Page 39 of Wreaking Havoc on my Heart

“Are you sure?” I ask, needing him to be certain. “I don’t need to know. You could never be ready to tell me that and I would understand.”

He just smiles back at me. “I’m ready, Kitten. When it’s just us, I want you to call me by my real name. Call me Beau.”

I actually laugh out loud. There’s literally no holding it back. I know he’s thinking the same thing I am because he laughs along with me.

“Your name is Beau? Like the same as bow? Bow and arrow?” Tears spring to my eyes as I keep laughing and he nods, cracking up along with me.

“Let’s just say they didn’t think all that hard about my nickname, and those that know thought it was pretty damn funny.”

I wipe at my tears and pull him in for a kiss.

“I love it, Beau.”

The sun setting on the waves and the gorgeous flash of his teeth cements this moment into my brain as a core memory. I finally have my guys. While we may have a few things left to still work out, there are no more secrets. When I throw my arms around him, he picks me up and twirls me around before putting me down.

“Hop on.” Arrow gestures to his back.

I do as he says and laugh while he takes off running down to the insane obstacle course he had set up. Placing me on my feet, he spins and kisses me, dipping me so far back that my hair brushes the sand.

“Are you ready for a little game?” he asks and I nod.

“I haven’t done this course, and I gave strict instructions that I didn’t want to know much about it to make sure we had an even playing field. So, we start here and grab our bow and ten arrows. There are exactly ten shots that need to be made so if you mess up, then you skip it.”

He hands me my weapon and helps me get the arrows situated on my back before doing the same for himself.

“Each shot made in the red at the center is worth two points, yellow is worth one, blue is zero, but a miss is minus one. Whoever finishes first gets a plus three added to their card and we’ll tally them up at the end.”

I glance at the start and see the first target through the trees. It’s a tight squeeze, but I know I can make it.

“Do we get a warm-up shot?” I ask and he gestures behind us.

At first I don’t see anything, but when I move around I find a target painted up on the cliffs.

“Ladies first.” He steps back, giving me room to grab for an arrow. I notch it into place. Taking a steadying breath, I draw back.

A breeze caresses my skin as I close my eyes for a second, then I exhale and let the arrow fly. Before I can fully inhale my next breath, the silver head embeds itself into the red center, and I turn around with a wide smile.

“Your turn, professor.” I wink at him as a grin stretches his beautiful lips. I watch him go through the same motions, his arrow landing right next to mine with not even enough space for dental floss to wiggle through.

When he flashes me those pearly whites, I know I’m in trouble.

“One, two, three, go,” I say as quickly as I can before darting in front of him to the first obstacle. His laughter follows behind me as he enters his side of the course, and I focus on my next target.

Flags alert us for when we should be looking out for targets. The first three are easy reds for me. Four ends up going wide because of a gust of wind, causing it to land in the yellow. At five, I’m rushing so quickly I miss it altogether. I take a calming breath before continuing, getting my head back in the game.

Six through nine all hit the red when footsteps sound just on the other side of the trees. Arrow must approach ten at the same time as me because I can hear the drawback of his bow. My anxiety rises, but I remember what Havoc taught me about meditating.

I take a second not to rush, picturing only black. I let it bleed into and over my racing thoughts until they go still. Only then do I open my eyes and take aim, hitting it dead in the center.

“Yes!”

I run to the exit, my chest heaving with excitement. I don’t see Arrow anywhere. I find myself actually jumping for joy and laughing. As soon as he runs through his side of the course, I charge him, tossing my weapon to the ground and launching myself into his arms. I don’t even care who won, I feel so invigorated.

Pulling back, I kiss him with the force of a typhoon hitting land. His arms tighten around me and I breathe him in. He’s all-consuming, surrounding me with a wave of contentment I didn’t even know was possible with his sage and sandalwood scent. I let him break the kiss, and he stares at me. His blue eyes seem to see every insecurity inside my mind only to push them to the side.

“You’re a force, Kitten. Never forget that.”

Lacing my fingers together behind his neck, I smile at him.

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