Page 27 of A Not So Prince Charming

“It means a lot to you.” She whispered, watching as I took a swing. Another few pieces went flying off.

“Yes.” That was an understatement.

She took the mallet back, biting her lip in concentration as she swung back, before releasing her fury on the pumpkin. Ella let her swings fly—once, twice, three times—until the pumpkinwas practically mashed on the ground, only small pieces left remaining.

“Whoops.” The sly smile that split her face was dazzling. “Guess I didn’t know my own strength.”

She went back over to the table, handing another five dollar bill over before coming back and standing next to me.

“Ready for round two?” She pointed at another pumpkin, and I smirked.

It was like she knew I couldn’t talk about it more, and was going to distract me the only way she knew how.

“Bring it on, Princess.”

“Ella!” I huffed out, hurrying to catch up with her.

“What?” She spun, pinning me with that beautiful glare of hers, almost tripping in the process. Sensing her agitation, I did my best not to reach out my hands to catch her.

Even though I’d just been touching her earlier and was dying to do it again.

My hands ran through my hair as I gave her my best frown. “Were you really going to leave without saying goodbye?”

She looked off to the side. “You looked busy, so…”

After we’d smashed a few pumpkins together, trading taunts and retorts, Jackson had called me over, needing help, and then I’d been surrounded by my fraternity brothers and unable to escape to get back to her. Stellan had needed something, and when I’d finally gotten free, she’d been leaving.

“It looks like your girls had fun.”

Ella wiped her hands on her jeans, still looking anywhere but at me. “They did. Thank you. I was skeptical, but…”

“You should really learn to trust me, huh?” I gave her another cocky grin. I couldn’t help it.

She rolled her eyes, but then her face grew serious. “I’ll admit, Iwaswrong about today.”

“Does that mean I win?”

“Hardly.” Ella’s lips curved up in a taunting smile. “You said the best chapter would win, right? I don’t think that can be determined by just one event.”

I nodded, wanting to see where she was going with this.

“There’s four weeks left of the semester. Which means… at least two joint events per week. Whoever has the most wins—for the event they planned—at the end of the semester wins.”

We hadn’t even agreed on the rest of the calendar for said joint events yet—mostly because she’d ran away from me again yesterday afternoon before we could finish syncing up—but I liked my odds. Mostly because either way, I was the one winning.

My prize was spending time with Ella.

I leaned in closer, my lips only inches from her ear. “And what do you get if you win?” I repeated her question from yesterday. She opened her mouth, but I shook my head. “Take your time. You gotta pick somethingreallygood, after all.”

“And if you win?” she breathed, her voice sounding like pure sex.

“You let me give you another orgasm.” The words slipped out before I could think better of it. Because I wanted more. Wanted her back in my bed. Wanted her to not run away this time.

Her cheeks were pink, her breath shallow as I pulled away. I could see the hesitation in her eyes, and fuck—I hated that.

I wanted to reassure her of my intentions. That there were no other girls. That I’d only seen her. But I needed to go slow, and earn her trust. Start small.

“Do you want to get dinner?”

---