Page 112 of Stargazer

When Kit refused to give Car any of the giant sweet treat, he grabbed her and spun her around until she was dizzy with laughter and surrendered. My face physically hurt from all the grinning I was doing, especially watching the two of them look so fucking adorable as a couple, and I hoped Billie and Santi had gotten a moment to sneak off on their own too.

Zander eventually broke away to chat up a group of girls that were waiting in line for the bumper cars, and we took bets on how many—if any—numbers he’d walk away with.

It was all very wholesome.

At least we looked like a normal group of friends having fun. And for a few precious moments, I knew we enjoyed it, our laughter pleasantly authentic. These were memories I’d cherish forever, despite our less than desirable reason for being at the festival in the first place.

But my nerves were in full force a few moments later when Zan returned with a message that Amelia had just arrived with a small group of shifters and three human males.

She was here.

Every time I saw a glimmer of ginger hair, my heart all but leapt into my throat. Yet every time seemed to be a false alarm.

Until it wasn’t.

Mid-length tousled coppery locks in a low pony caught my eye. And when the female turned in my direction, like she sensed my gaze on her back, my lips tilted into a full-blown smile at the familiar blue eyes and light dusting of freckles. She looked beautiful in her denim jacket, black mini skirt and Doc Martins. Beautiful, and very much alive.

When she met my gaze, her own lips titled into an almost imperceptible, knowing smile—careful not to tip off her companions.

“That’s her,” I whispered to Griff and he casually directed me to the nearest carnival game with his arm slung around my shoulders.

Handing the attendant a note, he took the little hoops for the bottle ring toss and leant down to my ear. “She’s seen us, she’ll find us when it’s safe.”

The gesture would have looked like he was just sharing a secret with his girl, so I nodded with a demure smile that made it look like I was slightly flustered by what he’d said—which wasn’t entirely a lie because anything said in that husky voice of his made me all hot and bothered. He could recite the goddamned alphabet to me and I’d be turned on.

He handed me a few of the rings.

Of course, he was perfect at it with that aim of his. I was decent, but still missed a few.

Within minutes, he’d won me a dragon plushie and my face lit up like a child in a toy store.

He chuckled at my expression and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“What game do you want to play next?” He asked, surveying the options while keeping Amelia in sight.

I led him to the one where you hit the target with a hammer to test your strength and our friends met us there, keeping close now that we had eyes on the rogue shifters.

Shocked when I got the highest result—I was pretty sure the boys let me win—I earned myself a little lion prize which I gifted to Griff, much to his amusement. Despite his initial humour though, he took the toy from me with such reverence, looking at it like it was the most special thing in the world. The gesture made my heart swell.

I’d planned to make a trip back to the car as soon as possible to ensure they were safe before we had important and less-than-enjoyable things to do. But I got distracted when I noticed Amelia’s present company seemingly saying goodbye.

My friend was laughing and smiling at them, keeping up the ruse she had going on before the dark-haired female and stocky brunette male headed off in another direction. The guy seemed utterly enthralled by the dark beauty’s presence and I was guessing he was the main target they’d been stalking—the one Amelia had told us about who had initially invited them camping.

The others they had arrived with didn’t seem to be around at the moment. Which was a bit of a problem, but I knew our squad was on the lookout.

Now alone, Amelia walked to the closest drink stall. Waiting in line, she looked at my group and nodded ever so slightly in the direction that her 'friends' had gone.

Carter and Zan split off to follow.

With a steaming cup of liquid, Amelia casually strolled to the balloon darts tent that we had moved on to. She spoke to the attendant, got her darts and then took the open spot beside me.

Missing her first shot, she laughed like she was embarrassed and then glanced sidelong at me.

“Hopefully the next one,” I said with an encouraging tone, like I was making friendly conversation with a stranger.

“Fingers crossed,” she responded, giving me a giddy smirk.

Griffin, who was at my back with his hands on my waist, nodded at her in acknowledgement. Meanwhile, Kit—on my other side—took another three shots that all found their target. She whooped, throwing her hands up in celebration at her victory.

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