Page 56 of The Jack*ss in Class

“He stayed behind with Jules and Trix to prepare a place in the backyard for BadonkaDonk to hang out in this week. But they said to tell Tempest that Luke Skycocker sends his regards to his fellow farm animal revolutionary.”

Tempest’s laugh caught me off guard—a real one, not the guarded chuckle I usually got. I wanted to hear it again.

“Okay, people,” Dad clapped his hands, every inch the coach taking control of his team. “Here’s the play. Flynn, you and Tempest lead our friend here to the truck. Declan, you and Gryff provide blocking. Hayes, you’re on lookout for any curious neighbors. Isak...” He sighed. “Try not to make this go viral.”

“No promises, Dad.”

I turned to the donkey, who had finished the carrots and was now eyeing Wiener the Pooh with great interest. The dachshund, to her credit, stood her ground.

“Ready?” I asked Tempest.

She squared her shoulders. “Lead the way, quarterback.”

“I’m a linebacker.”

“I know.” Her smile was small but real. “But right now, you’re calling the plays.”

We made it approximately ten feet before everything went sideways. A car alarm went off down the street, spooking both the donkey and Wiener the Pooh. Thedachshund took off running, which the donkey apparently took as an invitation to play chase.

“Pooh, no.” Declan sprinted after his dog.

“Bonkey, no.” I grabbed for the lead rope, but it slipped through my fingers.

What followed was five minutes of pure chaos as a baby donkey chased a dachshund around the KAT house lawn, with the entire Kingman family in pursuit. Except of course, Isak, who stood on the front steps recording the whole thing and laughing so hard he had to sit down.

“Your family,” Tempest said beside me as we watched Declan dive and miss his dog for the third time, “is absolutely ins... umm, interesting.”

“Yeah.” I was used to this chaos, but even for us, this was laughable. “But we get results.”

As if on cue, the donkey stopped to investigate a bush, allowing Hayes to finally grab the lead rope. Wiener the Pooh, sensing the game was up, trotted back to Declan looking mighty pleased with herself.

“Show off,” Declan muttered, brushing grass off his jeans.

Loading the donkey into Declan’s truck proved surprisingly anticlimactic after that. Dad had already laid down rubber mats, and Hayes, who had somehow charmed the baby donkey, got our four-legged friend settled with minimal fuss.

“I’ll drive,” Dad announced, plucking the keys from my hand. “Flynn, you drive my car and follow. Tempest, you’re welcome to join him. The rest of you...” He surveyed his sons with the look that had launched countlesswind sprints. “Shoo. We got this. I know you all were here to feed the gossip mill.”

My brothers dispersed, except Isak who was both still filming and somehow flirting with the KAT sisters who’d come out to watch. I pointed Tempest to my dad’s car, which he never, ever let any of us drive, so this was extra weird. At least it was cool.

Tempest kept her eyes on the passing streets, but her hand found mine in the darkness. I intertwined our fingers, hoping she couldn’t feel my pulse racing.

“Thank you,” she whispered, so quietly I almost missed it.

I squeezed her hand. “Anytime, my queen. Though next time, maybe we stick to smuggling something smaller and easier to hide... like chinchillas or oh, I know, let’s leave animals out of it all together and start a sex toys smuggling business.”

Her laugh, soft and real, mixed with the night air. “Dildos and vibrators aren’t illegal, and I don’t think we need to smuggle them either in or out of a sorority house.”

Hot damn. Now I was imagining her with a room full of a whole menagerie of sex toys. Fuck me. Was it hot in here?

Normally, this was the part where I made my move. Got myself two weeks of blissful sexy times romps in the sheets. Sitting there, in my dad’s vintage mustang, trailing behind a criminal donkey, flirting with a girl who kept surprising me, my heart didn’t pitter pat. It didn’t skip a beat. I wasn’t twitterpated.

What I was would be much worse.

I was in serious trouble.

Because this felt a lot like falling, and I swore I’d never do that.

I couldn’t.

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