Page 40 of Hating On Riot

“Your friends’ habits, problems, whatever the fuck they need, I’ll do it.”

“Okay,” she says in this soft voice that guts me.

“I mean it, Arie. Let me take care of you and your friends.”

She nods, this firm dip of her head. I straighten and puff out my chest. Arie trusts me to take care of her and her buddies.

“Ready to see us kick butt? Ready to squirt liquid into we guys’ mouths?” I give her a knowing smile. Her face flushes red immediately.

She stomps her feet. “You are insufferable!”

I chuckle. “You haven’t seen the half of it, Tiptoe.”

Her eyes narrow. “You didn’t!”

“I did. Whatcha gonna do about it?” I walk backward toward our destination—the white table where the barrels of water and sports drinks will go.

Eyes narrowed, full lips a thinned line, she pulls the wagon and tries to catch up to my long strides. I walk faster. She yanks harder and covers more ground. Pissed off, she’s a force to be reckoned with. Suddenly, she is strong and fast. The ideal player for Nerf War.

Proud that she’s keeping up, but feeling like a rat bastard for not informing her that there’s a golf cart the team uses to get supplies on and off the field, I walk faster.

Occasionally, I look over my shoulder, expecting to find a collapsed Arie Kim, but she keeps surprising me with her determination. Her short legs keep up with my long ones. Sweat is a slick sheen on her forehead. Drops of it slide down her face. Yet she moves that wagon like a superstar.

“You’re kicking ass and taking names, Tiptoe!” I bellow to the clear, blue sky, my happiness an adrenaline rush.

Her unhappiness is a loud growl close to my back. I turn. She swats my shoulder. “Stop with the dumb nickname. If the guys hear it, they’ll never let me live it down.”

Nor will it stay between us. Shit, shit, shit. “Okay, Tiptoe,” I say in a low voice as I face her. “I’ll behave.” My gaze strays to her face. Her cheeks are flushed. Sweat clings to her eyelashes. Strands of sweat-dampened hair stick to her temple and the sides of her face. I can’t help it. She’s so beautiful. I lean in and kiss her forehead.

“What was that for?” She glances up at me.

“For being you. For taking this on. It’s out of your comfort zone. You already have a job helping Riley at the bookstore slash coffee shop.” I shrug, surprised that place is still up and running, but I do occasionally stop in for a book or two. “This is an extra something on your plate. You could’ve said hell no, but you didn’t.”

“I couldn’t not do it. We live in the same house. You would’ve given me a hard time. Plus, I like helping the guys. It’s been nice getting to know them. That they’re people too. Not just jocks after body count and wins.”

“They like you too.”

“Really?”

I set the barrel in the wagon. “True that.” I turn my back to her and bend at the knees.

“Climb on my back.” My girl’s done enough of the heavy lifting.

“No. That’s embarrassing.”

I straighten and face her. Her arms are crossed. Eyes narrowed. Lips pursed.

“You’d rather pull this heavy-ass wagon all the way over there?” I tip my chin toward the players loitering in front of the table, missing their hydration packs and towels. I’m already sweating balls, so they must be in the same boat. I swipe a towel from the wagon, run it over my face and the back of my neck, and drape it over my shoulder.

“Yes. Now, let’s go. The guys need all this.” She sweeps her hand over the wagon’s contents.

“Then what are we waiting for?” I walk backward and do the gimme-gimme with my fingers. “Come on, Short Stuff, your teammates need you!”

“Teammates. Need me.” Her voice is soft. Full of wonder. Then the skies open up, and so does my world. Her eyes shine. A smile lights up her face. She is absolutely gorgeous and not giving a fuck, not thinking the stolen kiss could come back to take a chunk out of my ass, I march over to her, pull her body flushed against mine, and slam my mouth over hers.

She sucks in a surprised breath. I coax her mouth open with my tongue. She opens to me with a soft sigh that messes with my heart and my head. I’ve never let a girl get this close to me. Never let one affect me the way Arie did when we were fifteen.

Now we’re back where we started. She could be my world. Scratch that. She is my world, damn it.