Page 72 of Bearly Hanging On

“Nothing says romance like throwing sharp axes at a target,” I said.

Tor let the first axe fly.

Thunk.

He wasn’t even looking and it still hit the bullseye, people around us starting to get excited.

“OK, not bad,” I said.

“That’s just a warm up.”

Tor picked up another axe, tossing it almost negligently at the target. The tip buried itself into the red inner circle.

My eyes narrowed.

“You’ve done this before.”

He shrugged with faux innocence.

“Maybe.”

The third axe? Bullseye again. A small crowd started to form around us. I couldn’t help but smile at Tor’s showboating but also the secondhand pleasure. Yeah, look, I wanted to say to everyone, even though I never would. That’s my man tossing them axes.

My man.

“You’re showing off,” I said in my best grumpy voice.

“Obviously,” he replied, picking up another axe only to approach me, not the target. “What else am I going to do? Not try to impress my fated mate.”

There was a moment then, where it felt like we were back at school, but rather than being that girl that spent way too much time with the troublemakers, Tor and I were the popular kids everyone else couldn’t help but stop and stare at. That was only exacerbated when he tilted my chin up with his free hand. I thought he’d kiss me. I was starting to go up on my tiptoes, ready for it, but instead he tossed the axe over his shoulder and, sure enough, it hit the bullseye again. Everyone clapped as his head dropped down. Those green eyes danced with mischief, even as his tongue slid across his bottom lip.

“What do you think, little bird? Have I proven myself worthy yet?”

Part of me wanted to stay here forever, teetering on the precipice of something amazing, but never actually committing to it, but that’s not how life worked.

“Not asking you to jump yet, Harper.”That’s what he said to me when he took me to his family’s restaurant.“You’ll know when you’re ready and I’ll be right there with you, but… just gimme a chance to show you what’s possible.”

Maybe I wanted to do just that, see if he could catch me with the same effortless skill. My heart beat hard, fast, willing me to make a decision, but instead I popped up and pressed my lips to his.

Tor took over, an axe falling to the floor with a clatter as his hands cradled my jaw. His mouth was hard, insisting my lips part to let him in. That musky perfume of his made my head spin, as did his deep, hungry kisses, until someone cleared their throat dramatically. The stall holder thrust a gigantic tiger at us, then waved us away.

“OK, so now I have a truly impressive menagerie of soft toys,” I said as my arms strained to hold each plushie. “Now what?”

Mack plucked them from my grip, tossing them all except the wolf to the others.

“Now you go on the bumper cars with me.” His grin was a relief to see. “You can help me take Tor out.”

“After I demonstrated my prowess with axes?” Tor spluttered. “No fair!”

“All’s fair in love and war,” I said with a shrug, skipping after Mack.

Chapter 30

Tor

I loved it when a plan came together.

The tiger, he was a slow and methodical hunter. He could lurk in the grass for hours, coiled and ready to strike. I admit, my attention span was a little shorter, but still, I was willing to be patient, especially when it paid off like this.

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