“HA!” Carter crows.
“This is war!” Kai yells back, reversing.
They chase each other around the rink while I hold on and laugh until my stomach hurts. Carter’s arm keeps reaching for my thigh when we take hard turns.
When the ride ends, I’m breathless and giddy and my cheeks hurt from smiling.
“That was amazing,” I manage.
“Just the beginning.” Carter helps me out of the car, his hand lingering on mine. “We’ve got hours yet.”
They weren’t kidding about the competition.
As the night goes on, the pile of prizes grows absurd. I’ve lost count of who won what stuffed animals, inflatable swords, a poster of a horse that Carter insisted on because it reminded him of me, and I’m still not sure if that’s a compliment. We made several trips to the car already with the prizes.
And somewhere along the way, the touches start to linger.
Kai’s hand on my lower back as he guides me through the crowd. Carter’s fingers intertwining with mine when we’re walking between booths. The way they lean in when they talk to me, close enough that I can feel their breath, smell their scents, count their eyelashes.
It’s intoxicating. Overwhelming. Every brush of contact sends sparks across my skin, and I keep having to remind myself that this is just a fun night. Just a fantasy that can’t last.
But God, I don’t want it to end.
By the time the fair starts shutting down, our arms are overflowing and my face hurts from smiling.
We stroll back to my car one final time, a slow meander through the emptying fairgrounds, and the mood shifts. Softer. More intimate. The fairy lights overhead cast everything in a golden glow, and the cold air makes me press closer to their warmth.
We reach my car, and I pop the trunk, then open one of the back doors, adding the rest to what’s already there.
“This is insane,” I say. “I’m going to have to strap things to the roof.”
“Worth it,” Kai says, starting to load things in. “Every single one.”
When everything is packed, barely, I turn to find them both watching me. Standing close enough that their scents mingle in the air between us.
“Stay,” Carter says softly. “Come out with us. The night doesn’t have to end.”
My heart pounds, and every instinct is screaming at me to sayyes, to let them take me wherever they want, to stop fighting whatever this is.
“I can’t.” The words come out breathier than I intended. “It’s late. I should go.”
“Should?” Kai steps closer. “Or want to?”
“Both.” I force a breath into lungs that don’t seem to want to cooperate. “This was the best night I’ve had in… I can’t even remember.” My voice goes softer despite me. “But I’m tired, and I feel a little off, and I think I need to go home and… process everything before I do something stupid.”
Kai’s mouth curves like he appreciates my honesty. Carter’s gaze lingers on me, steady and careful, as though he’s reading the parts I’m not saying out loud.
They exchange a look, something quiet passing between them, and then they both nod.
“All right,” Carter says, and the disappointment is there, but he doesn’t try to hold me hostage with it. “Go home.” His voice drops, gentler. “But don’t disappear on us.”
Kai steps in close enough that I catch his scent again, that warm, addictive pull my body keeps reacting to before my brain can veto it. “Text when you get home,” he says, like it’s not a request. Like it’s the kind of thing that matters. “So I know you’re safe.”
My chest tightens, not from fear, not exactly. But from something tender that makes me want to turn defensive, makes me want to pretend it doesn’t hit. “You don’t have to?—”
“I want to,” he cuts in, easy but firm, and it lands right in the middle of me.
Carter’s hand brushes my elbow, barely there, but it anchors me. “Tonight was good,” he says, quietly enough that it feels like it’s just for me. “You were good. Don’t let your head talk you out of that.”
