Page 144 of At the Edge of Surrender

“You’d better get ready, Auntie!” Maci screeched.

Charleigh kicked and sent it soaring, and I sprang into action again.

I hopped onto home base and threw my arms in the air. “Point for Team Nolan! That’s right, baby!”

“That was luck. I’ll be taking you down next time,” Kane heckled.

“Sure, sure,” I heckled back, unsure where the comfort and confidence was coming from.

River kicked next, and Kane snatched it out of the air high above his head.

“Out!” Theo called.

River grumbled, then muttered, “Show them how to do it, Emery,” since I was up next again.

I did a little taunting jig on the base, dipping low into a squat to stretch.

“Ah, she thinks she’s something special in those super-fast shoes, does she?” Kane ribbed.

I hiked a shoulder, sure I shouldn’t like the way those eyes raked over me.

But I did.

I liked it so much I was sure I was in horrible trouble.

Kane pitched the ball, it coming at me fast as it rolled across the lawn.

I kicked it high and bolted into a sprint the second it hit the air.

I was almost to first when I felt the quickening behind me.

The roll of the ground and the surge of energy.

Then those massive arms were wrapped around me, lifting me off my feet, my back plastered to his powerful chest as he spun me around.

“Kane!” I gasped, flailing in his hold.

Dizzy.

Dazed.

“No fair,” I wheezed.

No fair.

No fair.

Because his mouth was at my ear, and his words were dripping into my veins. “Yeah, she’s something special. So fucking special I can’t remember how to breathe.”

THIRTY-FIVE

EMERY

A swathof darkness hung overhead, lit in the sea of stars that were smattered across the canopy. Peace rained from it, this overwhelming stillness that felt as if we were held in a net of security.

It poured that respite across the placid expanse of the shimmering lake, the faint ripples glinting beneath the shimmer of the moon and stars.

Maci had fallen asleep almost the moment Kane had buckled her into her seat, and her little breaths filled the cab of the SUV as we drove the short distance back to Kane’s house.

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