“Bet I make it out before you!”
I whipped around, made a full rotation, and then my eye caught a flash of his military green puffer to the left. “Will, stay where you are. I’m not kidding.”
He didn’t stay where he was. He dashed around the corner, laughing over his shoulder like he hadn’t a care in the world.
I sprinted after him, letting my fingers graze the rough edges of the hay bales as I twisted through the confusing pathways. In my mind, I was memorizing them so I’d find my way back. In a different, more realistic part of my mind, I knew that was total bullshit.
“Hey! Come back here! If you don’t stop, you lose the Switch!”
He must’ve been out of earshot at this point, because the Will I had come to know would’ve doubled back immediately. No way would he risk his beloved video games over something like this.
I kept going. The bales closed in on me, making the path shrink with every step. At one point, I almost tripped over a stuffed elephant that I was sure some kid was crying about to his mom at that very moment. Out there, in the wide open free world.
“Will!” I called again, louder. My chest burned with a mix of exertion and panic. Not over the kid so much, but because I was sure the bales of hay were gonna cave in and bury me.
I skidded around the next corner, boots crunching in the loose straw, and stopped dead. Silence, except for the distant drone ofthe market somewhere I couldn't see anymore. And no Will. The maze had folded in on itself, paths twisting tighter, bales rising higher, and suddenly I wasn’t sure which way was which.
“Will?” I called, pitching my voice so it carried, though the hay swallowed it almost immediately.
Nothing. Not a footstep, not a giggle, not the scrape of a sneaker. Just me, the straw, and the faintly sticky smell of caramel lingering from the carts we’d passed. My chest squeezed with that tension that comes when you realize the game had changed without you noticing. I was lost.
I spun round, taking a mental snapshot of the last turn, trying to map it in my head. Every path looked the same. Straight bales, twisted corners, little shafts of sun filtering through gaps.
“Will, come on, man,” I muttered, moving faster, hands grazing the edges of the bales. I was careful not to tear the straw, but I needed the texture under my fingers. Something solid, something tangible to remind me that I was still in control. Still tracking. Still capable of making my way out of this mess.
“Sorry!” I mumbled a hurried apology to a bale of hay I’d bumped into, but when I took a closer look, my pulse rattled for reasons other than claustrophobic panic.
Because this particular hay bale wore a black hoodie under a dark olive peacoat, his beanie pulled low enough to push some unruly curls over the most intense hazel eyes I’d ever seen.
“Apology accepted.” Adrian flashed a crooked smile, hands deep in the pockets of his slim fit black jeans.
My adrenaline spilled out in a rambling tirade. “Oh, thank God. Have you seen Will? I lost sight of him, and got turned around in this stupid maze. The little shit’s fast for someone who spends most of his time on his ass playing video games.”
“Getting yourself lost in the weeds already?” The double meaning teased in his eyes, and I had to look away.
The memory of him walking in on us was still fresh. The look on his face. The feeling that instantly spiked inside me… Not shock or humiliation, but excitement. Ilikedthat he was there. Even if my brain tried to protest, my body responded with the truth.
My pussy clamped down around Ethan to keep him from pulling out, and I dug my fingers into his shoulders with a terse, “Don’t stop.” He obliged, and when my second orgasm tore through me, it was Adrian’s eyes I’d been gazing into.
I swallowed, brushing my hair back. “I— I’m not lost. Not exactly. So did you see him or not?”
“Sorry, I’ve been going nowhere slowly since I got lost in here a few minutes ago.”
My shoulders sagged, and I let out a defeated sigh. This was just perfect. Three kids unattended in a crowded market. After fucking my boss (and his business partner), I was making real headway to that Nanny of the Year award.
“Listen, about last night…”
In the movies, this was the part where the other person would interrupt and say no explanation was needed. They’d offer reassurances and resolve the tension so the story could flow into the next scene.
I blinked at Adrian, pausing conspicuously for just such an interruption to occur. One corner of his mouth curled with a smirk.
“I’m listening.”
Ugh, he was the worst.
“I owe you an apology,” I started with a steadying breath. Best to just get it over and done with. “My behavior was unprofessional, and— I just… I’ve never done anything like this before. I don’t know wh—”
“Never?” The rest of my sentence got stuck in my throat. Instead of the confusion and maybe judgment I’d expected to see on his face, Adrian seemed intrigued. Curious. “You’ve seriously never—?”
