Page 14 of Paxton

Nash settles between Reese and Hadley, Blakely moving to perch on Lawson's lap on the opposite side. Baylor sits next to Lawson, the rest of the group scattered out between us.

Nash takes out the cards, shuffling the massive deck before setting it in the center of the table. “It's super easy,” he explains. “There are different heat levels of cards. Some are tame, some are spicy, some are downright ridiculous,” he continues. “You have to carry out the tasks on the card in order to earn the card and point value attached to it. The first person to get fifty points wins. And you lose points if you decide to pass on a task or go for a lower heat level.”

“Sounds easy enough,” I say. “Are you going to start us off?”

“You know it,” Nash says, plucking a card from the top of the deck. He hesitates a moment, eyeing Hadley on his left. “Ireserve the right to close my eyes and cover my ears if you pull a spicy card,” he says.

Hadley rolls her eyes. “I’m a grown woman.”

“You’re my little sister,” he counters, but the two laugh as Nash glances to Reese, who’s siting on his right. He hands her the card without looking at it. “Person to your right reads the card.”

Reese smiles, reading the card silently to herself, a small laugh escaping her before she sets the card down. “You got a mild one,” she says, and Nash snaps his fingers in disappointment. “You have to get up and pretend you're on a fashion runway for the next thirty seconds in front of everybody.”

“Oh, this is a piece of cake,” he says, rising from his spot and walking to the empty space across the boathouse. “Start the clock,” he says, and Reese not only starts the timer, but plays a ridiculous runway song that Nash proceeds to sway his hips to as he struts up and down on an imaginary runway he created. He does his best impression of Zoolander, and we're all in hysterics when the timer goes off and he returns to his seat next to Reese and Hadley.

“I'll take that,” he says, plucking the card from Reese's hand. He positions it on the table in front of him. “I'm going to win,” he says confidently.

Each player continues with the game, some of the cards absolutely ridiculous and others testing the boundaries of intimacy—one of the girls and a rookie had to do their best impression of a private lap dance session.

“Baylor's turn,” Nash says, clapping his hands as Reese grabs a card since she's sitting to the right of Baylor and me.

“Pick out a person of the opposite sex in the group and sweep them off their feet like you're in a romantic comedy,” Reesereads. “You only earn the points on the card if the other player you choose says they've been thoroughly romanced.”

Baylor contemplates for a moment before he gets out of his seat, eyes scanning the crowd of people around us. He only takes a second before he makes a beeline toward Hadley, his eyes locking on hers in a way that makes me thinknoneof us should be watching.

Hadley’s light laughter immediately fades when she realizes his attention is on her, and then she gasps as he reaches for her hand, offering his palm up.

She takes it, and he gently tugs her toward him before bending slightly, swiping one of his muscled arms beneath her knees, sweeping her off her feet and cradling at her against his massive chest. His eyes never leave hers, nor does the small smile that shapes his lips as he proceeds to spin her around.

Hadley squeals, throwing her arms around his neck to hold onto him.

“You’re gorgeous,” he says in a smooth tone. “But more than that, you’re fucking brilliant. That mind of yours…it’s capable of bringing anyone to their knees.” He stops spinning her, looking down at her like no one is watching. “And I’d gladly get on my knees for you.”

Most of the group is laughing, clapping, or cheering Baylor on, but after a few moments, Nash is out of his seat, stomping over to them and stopping the declaration of fake love.

“Put my little sister down, dude,” Nash says, shaking his head. “There's six other women here, and you had to pick her?”

Baylor gently sets Hadley on her feet, winking at her and causing her to blush a little as she returns to her seat. He shrugs at Nash. “I had to make it believable,” he says. “Hadley loves those rom-com movies,” he continues. “Did I do it justice?” he asks as he looks at Hadley. “Have you been swept off your feet?”

She tries to bite back her smile and nods. “Yep.”

Baylor grins at Nash. “See? You know I'm a winner. And I knew she would judge me fairly.”

Nash studies him skeptically for a few moments before cracking a grin and nodding, then returns to his seat between Reese and Hadley.

Blakely, Reese, and myself share a look that says we willabsolutelybe asking Hadley about this after the boys leave.

“All right, Pax,” Nash says. “Draw one for Monroe.”

“This better be a good one,” Paxton says as he reaches for the next card, his eyes scanning the text and his smile falling for a second before he shakes his head. “I think I need to draw another one,” he says, moving to put the card back.

I stop him, joining in on the vocal protests from the group. “What? You think I can’t handle it?” I ask, playfully grabbing the card out of his hand and reading it out loud. “Spicy. As long as the two players are willing, kiss the player on your right for thirty seconds. Choose a player who will start the clock.”

The groupawesat the task, and my blood runs hot beneath my skin.

Paxton is sitting on my right.

My shoulders drop. “Oh,” I say. “So you're saying you’renotwilling?” I ask, trying to hold on to my playfulness but suddenly needing to know if that's why he was about to grab a new card. Was the idea of kissing methatterrible?

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