Page 75 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

“She’s gonna win,” Jaxon said at the same time.

“Should we place bets?” Adam asked, handing Kai a cider. “I’ve got twenty on Morgan, but Riley’s got that vengeance glow.”

“That’s the pie rage,” Kai grunted. “Don’t mess with pie rage.”

Meanwhile, Beckett walked past the stage, held up a sign written on the back of a napkin, and deadpanned, “You got this, cupcake.”

I nearly lost it.

That wasnotlike Beckett at all. What had happened to him? To all of us?

Riley saw the sign and choked on a cherry, which let Morgan take the win by half a crust.

Riley dropped back into a hay bale, cheeks flushed, eyes wide, lips stained red, looking like she’d barely survived an ambush by the Fruit of the Loom mascots.

I snagged a towel from George Cooper and made my way to her as she wiped cherry goop off her cheek.

“You were magnificent,” I said, crouching beside her. “Sticky, but magnificent.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You bribed children.”

“Only slightly.”

“You’re the worst.”

“And yet,” I leaned in, just a little, “you’re still here.”

She didn’t say anything. Just stared at me like I was some puzzle she hadn’t quite decided whether to solve or smash.

That look? It did something to me.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she said softly.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re seeing something that scares you.”

I swallowed hard. “Maybe I am.”

She blinked. Her breath caught. And for a second, I thought maybe she’d lean in.

Instead, she threw the towel at my chest and marched off.

Everyone laughed. I stayed kneeling, towel in hand, stupid grin on my face.

Fuck, I was in trouble.

Then came the dancing.

The string quartet kicked in near the gazebo. Slow, sweeping, romantic enough to give a guy cavities, and the cobblestones were full within minutes with couples swaying like they’d been dropped into a snow globe.

I hung back. Hands shoved in my pockets. Watching, as always.

Because if I got too close, I’d do something stupid. Like cut through the crowd and pull Riley into my arms with the whole damn town watching.

She looked unreal. Hair a little wild from the wind, cheeks flushed from laughter and sugar and whatever the hell she was feeling tonight.

There was a softness to her, the kind that snuck up on you. The kind that made it hard to breathe.

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