Chapter 32 I Don’t Need A Prize If I Have You
I DON’T NEED A PRIZE IF I HAVE YOU
HARLEY
Ori and Alice have developed a truce.
“Dude, what are you doing?” Alice groans as Ori repeatedly misses shots at the carnival booth we’ve stopped at.
The plastic rings he tosses ping off the glass bottles, flying into the back of the tent.
“You have to throw it with an arc, so it lands on top of the neck, otherwise it’s going to bounce right off. ”
“If you have so many opinions, why don’t you try?” Ori snaps.
“Okay,” Alice chirps, sticking her hand into his bucket of rings and plucking out a few. “But you’re not allowed to be mad when I’m better than you at this.”
“Uhuh,” Ori says. “I’ll believe it when I—what the hell!”
“See? Told you.” Alice preens, having immediately gotten one on the target. “Ugh, stop making that face. It almost makes me feel bad for you.”
“I’m not making a face. This is just my face.”
“No, your normal face is a scowl. This is a pout. Sad doesn’t look good on you, Ori.”
“Whatever,” Ori grumbles. His hand dives into the bucket. “That first shot was good luck. I bet I’ll still get more than you.”
“Big talk, Beast,” Alice says. “You’re on.”
“Ori, you got this,” I interject.
“Hopefully,” he says, glancing back. A ghost of a smile tilts his lips; it’s one I haven’t seen in a long time. The kind that lights up his eyes, even if he’s trying to hide it.
Jessa’s breath hits my ear as she leans in, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Are you enjoying the show?”
I snort. “Sure am.”
“You think it’s foreplay for them? The bickering?” she whispers.
I mash my lips together, holding back my laugh. “I don’t know. But he’s smiling. I wish I could get him to do that.”
“No, no, no,” Jessa chides. “Shut that shit down right now. Your relationship with him will always be different than his is with Alice. But that doesn’t make either less important or beautiful.”
“There aren’t any relationships to compare, Jessa.” I sigh. “At this rate we’ll be eighty by the time he makes a move on either of us.”
“It’ll happen when it’s meant to,” Jessa says, squeezing my shoulder. “Now, we’re here to have fun, not mope. Eat up.”
Jessa holds up a basket of onion rings and garlic fries, having been voted resident food-getter for our time at the county fair. It’s one of my favorite parts of summers here, and it always rolls in around my birthday. I had asked Alice to join in on the celebration this year, much to her delight.
I snag one of the fries from the basket and pop it in my mouth. “Honestly, I can’t think of a better birthday present than a steady stream of fried food that’s hand delivered to me by the love of my life.”
Jessa chuckles around crunching bits of fried goodness. “Be ready to amend that statement. There might be something extra planned for later on that you’ll enjoy even more.”
“Yeah?” I take in her knowing smirk. “Was this surprise a team effort?”
She shrugs. “Could be. But it was his idea.”
Heat blooms on my cheeks. Despite his outward persona, Ori is a very thoughtful gift giver.
Over the years, he’s gotten me rare editions of classic books I enjoyed, repainted my entire room while I was at work, and even used me as the model for his final build for his apprenticeship, gifting me the suit afterwards.
It’s my favorite of the ones he’s made me over the years.
“Harley, come here and pick out which prize you want!” Alice beckons me over.
“You won?” I ask, sidling up to her and a grumbling Ori.
“Yep. Be prepared to leave here tonight with a minimum of five prizes,” Alice says confidently.
“Five?” Ori balks.
“Five is too many,” I say.
“No,” Alice drawls. “Five is a very reasonable amount to make you feel special. Now pick which one you want.” She points to the plushies hanging off the top of the booth. “The unicorn, the blue raccoon, or the teddy bear.”
Ori’s competitive streak bites him in the ass.
He can’t help himself, and he challenges Alice over our snack break to a best-of-five carnival game competition.
He loses in a whopping 3-0 shutout, failing at the water guns, skee-ball, and darts.
At the same time, Alice wins me an avocado plushie, a tiny unicorn, and a Velcro monkey that Jessa fastens around my neck.
Ori doubles down when we break to ride the Ferris wheel, and Alice raises the stakes: if he doesn’t win at least one of the last two games, then he has to do the dunk tank.
He loses both.
And that’s how we end up with Ori stripping in front of the entire town.
“You can’t do it half-naked,” Alice seethes. “That defeats the whole point of doing the dunk tank! Your clothes are supposed to get wet!”
“You never said I had to do it clothed,” Ori says, reaching for his nape, grabbing a fistful of shirt, and pulling it over his head. The move’s obscene when it shouldn’t be, revealing the bulky muscle underneath. “I paid a lot of money for these. I’m not letting them get a soak in chlorine.”
He folds his shirt methodically, handing it off to Jessa, who’s trying to hold back her laughter and doing a terrible job at it.
Alice harumphs at my side, but stays silent as he shucks off his shoes, socks, and pants, drawing a crowd.
His massive figure, chiseled and pale, and draped only in a pair of black boxer-briefs, acts like a neon sign for the single adults in the crowd.
Someone even whistles as he climbs up to the dunk tank platform.
I don’t blame them. His thick thighs and round ass are the thing of dreams.
“You two are drooling,” Jessa snickers. “See something you want, Trouble?”
Alice flinches. “What? No. I wouldn’t ogle him. That would be inappropriate.”
Jessa winks at me as Alice scurries away to grab the three balls from the dunk tank worker.
“Here you are,” Alice says, offering me one of the balls to throw. Ori is finally settled in his seat, his arms crossed and a scowl on his lips. “Birthday boy gets first shot. Make it count.”
My body tenses under the pressure and extra eyes watching us, but I catch Ori’s eye as I wind up to throw, and he shoots me a smirk. It immediately calms me.
I point to the ball, mouthing, “You ready to get wet?”
His shoulders shake with begrudging laughter. “Do it,” he mouths backs.
I throw and—in a birthday miracle—hit my mark.
Shock colors Ori’s expression in the split second he’s airborne, and then he crashes into the water with a magnificent splash. The crowd erupts in jeers and excited shouts, and I find myself smiling as Alice and Jessa clap me on the back, murmuring how perfect I was.
Ori surfaces, shaking his black hair out and pushing it back with both hands.
The action has me clenching my stomach, because he’s so damn hot without trying to be.
Especially as he lifts himself onto the exit platform, with water sluicing down his toned back, and his underwear suctioned to everything below the belt.
“You’re drooling again,” Jessa taunts, tapping my chin. She shoves his clothes into my chest. “Go help him get dressed. Alice and I are going to grab us fresh lemonade.”
As the crowd clears, I hurry behind the dunk tank, where the worker hands Ori a towel before resetting the machine for the next unlucky soul. I stand there awkwardly as Ori swipes it over his hair and down his body, drying off.
Then he wraps the towel around his waist and magically shucks off his wet underwear without flashing me.
“Can I have my pants?” he asks, one hand outstretched to me and one hand holding the towel around his hips.
I hand him his clothes, one by one, and remain quiet as he covers up. It isn’t until he’s retying his shoelaces that I speak.
“Thanks for coming today,” I say. “It means a lot to have you here with us.”
Ori quirks a confused brow. “Why wouldn’t I celebrate your birthday with you? We always do it together. And this is a big one.”
I shrug. “You’ve been… absent lately. More than usual.”
Ori’s fingers pause midway through looping one lace around the other. “I’m just keeping out of the way. Giving you guys space. To be with her.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” I ask.
Ori sighs. “I don’t want to ruin your happiness, Harley.” He shoots me a resigned, scrunched smile. “It’s better if we all stay friends.”
It’s a lie. He knows it as well as I.