We stumbled back, his hands tangled in the hair at the base of my neck, and didn’t stop until we met a wall of hay bales. I gasped as he pressed his body against mine, his erection rubbing against my thigh like a promise he couldn’t wait to make good on.
And now that I knew the truth about their past, and how my attraction to all three of them wasn’t an obstacle but a desirable quality, I gave in to every part of myself that wanted this. Wanted all of them as much as they wanted me.
The parts of myself I didn’t know existed.
Every second stretched, every motion measured but intentional, a dance of heat and control. I hooked one leg around his waist, relishing the grind of his erection at my throbbingcore. Even through all the annoying layers of clothing, his hardness made me ache with want.
“I swear to God, Maren…” His hot breath played on my swollen lips. “...if you don’t stop me, I’m gonna fuck you right here. Right now.”
A breathless laugh bubbled out of me. “You’re telling me you don’t have the willpower to stop yourself?”
“All the will I have is currently in my pants, dying to get into yours,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eye.
I locked my arms around his neck and pulled him close. “Well, I’m hardly the person to stand between a man and his goals.”
I leaned into him fully, lips pressing, body reacting before my mind could catch up. The world outside the maze no longer existed; only the warmth, the tension, the press of our lips and the slow, teasing push-and-pull of hands and breaths.
“Sadie!” Ethan’s voice carried, sharp and panicked, bouncing off the bales like a bell.
Adrian and I broke apart and hurriedly fixed our clothes. It sounded like Ethan was right there, and just as suddenly as the world had faded away, it all closed in on me again. The girls alone at the craft station, Will gone somewhere I couldn’t follow.”
“Shit. Fuck.” I snapped my hair into a messy bun and whirled on the spot, looking for the most viable exit.
Our private moment evaporated, the tension snapping into instant alertness. The urgency in Ethan’s call wasn’t annoyance. It was urgency. Panic, even.
“Something’s wrong,” Adrian muttered under his breath. He adjusted his hard-on with a slight grimace, and then grabbed my hand. “Come on.”
We ducked around a corner, racing past the tall hay walls. My boots thudded against the compacted ground, and for a moment, I felt the ghost of adrenaline from our earlier tension prickling along my nerves. Adrian was beside me, moving with effortless, silent speed, and my mind flickered for a second to the kiss—how close, how electric—but there was no time. Not now.
The maze spit us out near the craft station, and my pulse hitched at the sight. Emma sat cross-legged at a table, focused entirely on a glittered pumpkin in front of her, lips pursed in concentration. Her little tongue peeked out, and she didn’t even look up.
“Emma?” I tried. No reaction.
Adrian gave it a go. “Where’s Uncle Ethan?”
“And Sadie…” I added, scanning the crowd around us. It looked like hundreds of people had arrived in my absence, filling the space to the point where I couldn’t make out a single face with recognizable features.
No sign of Sadie anywhere. Panic burrowed under my ribs. “Where the hell—?”
The crunch of a caramel apple drew my attention, and I turned to see Will ambling toward us, sticky hands, eyes wide.
“I used my own money,” he announced, completely oblivious to the chaos brewing. “The lady laughed when I told her to keep the change.”
“Will—” I dropped to one knee in front of him. “How could you run off like that? Sadie’s wandered off and we can’t find her.”
He frowned over his apple. “I was just having fun. Why didn’t Emma watch her?”
We all looked at Emma, who still wasn’t looking up. I sighed and turned to Adrian, hoping he had a way to salvage this.
“Sadie!” Ethan’s voice again. Miraculously, it managed to float above the general noise of the market.
“This way,” Adrian said, and broke into a run.
“More running,” I muttered, and set off after him.
“She’s here!” Adrian shouted, and we sprinted the last few steps, pushing through the crowd of visitors at the petting zoo.
Sadie was crouched beside a pen, arms wrapped around two rabbits, her face glowing with absolute affection. She looked up at us with the widest grin, as though she’d been on some epic solo adventure.
