Page 91 of Her Paramedic
“When you apply, how long before you hear something?” Slate asked.
“It could be a long process. The applicant pool will be steep, but if I don’t get it, there will be other opportunities. I might have to relocate for them, but I’m not opposed to that.”
“Okay, I have the cards,” Zuri announced, and Slate turned his attention to her. “There are seven face cards. Ace already has, well, the ace of spades since he was the individual champion a couple of years ago. Whoever pulls the other ace will go up against him, and the winner from that match will go up against the winner from the rest of the tournament.”
He and Matteo walked over and, once all eight of them had a card, they showed each other. He’d drawn the king of spadeswhile Matteo had drawn the king of clubs. Killian pulled the ace of clubs, which meant he and Ace were up first. Axel and Gram pulled the jacks, and Maximus and Jax pulled the queens.
Everyone gathered around as Killian and Ace went to the center, where Gram had drawn a box in chalk spray. They picked up the rope before turning to the crowd.
“We need a referee,” Ace informed.
“I’ll do it,” Journee volunteered.
“Ain’t no fucking way,” Ace protested, shaking his head. “You can’t ref a match your boyfriend is in. As a matter of fact, you can’t referee at all. Kaydence and Talia, you can’t either.”
His girlfriend made an offended sound as she leaned into his side. Slate draped his arm over her shoulders and refrained from chuckling.
“I’m offended that you think I’d cheat,” Journee replied. “But whatever.”
“I got it,” Aryah volunteered, walking over to the two men. “Are you ready?” They both nodded. She clapped her hands together and yelled, “Go!”
Slate watched as they both pulled, the flag attached to the rope not moving an inch. After a moment, he watched Killian dig his feet in, slacken his grip on the rope momentarily, reaffirm it, and give a hard tug. It pulled the flag to his side, and Ace followed shortly after.
“I should have known you were going to pull that bullshit,” Ace said.
“Knowing still wouldn’t have helped you,” Killian responded while Axel and Gram took their spots.
Axel won the match between him and Gram. Jax won the match between him and Maximus, and Slate knew he’d gloat about it to Maximus for at least a week, since the older man had beaten him last time they’d gone head to head.
Slate pulled on his gloves before going to the rope. Aryah called for them to go, and he and Matteo pulled. The flag moved back and forth within the box, but it never came out on the other side. He readjusted his hands and gave it one hard pull, bringing the flag to his side and coming out the winner.
Once the rest of the matches were done, it came down to him and Killian. Slate was aware that his cousin liked to pull little tricks.
“That shit you pulled with Ace isn’t going to work on me,” Slate told him with a smirk.
“Simmer down, little cousin. I don’t need it to.”
Slate narrowed his eyes at Killian. The other man was barely two years older than him, but he knew Killian had only said it to annoy him. Aryah called for them to go, and the flag barely moved back and forth. For a moment, it didn’t seem like it would do much more than that. Their match was dragging on longer than the others had. Killian twisted his wrist in the rope as he centered his weight, and Slate should have seen it coming.
“Fuck,” Slate cursed, as his cousin pulled quick and hard, the flag moving over to his side.
“Better luck next year,” Killian stated, and Slate rolled his eyes, going back to Talia.
They went through their sibling matches, and the oldest four against the youngest four. Slate was sitting in a chair with Talia on his lap as she checked the scar on his arm to make sure he hadn’t strained it. The wound had healed up nicely, and the scarring was fading.
“Do you ladies want to go? Or we could do men versus women.” Maximus said.
“Absolutely not,” Talia replied at the same time Journee said, “No, thank you,” and Kaydence responded, “I’ll pass.”
Slate chuckled. He was positive with the way he threw her around in the bedroom that she wouldn’t, but he would have lether win. He was sure they all would have. Talia pinched him, and he raised a brow at her.
“I know what you’re thinking and don’t laugh at me for self-preservation.”
“I’m not, baby. I think it’s cute that you know your limits.” He placed his lips next to her ear. “It’s even cuter when you let me push them.” He kissed her neck, and Talia laced their fingers together.
Slate missed whatever had happened around him, but when he looked up, he found Alivia was on one side of the rope.
“I’ll go first,” she announced. “Who wants to go against me? Want to take your shot?” she asked, her eyes shifting to Journee, and Slate refrained from snorting. It seemed Alivia had an unyielding need to push people’s buttons.
