Page 34 of Wild Hearts

It was early, but the grounds were packed with families. When I entered, I paid the admission fee and looked for Walker and Dakota.

All of a sudden, someone wrapped their arms around me from behind. "Hey."

I turned, my face flush. "Walker."

He let me go as quickly as he'd engulfed me in that bear hug. Then he shoved his hands in his pockets. "I thought I'd surprise you."

"You did."

"I'm so glad you're here," Dakota said and hugged me, and I exchanged a look with Walker over her head.

"Me too."

Walker rubbed his hands together. "What do you want to do? There's ice-skating, a snowball fight area, the carriage ride."

"Oh, snowballs and then ice-skating," Dakota said, and Walker grinned at me.

This was one of the first events he'd taken his daughter to, and he was clearly pleased to be here.

"Sounds good to me."

"Are we a team?" I asked as we approached the snowball-fight area.

Xander stood at the entrance. "I'm in charge of assigning people to teams. You two are on a team." He pointed to Walker and Dakota. Then Xander directed me to stand with a man in his thirties and his little boy. "You are another team."

"Hi. I'm Addison." I shook the dad's hand.

"Hunter, and this is my son, Parker."

"It's so nice to meet you." Then to Parker, I asked, "Are you good at making snowballs?"

Parker nodded solemnly. "I'm really good."

I glanced over at Walker, who was watching our exchange with a frown on his face. I wasn't sure what the problem was since it was Xander who assigned our teams. I turned my attention to Hunter and Parker. "This is going to be fun."

Xander handed us a bucket, presumably to stockpile snowballs, and yelled, "Go."

We ran into the maze, ducking behind a wall to build ourarsenal. There were about five teams in here at once, so we needed to watch our backs.

"You can be the lookout," Hunter said as they frantically packed snowballs. I didn't think I'd be doing this when I woke up this morning, but it was invigorating.

An arm rose above the wall across from us and threw a snowball in my direction. "Incoming!" I cried as I ducked back down.

I hadn't realized I was so competitive.

We were pummeled for a few seconds with snowballs and then nothing. I slowly lifted my head to see Walker and Dakota grinning. "Now!"

Hunter and Parker unleashed their stash of snowballs on them. I grabbed a couple and threw them in their direction while they ran farther away.

Hunter grabbed the bucket, and we followed them, throwing the remaining balls, then ducking behind another wall to restock. Then we got caught up in a firefight, and it was constant. Parker and I made the balls, and Hunter threw them.

My cheeks were cold and my heart beat rapidly, but it was so much fun. "We need to move," was the only warning I got as Hunter and Parker took off.

I tried to follow them, but a hand reached out and grabbed me, pulling me against a hard body.

I held up my hands to ward off the snowball I knew would land in my face. "It's me."

"Are you calling a truce?" I refused to lift my face until I was positive. But I was very aware that I was basically sitting in Walker's lap, my knees pressed into the snow.

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