Page 104 of Crave

“Shut the fuck up, look.”Alexei tugs on my hand and points towards the Hook-a-Duck stand at the carnival.

“What?” I chuckle.

We’ve been at this fair for hours. I haven’t laughed this much in a long time. I get the sense he is bottling something up. But then today he’s back to his usual self.

He leans against a low counter. “The flamingo stuffed toy! Do you think Sheila might like it? Maybe it will be like a baby trial for her and Bruce.”

“We don’t need more flamingos, those two are quite enough.”

“Everyone needs more flamingos, Lara.”

I shake my head but I smile. I can’t help it. Being around this goofy ball of happiness makes my day.

He distracts me from my own head.

Following his lead, he rolls up the sleeves of his white shirt. I almost drool when I look at those veiny, tattooed forearms. And so does the woman behind the kiosk.

I clear my throat and shoot her a look. He’s mine.

“Hi, handsome. You here to hook up?” The girl tucks her black hair behind her ear and bats her lashes. I clench my fist and take a deep breath.

Alexei is completely oblivious to her flirting, he gets out his wallet from his back pocket and stuffs a twenty in her hand.

He turns his attention to me with a grin. “Do you want to go first or should I?”

I step forward, and he strokes my hair away from my face.

“If I win, do I get a reward when we’re home?” I whisper in his ear.

“Who said anything about waiting till then?”

When he pulls back, I feel the death stare in the side of my head from that girl.

He steps out of the way letting me stand in front of the little pool with the floating yellow ducks. Reluctantly, she hands me the hook.

“You’ve got four tries,” she says flatly, then pops the gum in her mouth before dropping onto a short stool behind her.

A fuzzy feeling washes over me when Alexei snakes his arms around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder.

Leaning forward slightly I aim for the first duck, and my ass presses against his crotch.

“I want my duck to be that wet,” he mumbles in my ear, just loud enough for me to hear.

Bursting into a fit of laughter, I completely miss the floating toy.

I’m wheezing and tears are burning my eyes.

I can barely see Alexei watching me with an amused grin through my blurry vision. Every time I go to speak or pick the hook back up, I double back over.

“Y-you. Do. It,” I manage to say before returning to my giggle fit.

I watch from the side, trying to regain some composure, yet every time he glances at me I have to hold my hand over my mouth to stop laughing.

On the second to last try, he hooks a duck.

“YES!” He jumps up, throws the hook in the water and launches himself at me, twirling me round in the air like he’s just won some sort of championship prize.

“You did it.” I hold onto his firm shoulders as he lowers me to the ground.

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