Page 26 of Freak Show

And low and behold, Slone was winning.

Banner was third, Titus was second, and Slone came in first.

Banner fell on the ground and started laughing. “It’s because you have more muscle!”

“It’s because I’ve been working my ass off over the last six years, meanwhile you’re over there playing hide and seek,” Slone replied, not looking winded in the least.

Geez, these men were competitive.

“I guess we’ll just have to settle with you protecting our asses, and not racing them.” Titus grinned as he pushed Banner with his toe. “And he did it shoeless, too.”

He had.

Slone was wiggling his toes in the grass, grinning manically.

“Whatever,” he held out his hand, and Slone lifted him to his feet with very little effort. “You’re still a little bitch, though.”

“Maybe,” I heard Slone reply.

“They’re still just as much children now as they were in high school,” Perry murmured as she went back to the bed and picked the baby up before curling Jett into her arms. “Come to the kitchen tomorrow when you wake up. I get up super-duper early with this one most days, and there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be awake.”

After promising her I would, I closed the door behind her, then finally picked up my phone that’d been blowing up.

Keene’s number was the last one to pop up showing he’d called.

I pressed redial and placed it to my ear.

It took Keene three rings to answer. “I’m sorry.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure you are.”

“I really am. I didn’t know that she was sending you to your death. I thought you agreed,” he promised.

I snorted. “I agreed to go down something that was sure as hell going to make me go all limp and possibly drown? Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.”

There was a muffled ‘fuck’ on the other end of the line.

“I promise that it won’t happen again.” I didn’t reply to that, and instead Keene asked, “So where are you going this month?”

I believed him. At least, he wouldn’t allow any of that to happen again if he was present.

He was used to me taking off to random beaches by myself.

But this time I wasn’t going to a beach.

I’m not sure when I decided to take them up on their offer, but when I hit my room and saw them running their race barefoot, I’d already known it would be a fun month with him.

“I’m going to see when I get to the airport in the morning,” I shamelessly lied.

I wasn’t too sure why I’d decided to not tell my brother exactly where I was going and with who. Maybe it was because I was wanting to keep him a secret. Or, possibly, it was because I knew my brother would freak if I just decided to head out with a stranger.

Whatever the reason, I didn’t tell him, and I was okay with that after what he’d done to me earlier in the day—or hadn’t done. IE protect me.

He mumbled another few words under his breath, then blew it out in frustration.

“She’s scared, you know.”

I blinked. “What?”

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