Page 83 of Stuck On Them

“Never!” Garrett twisted and broke free just enough and at the wrong angle to set him up for the perfect tackle.

I was on top of him in an instant and before he could get away, I reached between us and pinched his nipple.

“Ah! You fucker!”

“Surrender!” I was laughing my ass off as I started to twist.

“I surrender!” Garrett sighed in relief as I released him.

“Is this some kind of foreplay I don’t know about?” Paige was standing right behind me.

“It can be anything you want it to be.” I got off Garrett and stood up, extending my hand.

Garrett got to his feet, put a hand over his pec, and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “Paige, Ryker hurt my nipple. Can you kiss it and make it better?”

I shoved him as we all laughed. It was completely ridiculous and immature, but it made me feel like all the weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Paige stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Garrett, planting a kiss on his chest where I had pinched him. “There. All better.”

She turned to me, her eyes soft. “You can pinch me like that anytime you want if it makes you smile like that.”

My heart flew into my throat, and I pulled her to me, burying my face against her neck. “You make me smile like this, Paige.”

“Well, isn’t this just as sweet as chocolate-dipped cannoli,” Luca said in a high-pitched southern drawl.

“Excuse me. You four can’t be back here.” A security guard stood behind Luca, his hands on his hips. “Ma’am, are you all right?”

Paige pulled away from me and turned. “I’m fine. We were just lost.”

“Sure you were,” he muttered as we filed past him like scolded schoolchildren.

I took Paige’s hand and Garrett took the other. Luca didn’t seem to mind as he walked beside me, but that was just how Luca was. He and I were complete opposites but maybe that was why we remained friends despite our disagreements.

I’d been working through a lot in therapy. Having a session a week was intense, but it was what I needed if I wanted to move forward and be the best boyfriend and friend I could be. Letting go of control wasn’t easy, but I was trying a little more each day and found myself happier.

“What are we going to do now?” Paige let go of my hand and pulled her phone from her purse. “They’re closing down soon. Should we go?”

Luca looked at his watch. “We can. It will take a bit to get out of the parking lot.”

“Seems like such a waste for our face paint.” Paige looked up at me. “Your bee got a little smudged from play fighting with Gare.”

“Yeah, the stinger looks like it was taken down to the right size. You can barely see it.” Luca was lucky he’d fallen back into step beside Garrett.

“You just have stinger envy.” I scratched my face with my middle finger.

When was the last time we’d all laughed so much together? Not for a long time, that was for damn sure, and it was all because I took a chance on a woman who joked about nipple hair.

* * *

Thirty minutes later we turned into the empty corn maze parking lot. Paige had been reading something Luca had sent her on her phone but looked up as the tires crunched on gravel. “Where are we?”

“We rented out the corn maze.” Garrett parked the SUV and looked over at her in the passenger seat. “If you’re interested.”

She bit her lip and craned her neck to look out the front window at the dark maze. “But it’s dark.”

I grabbed one of the flashlights Luca had put on the seat between us and flipped it on, pointing it at him. “We have lights.”

Paige turned around to look at me and then nearly jumped out of her seat when her eyes landed on Luca. He’d slipped on one of the Jason masks he’d brought and leaned forward to brush a lock of her hair from her face. “Do you want to play?”

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