“What’s up?” Her gaze tenses, and her lips quiver as if it took everything in her to muster those words. She looks nervous. It’s a cute look on her, but a part of me wonders if it’s an act. With Trixie, you never know what to expect.
Her lips are coated a slick cherry red, and, unlucky for me, cherries just so happen to be my favorite fruit. Her eyes are drawn in with kohl, making those lavender orbs look completely inhuman, and her backpack has been traded in for a tiny purse she wears slung around her chest. So much of her reminds me of my sister. And yet, so much of her doesn’t.
“I was just headed up to see Sunday.” There. I shed the lie like snakeskin. “I’m headed to the Fall Festival.” I nod my head toward the parking lot as if inviting her along. As much as I want to respect Knox and Rex, I can’t seem to do it. I’m a certified asshole.
“Really?” She springs on her feet as if it were a hard to come by ticketed event. “I was supposed to go with Knox, but he bailed on me.” She bites down on her lip, and her teeth glow in contrast. “I thought maybe I’d see if Seth wanted to go.” She looks up at me from under her lashes as if gauging my response.
I’m not sure if she’s serious or shitting me, but my blood pressure just spiked, and suddenly I’d love to make a slam dunk using Seth’s head as the ball. “Yeah, well, I’d better get going.” I grind my teeth as I glare at Cutler Tower, but Trixie bounces in front of me as if trying to block it from my line of vision.
“Sunday’s busy.” She swallows hard, hitching her hair behind her ear. “Vlogging. You know, beauty stuff. She says she has an entire week to make up for, so I decided to split and give her some peace.”
“Cool.” I glance down at those skintight jeans that glow electric blue against her body, and my eyes ride up to that light pink sweater that looks as if it cost a dozen baby chicks their lives. My hands shake to touch it. “So, are you and Seth headed out on a date or something?”
“No, we’re just hooking up. You know, hitting the festival, then hitting the sheets.” She wrinkles her nose, holding back a laugh, and it’s only then I register she’s teasing.
“Geez.” I run my fingers through my hair, relieved that she’s not about to hit any mattress in a statewide vicinity with Seth Freaking Baker. “You’re not funny.” I blow out a breath and stare at her a moment. Trixie Toberman is looking too damn beautiful on this brisk autumn night. I don’t know what to do with her. And then it hits me.
“You’re not going to the festival with Seth. You’re going with me.”
* * *
Trixie Toberman practically skipped to my truck, a willing victim to my last-minute scheme of hogging her all to myself. We fill the drive out to the eastern end of Hollow Brook with talk of basketball, football, the Media Club, everything under the sun, and it feels easy, like hanging out with one of the guys. I take that back. Not once when I was hanging out with the guys was there any underlying tension in the air, our hormones firing off, sparks snapping between us as if a nuclear explosion were about to take place. It’s funny because it seems Trixie Toberman and I could carry on a conversation about anything—anything but those electric kisses we’ve shared again and again. It’s as if they never happened. As if they were some deep, dark secret, something taboo, something I might actually get arrested over. But we both know that’s not the case. I’d get my balls pulled through my throat is what I would get. Maybe that’s the deterrent. Deep down, we believe what we’re doing is wrong.
A knot settles into the pit of my stomach as we park at the fairgrounds, and I speed over to help her out.
Trixie takes my hand as she jumps to the ground. “Would you look at this place?” She whoops as we head toward the midway. The sun sets behind the pines, creating a fire line of pink and purple over the striated sky. Rows and rows of oaks, maples, and cedars burn in fiery tones of orange, blood red, and lemon yellow. A Ferris wheel sits in the distance with its spokes rotating in every shade of neon. The sound of laughter, and shouting, the cheery noises from the carnival games light up the night. A throng of thousands has shown up this evening, and yet it feels as if Trixie and I are the only people on the planet. She seems to have that effect on me, making our time together feel as if we’re in our own secret bubble.
“This is my favorite time of year,” I say, giving her hand a squeeze, and it’s only then I realize I’m still holding it. I freeze for a moment and look down at it as if I caught my very own limb in the middle of a felony.
Trixie glances down, her mouth falling open in disbelief as if she didn’t realize it herself.
“Sorry,” I’m quick to say but slow to let go.
“No, it’s okay.” She secures her hand over mine. “I wouldn’t want to get lost in this big bad crowd.” She tugs on her bottom lip with her teeth again, and I’m starting to realize it’s her specialty. Trixie Toberman knows exactly how to drive the boys wild. I don’t know why Knox thinks she’s so innocent. It’s clear she knows what buttons to push, and damn, does it ever feel good to have her push them.
“Right.” I grimace into the mass of humanity storming around us just looking for familiar faces and shockingly can’t spot a single one. “In that case, I’d better hold it all night.”
“I’m just as afraid of the dark as I am a big crowd.” She nudges her shoulder into mine. “You think you could arrange for me to have something to hold onto at night?”
Those schoolgirl innocent looks, those doe eyes she keeps batting so fast you could blow a bonfire out with the breeze. All this teasing has my balls aching for relief. Is she doing this on purpose?
“Trix—” I inch back, not quite sure what to do with the blatant proposition.
“Would you get your mind out of the gutter?” She gives a big honking laugh while slapping me in the gut, her perfume lighting up my senses. “I’m talking about a stuffed giraffe like Bryson won for Baya. Or weren’t you paying attention?”
A laugh gets buried in my chest. Oddly, I’m both relieved and disappointed. “I suspected you were the kind of girl who still sleeps with a teddy bear. Come on.” I lead her toward a booth touting a giant panda the size of a refrigerator as its prize. All that’s required to claim it is one shot through a hoop to win. The lack of a challenge is laughable. “Let’s beef up that collection of yours, sweetie. Five shots for five dollars?” I pull out a dollar bill. “I can do it in one.”
She bleats a sharp laugh. “Please, like you’re going to win that beast on the first try?”
“Honey, we’re not leaving without it.”
“In that case, I hope you brought a wad of cash with you. I’m guessing it’ll cost you at least fifty if you win at all.”
“Are you trying to stomp on my ego?” I give the carnie the buck, and he shoots me a ball.
“At least you’re willing to admit you have one.”
I grin over at her as she positions herself nearby her phone out as if to capture the moment. “Don’t blink, Trix. I’d hate for you to miss the magic.” I take a breath and eye the target. “He shoots, he—” No sooner does the ball leave my hands than it bounces off the rim. “What the hell just happened? There’s no way this is right. This game is rigged.” Back at school, I’d make that shot every single time from a hundred yards farther than this. What the hell?
Trixie doubles over laughing, her face turns the color of a plum, and she’s stomping her feet as she busts a gut.
“Don’t wet your pants.” My stomach tightens at the quasi-innuendo. I shell out another buck, and the same thing happens.
Trixie wipes the tears from her eyes, hardly able to steady her hand while trying to get that perfect shot of me failing miserably.
“Put that thing away or I’m going to throw it through the hoop next.”
“You sure you’re going to make it?”
It goes on like that for the next twenty minutes. Me forking over dollars, Trixie sputtering with laughter, snapping pictures of me as if she was going to make a career out of it.
�
��All right. I’m calling it.” She pulls me away, and I only pretend to put up a fight. I’m freaking glad she pulled the plug. I just blew a wad, and for what?
“Who the heck wants an overstuffed panda, anyway?” I grunt. “That thing would give any person nightmares for the next fifty years.”
“You’re right. I’d much prefer a spotted purple donkey.”
She pulls me toward the overgrown milk jugs where the carnie hands me a softball with a maniacal smile. Great. I fork over five bucks without blinking.
I glower over at the guy who gleefully took my money. “I bet this guy enjoys watching dudes get emasculated hour after hour. Make you feel like a big man, huh?” I nod over to him as he’s helping the next fool out and he gives a greasy grin.
“Ha!” Trixie hops by my side. “You just gave him five bucks for five turns! It’s pretty hard to admit defeat, isn’t it? How quickly the mighty have fallen.” She laughs up a storm while wrapping herself around my left arm. That soft sweater of hers grazes over my flannel, and I move my hand up for a moment just to feel the sensation. My God. I close my eyes a moment as she bounces by my side, her warm body adhering to mine, and it’s all I can do to keep breathing, let alone think.
“That’s not defeat. I expect change.” I toss the first ball out, and the damn thing circles the rim six times solid before toppling to the side.
“Your lunch money is dwindling, Knight.” Her chest presses against my arm, and I can feel the girls right there, far softer than that pink sweater, and my boxers twitch to life. Somehow, I seem to have found myself in both heaven and hell.
“If I hit it on this next one, you’re coming on the Ferris wheel with me.”
“I hate heights,” she squeals as if that ninety-foot towering monster just morphed into a mouse. “But, you’re on, considering statistics are in my favor.”
“You’re going down—or should I say around?” It takes about thirty seconds of sharpening my focus before I finally let go of that ball. Slowly it arches as it connects with the lip of the jug and does a thirty-second dance circling the rim. “Come on, baby. Daddy needs a new polka-dotted donkey tonight.”
“Daddy needs to check his ego. That bottle is going to barf up a ball and your dreams all in one shot.”
Then, just like that, it sinks into the hole, forever out of sight, and I let out a roaring whoop.
“Knew it!” I shout as Trixie offers up a reluctant high five.
The carnie plucks a purple donkey from the wall and tosses it at Trixie, and before I know it, she’s got both arms collapsed over that furry little carpet in a deep embrace. A jealousy rage rides through me a moment at the sight. I’ve never been envious of a single thing in my life, let alone some scrappy looking stuffed animal with the seam already straining on its belly. But Trixie forfeited her hold on me for that beast, and I’m just this side of fuming.
“Thanks.” She offers me a hip bump that nearly sends me staggering. “My nights will forever be complete. Oh, the things Clyde and I will do in my bed.”
Another flare of anger goes off, over a freaking stuffed donkey. “That’s sick.” I snatch the beast from her and pretend to toss him toward the heaping trash can by the corn dog vendor.
“Hey, give that back.” She tries to snatch it back, and I hold it just out of reach. “It would figure you’re the kind of guy who takes back his gifts. I bet you’re the kind of guy that asks for a water cup at a fast food restaurant and then fills it up with soda!”
A dark laugh strums from me. “You wish, cupcake. I’m the kind of guy that finds the pretty girl in the restaurant and buys her all the tacos she can eat.” I toss the donkey in the air and let her catch it.
Trixie buries a kiss over its nose, and I’m right back to being envious again. There must be a thousand girls at this fair tonight, and I’ve yet to notice any other girl here but Trix. I’m not sure why that is. Hell, I know why that is, but I don’t get it. I’ve never had another girl have this stronghold over me, and a part of me hates it. I hate that she’s Knox and Rex’s sister. I hate that she’s my sister’s roommate and new best friend. I especially hate that I told Knox I’d keep the idiots away from her, with me being the biggest one. I can’t seem to stay away, though. I reach for her hand, and her eyes lock over mine. The world, the screaming, and the laughter from the carnival seem to pause for one stolen moment as she threads her fingers through mine.
“I can’t do the Ferris wheel.” Her eyes round out in fear, and sadly it looks genuine.
“Sure you can.” We pass a cotton candy vendor, and the sugary warm scent pulls us in. “Pink or blue?” I pull Trixie in close, my cheek grazing over her hair momentarily as I ask the question, and the soft sensation sends a chill running through me.
“Blue. Always blue if you can get it.” She sneers up at me, and I can feel the zinger coming. Trixie is locked and loaded with a plethora of pot shots ready to go. “Blue like the color of your balls, Knight.”
“Only because you bust ’em.” A laugh thunders from me as I pony up for the confection. We get our treat and start making our way toward the rides. The Ferris wheel in the back sirens at us in a rainbow of spastic yellows, pinks, and blues, lighting up the night sky with its riot of colors.
Trixie hugs my arm tight as the Ferris wheel looms large in the distance. “So, how are you not getting jumped nightly by angry coeds? I mean, there’s surely been a riot by now on The Row over your lack of social services. Is it even legal of you to deny them of the privilege?”
“I don’t hear anyone complaining.” It’s true. There hasn’t exactly been an outcry over the fact I turned my dick off like a faucet. “Besides, all that money I saved buying condoms went directly to your stuffed animal fund. Hope you’re happy.”
“I’m flattered you’ve taken away so much from so many just so little ol’ me can sleep tight at night. I’ll have to tell Sunday what a gentleman her big brother is.”
Our eyes catch for a moment as she spews the words like a dare. What would it mean if Sunday of all people knew I took Trixie to the fair? Took Trixie anywhere?
I decide to call her on her bluff. “I’ll be sure to tell Knox you’ll want a new nightlight for Christmas since I took care of the bear.”
Now it’s her eyes snagging on mine, and she frowns. “You’re a riot. Why don’t you tell him I want a new set of satin sheets because you don’t care for the friction that my jersey sheets offer? I’m sure he’d love that report.”
I grimace at the thought. “He’ll see right through that. Knox and I both know those RAs at Cutler would have our balls for even thinking of testing out the sheets. RAs are a haven for all the mean girls from high school.”
She belts out a laugh because we both know it’s true. “I’m forgetting you prefer to lure the girls to your lair. You do realize the phrase how low can you go is not a challenge, right?” She stuffs a big handful of cotton candy into her mouth and mine.
My insides grind because I know she’s right.
“Don’t worry.” She curls up against my arm as Clyde the purple menace drills into my chest. “Your superpowers are faulty with me. I’m not falling into your frat trap.”
“I’m not in the frat anymore.” I raise my brows, amused, and it takes a second for me to realize the fact I just threw out a quasi-proposition. I can’t help it. It’s like a reflex, and if anything, Trixie has me running on autopilot in that arena. “Come on. You owe me a spin on that wheel in the sky.” I run us over to the line about sixteen couples deep, and Trixie plants her feet in the ground, grinding our party to a halt.
“I can’t do it.” She shakes her head while staring up at the twirling lights, the bobbing seats rocking back and forth, with cages set over the top boxing its passengers safely inside. Each car is lost in a shadow, and it’s impossible to tell that there are occupants in those metal boxes, let alone humans. The anonymity of it all sends my adrenaline pumping.
“You can do it. You have to. You lost a bet.”
The ride begins boarding at a snail’s pace. Trixie blows out a panicked breath as she glances behind us, her body gyrating as if she were about to propel herself to space.
“I detest standing in line.” She glowers at the snakelike group of people stacked behind us. “And I hate being confined in tiny spaces, sans working plumbing for God knows how long.”
The line moves a notch, and I pull her with me. “Do you need to use the bathroom?” For that I might give her an out. Might being the operative word.
“It’s not that.” Her body tenses, her face grows pale as we step toward our fate. “It’s just.” She swallows hard. “I don’t know. I mean, how long are we going to be stuck in that thing?”
“Thirty minutes!” the carnie bellows loud enough to penetrate the howling crowd.
A car clears out, and I help Trixie inside, her body immediately settling next to mine as the cage crashes shut. The ride moves a notch, and we’re rocking slowly in the air, back and forth, watching the crowd from a ten-foot vantage point off the ground.
“Oh God.” She tosses Clyde and the cotton candy to the floor and wraps her arms around me, burying her face in my chest. “I’m going to kill you once we get back to Earth. You do realize that holding me hostage for thirty minutes straight is a federal offense punishable by both my brothers?”
A laugh warps through my chest as I sling an arm around her. Little sister, I hear Knox whispering into my ear like some annoying menace on my shoulder, and I’m quick to flick him right off.
“Little sister,” I say under my breath.
“What’s that?” She looks up in a panic.
“Whoa.” I reach down and settle Clyde on the other side of her. “You’re doing great. We at least lost five minutes. You’ll have your feet on the ground before you know it.”
“I’d better.” She looks up, those impossibly long lashes of hers blinking back tears, and it feels like I just took a lead cannonball to the chest.
“Hey, it’s okay.” I run a finger under her chin softly, and she inches her face toward mine. “I’m here. I promise I won’t let Clyde do anything to you in the next thirty minutes, but once you get that beast home, you’re on your own.”
Red Hot Kisses Page 13
