She stood when I did, and I said, “Wait right there.”
Her brow and the corner of her mouth hitched up, but she said nothing. I jogged down to the other end of the field where I’d set up the rest of our date. Since we only finished dinner a minute ago, I decided we’d start easy. I flipped on the switch for the glow-in-the-dark ring-toss/tic-tac-toe game and jogged back to where I’d left my date.
“What’s going on? Have you invited aliens to join us?” she teased.
“Not quite.” I slipped her hand into mine and started walking toward the game.
My hand swallowed hers up, but she gripped mine in a way that said she liked holding onto me. God knew I loved touching her. As we strolled up the field, I couldn’t seem to stop my thumb from stroking the warm, soft back of her hand. If I hadn’t been so tuned in to her, I might have missed the tiny shiver that shook her the first time I stroked over her skin. I didn’t even try to stop the smile from stretching my lips at her response to my touch.
When we neared the game, she let go of my hand, and with a delighted laugh ran ahead of me.
“A glow-in-the-dark game!” Turning back to me, she said, “I love playing these.”
In her excitement I don’t think she clocked that she’d grabbed my bicep and squeezed with both hands. But I noticed—all the way to my cock.
“Let’s see who’s the better strategist—physics major or bio-chem major.”
“You are so going down, big guy,” she challenged. Picking up a handful of glowing yellow rings she asked, “Where is the touchline?”
I’d strategically set up the game so the touchline was one of the painted lines on the turf. Pointing to it, I said, “Here.” Then I picked up a handful of red rings and stood beside her.
Right as she pulled her arm back to toss her first ring, I said, “Care to make a little wager on the outcome of this game?”
Stopping mid-swing, she narrowed her eyes. “What kind of wager?”
I touched my forefinger to my lips, pretending to think about it. “If I win, you give me a kiss.”
“And if I win?”
“I’ll give you a kiss.”
Tilting her head, she regarded me with dancing eyes. “So no matter what, when the game is over, there will be kissing.”
“Huh.” I feigned surprise. “That didn’t occur to me until you pointed it out, but now that you mention it, I see your point. The outcome of the game will involve kissing.” Leaning down, I brushed a soft kiss over her cheek. “I like this game already, and we haven’t even started playing yet.”
She blinked, and then a slow smile played over her lush lips.
Focusing her concentration on the glowing green and blue pegs, she wound up and stepped into her throw, ringing one on the edge of the square. Throwing her hands in the air, she did a cute little dance, the remainder of her glowing yellow rings creating a light show as she waved them above her head.
“Nice one,” I said before I stepped into my own throw. My glowing red ring dropped over the blue peg beside her yellow ring, forcing her to choose another direction.
She launched her ring for the row opposite the touchline and overshot the game. “Damn,” she whispered.
Seeing my advantage, I aimed for the middle blue peg and ringed it.
Suspicion colored her tone. “You’ve played this game more than a few times, I think.”
With a shrug I said, “We like to play lawn games at the house.”
After emitting a frustrated growl, she lined up her shot to block me and landed her ring on the peg next up from where she intended.
“Unlucky.”
She peered up at me from beneath her eyebrows, her expression daring me to end the game.
Of course I took that dare. After all, the stakes were a kiss. When I dropped my red ring over the peg, lining up three rings across the middle of the square, I turned to her with a grin.
“Pay up.”
