Page 91 of That Girl is Trouble

“It’s been an honour, soldier.”

He grins and returns the gesture before picking up his foam sword and sprinting back up into red base with the rest of my small army on his heels.

A hand slides over the small of my back and under my T-shirt, and my skin heats as I peek up, finding Axe’s dark eyes locked on me.

I smile. “How does it feel to be a loser?”

He shrugs. “You tell me. You been one for the last hour.”

I smack his stomach, and he chuckles. It’s more of that easiness, that softness I love. But then he drops his hand from my back and takes a step away, his features switching to cold.

“Jesus, those kids are fuckin’ nuts,” Graves says as he joins us. The top button of his plaid shirt is missing, his man bun is loose and messy, and the skin on his neck is red from Eli climbing on his back.

“You say nuts, I say dedicated.” I grin when I catch sight of what looks like another war breaking out across the two castles.

An angry Triss appears next to Graves, and she throws him a deeply scathing look before rounding on me. “We done?”

“What’s got you all in a huff?” I ask with a smile, eyeing the strands of hair that have fallen from her ponytail, the wrinkles in her skirt and blouse, the high-heeled ankle boots hanging loosely in her grip. My sister is a disheveled mess, and it’s obviously irking her beyond reason.

She purses her lips and points a thumb at a grinning Graves. “He kept throwing me in! Every time I climbed out of that damn pit, he’d come for me and toss me back in like a freaking rag doll!”

“It’s just a game, babe,” he teases. “And it was either throw you in the pit or pelt you with balls.” A dark grin slides across his face, and he leans close to her, draping his arm over her shoulders. “That what you would prefer next time? My balls in your face?”

Triss turns her patented glare on him, but before she can manage a retort, Graves snatches her by the waist and flips her over his shoulder. She lets out a surprised squeal and shouts at him to put her down, but he only slaps her ass.

“I’m gonna go put your sister in a better mood.” He throws me a wink, then nods at Axe. “Gimme twenty.”

Laughing, I say, “Based on the noises coming from your room last night, I’d say more like five.”

He scoffs. “Danforth women. Always so goddamn mouthy.”

Axe doesn’t touch me again until Graves and my angry sister are out of sight, and then his fingers find their way back under my shirt, and he pulls me into his chest, his lips dipping to my ear. “I’m hungry,” he whispers, sending a shiver running over my skin.

Pulling back, I tilt my head up and let my lips drift close to his. “Yeah? For what?”

His grip on me tightens, his eyes darkening as he gives me a playful smirk. “Snow cones.”

“Snow cones? Is that, like, a euphemism, or…?”

His baritone laugh vibrates against my chest. “No. They got maple snow cones outside. And those donuts I like from Della’s. You know, the ones where they let you pick the filling? I’m fucking starving.”

Axe tugs at my hand and drags me away from bouncy land and back outside into the cold. The sun is shining, and it’s warmed enough that I’m cozy in my leather jacket and jeans, but the blast of chilled air on my exposed skin makes me shiver. We got more snow last night, and even though it’s only early November, a fresh sheet of white covers most of the downtown rooftops, signs, and vendor stalls.

We walk through the crowd, the scents of cinnamon and sugar pulling us towards the food tents. People eye us as we pass, some moving out of the way when they note Axe’s Sinner cut, others nudging the closest shoulder and nodding towards us. Axe doesn’t pay them any mind. Instead, he trudges through, focus fixed ahead, as the crowd parts around us.

We stop first to get snow cones, or rather, a large glob of maple syrup dipped in snow and then speared with a stick, and we gnaw on those as we wait in line to score fresh donuts.

“What kind of filling do you want?” the girl manning the booth from Della’s Bakery asks us as we get to the counter.

I quickly scan the board behind her. “Chocolate hazelnut, please,” I say as I grab for my wallet.

Axe bats my hand away and throws a ten down onto the counter. “I’ll take… cherry.”

Biting down on my smile, I arch an eyebrow. “Still your favourite flavour?”

His eyes drop to my lips, and for a second, it’s hard to breathe, because I’m thinking about his mouth on mine, his tongue gliding over my lip gloss. “I think you know it is.”

Donuts in hand, we head back towards the vender stalls, bumping shoulders as we scarf down our snacks.

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