Page 45 of Nerdelicious
I was afraid of this.
I try another tactic. “He was on Grace’s team.”
Jude shrugs. “He can be both. He’s like Switzerland. In size and temperament.”
I’m about three seconds away from saying something embarrassing like,I don’t want Beast’s head between my legs. But I manage to keep those words on the inside and force myself down to the water, gritting my teeth against breathlessness the whole way.
Grace hands me the blindfold as she passes me on the beach.
Beast crouches a little, submerging himself to his neck, and somehow I manage to jump and squirm and wrap my legs around his neck. He holds me in place by cupping my shins while he stands.
I yelp as he straightens to his full height, hanging on to his head.
One big hand pats my leg.
“I’m good,” I say.
I’m not good. His hands are incredibly distracting. Everything about him is a distraction, the heat of his neck, the contrast of his warm hands with the cold water. But I’m not afraid of falling. Even in this precarious position, being near him offers a strange sense of security even though I’m perched on his shoulders with his head between my crotch.
Don’t think about that.
I can’t not think about it.
Once in a stable position, I wrap the handkerchief around my head.
“Make sure it’s on tight. No cheating,” Reese says.
“This is the big championship, get ready,” Jude says. Then he counts us down.
Without any hesitation, Reese is on me—grabbing at my wrists and yanking me to the side to try and throw me off-balance. She used the same move on Annabel, and I’m somewhat prepared for it. I jerk myself in the opposite direction while she’s clutching at me in an attempt to destabilize her.
It works—for a second. I’m still secure on Beast’s shoulders but I can’t see what’s happening with Reese. I assume she wavers, since she’s not on the attack. So I go on the offense with the shoving.
Reese leans back, tugging me with her since she’s holding my arm, pulling me forward and to the side. But I’m like a barnacle, determined to hang on. At least then when I go, she’s coming with me. Losing my center, I start to slide off, still hanging on to one of Reese’s hands. Beast grabs me before my head can go under, although the blindfold falls down around my neck. Reese has also collapsed to the side and I laugh and yell at her. “Not so tough now, huh, bitch?”
She throws her head back and laughs, Fitz watching her with an adoring, awestruck gaze.
I smile at Beast but the smile drops when I glance down at our positioning. I’m still hanging on to him, my legs wrapped around his hips, on his side. Like I’m a toddler or something.
I unwrap my legs and kick myself free, one arm grasping his shoulder, but then something in the water—something slimy—brushes against my leg and with a startled yelp, I attempt to climb him like a tree, my arms gripping him around the neck.
“There’s something down there.” My voice is high and panicked.
Jude lets out a bellow of laughter before calling out, “It’s likely a catfish or something.”
“A catfish? You mean one of those fish with the mouths big enough to eat my leg?”
Beast’s shoulders hitch under my arms.
“Are you laughing?”
He’s never laughed. Not that I’ve witnessed.
And I’ll never know if he did, because he pivots and walks us to shore, cutting through the water with ease, despite my hold making us that much wider and adding to the drag.
“I’m not letting you go.” And I don’t. Not even when we’re back on shore, standing in the sand. I’m still wrapped around him, water dripping off both of us.
After a moment, he taps me on the back.
