Page 127 of Hide and Keep

“What?”

“You trying to shake me so you can sneak someone in there.”

“In my atrium?” she questions like the possibility horrifies her.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t share that either.” She threatened bodily harm when I got too close to it. I thought it was just me but…I should’ve known. Vicious little bat.

“I don’t share anything that belongs to me, Crue.”

It could be her using my actual name or it could be her gaze drilling into mine, but either way, the message is clear—I’m included in that statement. I belong to her.

“They’re just butterflies.”

She flinches as if I slapped her, those sea-glass eyes falling from mine faster than her body did on our first stunt. The urge to apologize overwhelms me. I don’t know why that hurt her, but obviously, it did.

It’s probably the same when someone says Zeus is just a dog. He’s a member of our family.

But I mean…butterflies… They are bugs. They can’t invoke the same emotional bond a dog can.

Giving me her back again, she says, “We’ll try a toss extension. It’s the same concept as before, except you have to toss me a bit higher because you’re going to extend your arms up to lift my feet above your head.”

That’s nothing compared to what I saw her and Nathen do earlier, but her feet have only come up as high as my shoulders so far, so it’s a jump for me.

For once in my life, I’m questioning my stamina, too.

After shaking out my wrists, I get her above my head, my arms locked, then she tells me, “Do you want to pull lib?”

A quiver runs through my elbows. “Which lip?”

Even with her life literally in my hands, she snickers.

“It’s lib with a b. I’ll raise my left foot out of your left hand, then you’ll immediately bring it over to help with my right foot.”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I instantly envision her body falling like a hand on a broken clock, from twelve o’clock to six in a single drop.

I’ll do whatever it takes to keep that from happening.

“Ready?”

No.“Sure.”

I release her left foot and she immediately brings it up in a knee-bend, her arms above her head in a wide V. Both my hands hold her right foot, my left one not feeling as secure as I’d like. I’ve got her, but it’s not great. If her leg wasn’t ramrod straight and her core probably hard as granite, I’m not sure I’d have her at all. Ever’s an amazing cheerleader. It’s too bad her temper got the better of her today. She would’ve had a perfect performance to end the season with. The fact she sabotaged that just so she could prove a point is…still hot. Maybe even hotter now that I know firsthand how incredible she is. She must’ve workedhardto compromise that basket.

“Back to two hands?” I ask.

“No, we’ll dismount from here.”

“My shit’s too shaky here.” My arms have literal fucking tremors.

“Then adjust until it’s not.”

“I don’t know how,” I grit, earning myself more laughter but no further guidance.

All right. Guess it’s all on me.

Ever holds her position steady, allowing me to remove my left hand completely. The second I do, my right elbow buckles and I’m using that free hand to grab Ever’s falling body. The human body is nothing like a clock’s hand either. It’s so much more unpredictable when a person drops.

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