Page 102 of In Spades

I giggled as he helped me out of the truck. “You're on another level today.”

Will leaned down, slipped his hand under the flannel I had wrapped around my waist, and squeezed my ass. In a toe-curling growl, he whispered, “I plan on getting lucky tonight.”

My body buzzed with anticipation. I was ready to say screw it and haul ass back to Will’s house, but the fair was a tradition, and the kids were excited. I would just have to be patient.

Will caught Zoey under her arms as she leaped off the running board of the truck. His pullover stretched tight across his shoulders, and his muscles rippled as he hoisted her onto his shoulders. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

Logan wrinkled his nose and cut his eyes at me. “You okay?”

“Hmm?” I brushed my hair away from my face. “What?”

“You look like you’re having a stroke.”

I might have a stroke if I have to wait another twelve hours before I get to ride Will’s cock like a damn cowgirl.

Plastering on a smile, I forced out, “I’m great!”

“You sure you’re good, sweetheart?” Will asked, smirking. How dare he be amused by how horny I was?

I leveled him a look hot enough to deep fry an Oreo. “Just great, darling.”

Sure, I wasn’t a sex on the first date kind of girl, but I certainly wasn’t the wait three months because life is dead set on keeping me celibate kind of girl either.

I hadn’t missed a birth control dose since I went back on it. Taking that first pill felt like it had been ages ago. My lady garden was prepped and ready, and I had packed a little something sexy for tonight. Hannah Jane even gave it her stamp of approval.

Now, I was just counting down the hours until the kids would be stuffed with funnel cake, turkey legs, and cotton candy. They were going to crash hard.

Will popped the tailgate. Logan, Kylie, and Hunter each grabbed a bag of canned food to donate. Will grabbed the other three bags to cover me, Zoey, and himself before slamming the tailgate shut and locking the truck.

A semi-truck trailer from the food bank had been parked outside the entrance to receive food donations. We dropped our contribution off in exchange for tickets, then made our way through the front gates. Toting six cans of food each across the parking lot sucked, but it was way cheaper than full-price admission. Plus, it went to a noble cause.

“Hold up,” I said sternly.

Logan, Kylie, and Hunter halted just inside the gate.

I cleared my throat. “Will and I will have Zoey with us. Y’all are old enough to go out on your own.”

They whooped and hollered with excitement. Usually, I demanded that we stay together. Hell, if I could put leashes and GPS trackers on all of them, I would have. But Logan was almost eighteen, Kylie was nearly seventeen, and I needed to learn to loosen the reins.

Will placed a reassuring hand on my back.

“You have your phones. Hunter, under no circumstances are you allowed to be more than two feet away from Ky and Lo. We’ll meet up in front of Dorton Arena for dinner. Y’all have your own money with you, right?”

Three heads nodded in perfect time.

“Is this where you tell us to make sure we eat at least one vegetable today?” Logan asked with his typical teenaged annoyance.

I grinned. “Absolutely not, but I expect a photo of every deep-fried thing you consume. Maybe I’ll make a scrapbook. Anyway, if you get lost, call me. Or find a cop. If you lose each other, don’t run around like a chicken with your head cut off. Stand still and start shouting what each other is wearing. Oh, hold on, let me get a picture of what each of you looks like before you go. Just in case.”

I pulled my phone out and snapped a couple shots of three very unamused faces.

“Here, take this,” Will said as he handed each of them a fifty-dollar bill. “I’ll distract her long enough for you to run and join a traveling circus.” I was just about to protest him giving them money—they had their own saved up for today—when he grabbed my waist, pulled me in for a kiss, and said, “Run!”

Will’s lips were warm and laced with peppermint. His scruff scraped against my skin. Zoey giggled and held on to his shoulders as he bent down to kiss me.

“C’mon, Sunshine,” Will said, lacing his fingers through mine. “I pre-gamed with a handful of Tums. If I don’t get something deep-fried soon, it’ll all be for nothing.”

The buzz of energy—the hustle and bustle of fairgoers mixed with the sizzle of deep fryers on overdrive—felt nostalgic and new all at once. Mixing old memories I had of the kids and new memories with Will created a sentimental cocktail of feelings.

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