Page 60 of Daddy Issues

His teasing tone slipped over me in a familiar, happy way. I couldn’t help but smile as I remembered this wasn’t my family. Puck and I were just having a good time.

There was a group of teenage girls clustered near a dunk booth by the concession stand. I marveled at their innocence as I waited in line Much like that carny kid at the coaster, I was less than a decade older than these girls and felt like it was an entire lifetime. Unlike them, I’d never had the security of knowing I could blow all my money flirting with a cute boy and still have food to eat the next day. By their age I was at Fall Fest keeping an eye out for adults to make sure Ghost didn’t get caught selling pot to…these kids.

Fall Fest was giving me all the emotions.

I glanced past them and chuckled, seeing why they were preening. Crash Vaughn sat shirtless in the tank, mercilessly egging on the teenage boys. His jokes were aimed at them with each missed toss, but his sly smile went for their girlfriends.

Barely out of high school, Crash was just their type. Cute and a little dangerous.

He saw me and winked.

By the time I’d made it to the front of the line, the boys had charged off, defeated and annoyed. Several of the girls lingered, watching Crash dangle his feet in the water, and I knew those looks, I knew that feeling. I got it watching Puck sometimes, the tingling warmth that radiated up from the center.

After fishing a ten from my pocket, I handed it to the guy taking tickets, and whispered my plan in his ear. He laughed and waved me on.

“Kenna! You gonna take a shot at me? Where’s the big guy? He’d have a better chance than those little spaghetti arms.” But he was smiling with genuine happiness.

Jester’s little brother was a turd.

“Probably, but he’s not as conniving or convincing as I am.” I walked past the basket of softballs, sipping my soda through its red straw. “And these ladies deserve a show.”

I smacked the giant yellow circle with an open palm just as his eyes widened in realization. The mechanism released with a clang and a splash as he dropped into the water. The teenagers laughed and applauded as I took a tiny bow.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” I called over my shoulder, as Crash climbed from the tank, laughing, while water streamed from lean muscle.

Kenna

My chest was tight from exertion, and I was panting a bit when Eli dragged me off the light-up dance floor. Fall Fest was a quirky combo of craft fair and carnival. In between the carnival and the vendor booths, they’d set up a stage for musical acts, an area full of tables and chairs, and a light up dance floor. Currently, famous cartoon mascots danced it up with little kids while their parents ate and took a break.

Eli and I had boogied until I couldn’t anymore and that was saying something. The kid had stamina.

He got it from his dad.

Puck leaned against a concrete post, with a giant stuffed cartoon alien tucked under his arm, and laughed at us.

“Come on, Dad.” Eli grabbed his hand and tugged us toward the dragon coaster. He’d only just bested it and was ready for more.

“Are you flirting with the kid at the gate so my kid can ride?” Puck came back to me, a sheet of tickets in his hand, and Eli already on the ride.

“Maybe. You jealous?”

He swatted at my ass and I didn’t dodge it, instead let the little sting tingle its way to my core. Today I’d seen a gentler side to Puck, been a part of it, and enjoyed it. But the flash of desire in his eyes was a heated reminder of the other side of him. One I’d barely had the chance to explore.

“Keep it up, big guy, and I might pour it on thick next time.”

“Think so?” He lifted one eyebrow, leaned down, and growled in a low throaty rumble. “Do it and see what happens.”

I squeezed my thighs together to keep from coming right there on the spot and met his hot gaze. The only thing stopping me from tugging him into some dark corner was the kid that came charging down the ramp for more tickets.

Puck cleared his throat and knelt down to Eli’s level, shoving the oversized plushie at me as he did. I looked away, knowing my cheeks were turning several shades of pink as I thought about all the things I could do to Puck if we were alone.

Down girl.

At sunset, we were in that odd span of time at the carnival where the teenagers rolled in and the families rolled out. Eli made three more laps on the dragon coaster before Puck chased us both through the funhouse.

Puck was getting noticed now. The Desert Kings logo on the t-shirt drew the gaze of the teenage boys and the size and rippling muscle the gaze of the girls. Puck only seemed to notice the girls…I wasn’t the only one who could flirt with a look.

“Be nice,” I told him as he bent to pick up a dropped cell phone and hand it to a blushing blonde who couldn’t meet his eyes.

---