Page 298 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11
“Right. Because it’s agreatidea.”
I shook my head. “You’re still it...”
“No, you’re it,” he said and tagged me back.
I reached out to tag him, but he ran off with his rope. “Onyx!” I yelled.
“Scarlett’s it!” he yelled to everyone. “Scarlett’s it!”
All the kids scrambled.
I shook my head and turned around to see who I could tag next. Mr. Nigel’s daughter Electra was the youngest. And she’d definitely be the easiest to get. But that seemed like an unfair target. Especially since she was currently playing dress up in thecorner and was wearing a pair of heels that were way too big for her.
I saw some wild red hair peeking out behind the couch. I leaned over the couch to see who it was.
“Thorin!” Skadi yelled from across the room. “Run!”
Thorin tried to get up from his hiding place, but tripped and knocked over a basket full of toys. Little cars went everywhere.
I felt bad tagging him while he was down. Plus I didn’t want to risk slipping on one of those toy cars. I looked around the room again. Jacob’s youngest sister, Alora, was running away from Onyx and his ropes.
Onyx was definitely trouble. I chased after them. I pretended to run slower as the rest of the kids started running away from me too. Or maybe I wasn’t pretending. I was starting to get a cramp.
Skadi was right in front of me.
I was just about to tag her when Jacob walked down the steps.
He laughed when he saw me. And he didn’t miss a beat. He immediately joined in on the game. “Skadi!” he said and picked her up.
She squealed as he lifted her above his head so I couldn’t tag her. “Save yourself!” He tossed her onto the couch.
“Oh it’s so on.” I reached out to tag Jacob, but he dodged out of the way. “Hey!” I tried to tag him again, but he jumped backward.
And then he had the audacity to start running backward.
I couldn’t catch him because of my cramp, even with him running backward at the slower pace. I stopped and just started laughing. I was going to be it forever.
We all ran around the living room like complete barbarians. Jacob had slowed down too. I think partially because he felt bad that I had been it for so long.
But as he slowed down, he stopped looking at the ground. His right foot landed on one of the toy cars and he started to slip. He grabbed my hand and the two of us fell onto the couch. I landed on top of him.
“You’re it,” I said.
He laughed.
My heart started pounding. Our lips were only a couple inches apart. I could easily just lean forward. But I really wanted him to make the first move. I wanted to know that he truly did like me. Because no one had ever really liked me back before.
Jacob’s eyes fell to my lips.
But then I felt a bunch of small hands and knees on my back as all the kids piled on top of us.
I groaned. “Ow.”
Someone grabbed my wrist. And I felt my arms being tied behind my back.
“Onyx!” I yelled. “Stop it!”
He giggled.
