Page 51 of Beacon

As he lined up his mallet in preparation to strike, I inched closer and nudged him with my hip right when he hit the ball…causing his careful shot to veer off to the right, inches from the wicket’s opening. For a moment he simply stared, mouth agape, at his ball now drastically off course before he turned widened eyes towards me.

“You cheated!”

It was a gamble predicting how Owen would react to my interference, but I knew him well enough to hope it’d be in my favor; by his slow grin, my wager had thankfully paid off.

I shook my head, formed an X with my arms in front of me as if to shield myself from his accusations, before pointing towards Princess Lavena standing on the other side of the course. Her eyebrows rose at the accusation, but she made no comment to refute it.

Owen rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it was Lavena, you little cheat. I never would have expected this of you.” Despite the accusation, he only sounded delighted. “I’m going to have to watch youverycarefully for the rest of the game.”

I wasn’t entirely sure why the thought of Owen’s increased attention delighted me, only that I relished in his every glance, each which made my heart palpitate wildly. His increased awareness made it difficult to concentrate when it was my turn once more—especially when my thoughts continued to drift towards kissing more than they ought—but I still somehow managed to hit my ball through the fourth wicket, leaving Owen the only one behind.

He seemed surprisingly good-natured about the fact he was losing, thanks to my interference, and even made a show of exaggerated suspicion by the time it was his turn again. I sidled back to his side as he aimed, forcing him to pause.

“Fancy seeing you here, Marisa. Is there something you needed?”

I made an exaggerated show of innocence before using my mallet to knock his ball out of the way of his next strike.

He chuckled. “You mischievous girl.”

I shook my head and hid my mallet behind my back with as innocent look as I could muster, which only caused his grin to widen. Rather than retrieve his ball, he stepped closer.

“I’ll be taking this.”

He wound his arms around me in order to retrieve it, and despite it not being a proper embrace, his proximity caused me to still so that I didn’t even put up a fight.

“That was too easy.” He looked almost disappointed.

I set my jaw and yanked the mallet from his hands; I’d caught him off guard, allowing me to easily tug it from his loosened grip. I waved it tauntingly at him, earning me another smile. He let me keep it, making me believe I’d won this portion of our game…but as I was watching Princess Lavena take her next shot, he snuck up behind me and snatched my mallet away.

His grin was unrepentant as I gaped at him in shock. “It appears you lose this round. Now that it’s my turn to play, you need to stand over there out of my way.” He put his hands to my shoulders to gently push me towards the edge of the course until my back pressed against the hedgerow. “Now you can’t get into any mischief. You guard her, Princess Lavena.”

Princess Lavena said nothing, not even warranting us a glance; she seemed entirely bored with the exchange, leaving me to once again wonder why she’d even joined us in the first place. Not that I minded. If it hadn’t been for the tension that had accompanied her, I doubted Owen and I would be doing…whatever it was we were doing now.

I obediently remained where I was while Owen took his turn, for I felt a little bad for him considering my mischief had put him two wickets behind us. When he successfully hit his ball through, he returned to my side to hand me my mallet so I could take my turn…only to hesitate.

“Can I trust you with this?”

I crossed my heart to indicate my promise, but even with it he made a show of great reluctance as he handed it back to me. I positioned myself behind my ball…only for Owen to follow, looking far too innocent for me to trust him. I glanced back at him with lifted brows, but he only grinned in response, a smile that was a bit too mischievous for my liking.

I aimed my mallet, but just as I hit it, he suddenly grazed my arm, throwing off my aim so that I missed. I spun to face him with a stern look, wagging my finger in a no-no gesture. He only laughed. “Two can play this game.”

Was cheating the game we were playing? It felt like a different one entirely. Not croquet, not even teasing one another as friends would. With every searing glance and heated touch, the lines between pretending and actually flirting seemed to blur, making me hope that this would have transpired between us even if the princess hadn’t been here, which left me questioning what exactly we were doing.

For the remainder of the game, Owen and I alternated between interfering with one another’s plays. Princess Lavena remained in the background, mostly ignoring us throughout the game, her expression entirely stoic except for an occasional glimpse of smug satisfaction, as if she knew exactly the effect her presence had created and that it had allowed her scheme to unfold exactly as she’d intended.

I wasn’t entirely sure how our attempts to cheat had any bearing on the progression of me and Owen’s relationship, only that I enjoyed the interaction immensely. Despite his determination to thwart my own efforts, I still managed to beat him, and though Owen’s meddling had put me behind the princess, I still felt as if I’d won.

I clasped my hands in delight and bounced happily on my heels before giving Owen a triumphant look, but he only continued to grin, looking as happy as ifhe’dbeen the one to win, despite having come in last. “Congratulations, Marisa. I knew that ball would bring you luck. A prize is definitely in order.”

His presence engulfed me as he stepped forward. I instinctively stepped back and my back grazed the hedge, leaving me feeling both closed in by his proximity and like he wasn’t nearly close enough. It was now only the two of us, the princess having quietly taken her leave the moment she’d finished the game. I barely noticed her absence. I barely noticed anything at all except for how close the prince now stood.

My breath caught as his gaze suddenly flickered down to my lips. Just what prize did he have in mind?

For a moment we simply stood facing one another, our breathing rapid and my heart pounding so frantically, it felt like it’d burst from my chest. I wasn’t certain how long we stood there. Time had little meaning, leaving only his nearness and my confusion over what exactly was happening when there was no longer any audience to perform for…if we’d been performing at all.

Owen seemed to tear his gaze away from me with considerable effort to lift my hand and press a kiss to the back of it. “Your prize, milady.”

He released me the moment his lips grazed my skin and stepped away, taking the warmth of his presence with him and leaving me yearning for another kiss, one of a far different sort than what he’d bestowed upon me.

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