interested in her phone.
Turning my attention back to Chase, I raised a brow. “And if you win?”
“Bragging rights are all I need.”
Fuck me. It would have been better if he’d wanted something specific, because bragging rights with Chase went on for eternity. He’d been lording a one-on-one game of basketball he’d won over me for fifteen fucking years.
Worse, with those stipulations, I had no choice but to take the bet—especially since he didn’t want anything from me—and he knew it.
His grin widened, and he slapped me on the back, shoving me toward the now-open stool. “You’re up. Let me know when I can start shouting my win to the masses.”
I settled on the seat and glanced back at them over my shoulder. “Don’t want to stick around and watch me beat your ass?”
“Nah, Isaac will keep you honest.” He lifted a chin toward the guy working the game. “Besides, I need to get my wife home, so I can?—”
“Shut your fucking mouth right now.”
He and Addison just laughed, the sound fading as they strode away, and I focused on the game. This was a safer version of the one we used to play as kids—using water instead of actual pellets—but the rules were the same. Hit as many of the targets on top of the moving ducks as possible. High score won your choice of prize.
“Just a second, folks,” Isaac called. “We’ve got a faulty gun over here.”
I glanced down the line to see where the holdup was and froze when my eyes landed on the last person I should have wanted to see and the one I couldn’t seem to get out of my head. Harper sat on a stool all the way at the other end, unaware I was here. At least until Isaac said something and gestured in my direction to the only open seat on the line. The one directly next to me.
Fuck my fucking life.
I stared straight ahead, refusing to look at her as she slid onto the stool next to mine. But it didn’t seem to matter. Every cell in my body sensed her proximity, pinging with an awareness I wished like hell I didn’t possess when it came to her.
“I should probably make sure this one works.” Though she said the words more to herself than anyone else, I heard them all the same. Right before she aimed the water gun at my chest and pulled the trigger.
I jolted back as the icy stream of water doused the front of my white shirt, soaking it in seconds. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“What?” she asked, all faux innocence. “I didn’t want to risk getting stuck with another faulty gun.”
I pulled my soaked shirt away from my chest. “And you couldn’t have tested it against the back wall?”
“Guess my aim’s a little off.”
I met her amused stare and clenched my jaw. “Yet you had no problem hitting the center of my chest.”
She bit the corner of her lip as she allowed her gaze to track where I gestured to my chest, now visible through the shirt. Except she wasn’t just staring…she was glaring. As if my chest had personally affronted her.
“Beginner’s luck,” she finally said. And before I could call her out, a high-pitched bell signaled the start of the game.
Gripping my water gun tighter, I turned and concentrated on the moving targets in front of me. I needed to focus, but it was damn near impossible to block out Harper’s presence. She’d always had that effect on me. Like every goddamn one of my senses was dialed to eleven whenever she was around. Had been since that very first summer when she’d shown up in Starlight Cove, and it’d only amplified over the years.
I managed to hit a few of the targets, despite the distraction. But I had nothing on Harper. She was on fire, nailing duck after duck. Beginner’s luck, my ass. Though I should’ve remembered that. We’d spent hours playing these games when we were teenagers, running around like feral kids.
Back then, our time at the carnival had been spent laughing and stealing kisses wherever we could. Her smiles had been frequent and contagious. Something I’d taken for granted until they were gone.
Now, the smiles she shot my way held only contempt.
“What’s wrong, Levi?” she asked without taking her eyes off her targets. “Distracted by something?”
I focused back on the game, cursing under my breath when I realized just how badly she was beating me. “Yeah, you running your mouth.”
She hummed and shot me a look out of the corner of her eye. “You never used to complain about my mouth.”
A strangled noise escaped me before I could bite it back. Thoughts of her mouth and everything she’d done to me with it slammed into me, an onslaught of memories I couldn’t hope to block out. Memories I absolutely should not be thinking about. Memories I’d spent years trying to suppress.
She wasn’t playing fair, and from the smirk curving the corner of her lips, she knew it.
The bell sounded again, signaling the end of the game. I’d missed nearly half the targets, too wrapped up in Harper’s taunts and her presence to keep my focus. I swore under my breath as the final tally flashed.
“Would you look at that? New high score.” Harper pointed to a white teddy bear hanging on display. “And I think I’ll take that as my prize.”
“You got it,” Isaac said, plucking the bear from the hook before handing it to Harper.
I eyed her and the oversized teddy bear she’d chosen. “You’re really going to carry that around all night?”
“Nah.” She stood, slapping the bear against my still-wet chest, and offered a saccharine smile. “It’s all yours. Figured you could use some company to ease the pain of your loss.”
I glanced down at the bear that looked eerily similar to the stuffed animal I’d won for her at our last carnival together. The carnival we’d escaped from to fuck right there in the parking lot, frantic and frenzied. Like it would be our last time.
Little had we known, it was.