The Ending I Want(41)

I turn to the guy. “I’ll take Squishy,” I tell him, holding the stuffed animal up.

“Okay, what’s next?” I hook my arm through Liam’s, holding Squishy to my chest.

“Hook a Duck.”

“Hook a what?” I give him a confused look.

“Duck.”

“And what’s Hook a Duck?”

“You don’t know what Hook a Duck is?” Liam looks appalled.

“No…but I feel like I should.”

“You should.”

“What’s so special about it?”

“Well, nothing special per se, but it’s like a rite of passage. Every kid plays Hook a Duck when they come to the fair.”

“Hate to break it to you, Hunter, but we’re not kids.”

“Maybe not. But it’s your first time at a fair in England, and you have to play.” Liam grabs my hand and sets off, I assume, in search of this Hook a Duck game.

We find one a few minutes later, and it’s closed. All shut up with the tarpaulin covering the booth.

“It’s closed. Never mind,” I say to him.

I start to walk away, but Liam tugs me back by the hand he’s holding.

“Like a little thing like it being closed is going to stop us from playing.”

He gives me a grin and drops my hand. I watch as he unhooks the tarpaulin at the bottom and lifts it just enough so that he can sneak in underneath it.

“Hunter, what are you doing?” I hiss.

He ducks his head back out. “Come on,” he whispers, holding the material up for me to go under.

“I’m not going in there.”

“Yes you are. Now hurry the f*ck up, or you’ll get me arrested for breaking into a Hook a Duck tent,” he whispers.

“Ugh,” I complain.

I do a quick look around to make sure no one is watching, and then I duck under. Liam drops the tarpaulin, and we’re inside the Hook a Duck tent. Thankfully, there’s a dim light on in here otherwise it’d be pitch black.

“Okay, so we’re in here. Now what?”

“Now, you hook a duck.” He grins and picks up a stick that has a wire hook on the end. He points to what can only be described as a fake pond in the middle of the stall with rubber duckies floating around it.

“So, that’s it? I just use this stick and hook a duck on it.”

“Well, yeah.” He gives me a stupid look. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”

“Sure it’s not.” I snatch the stick from him.

Liam leans against the edge of the fake pond and folds his arms, watching me. “Go on then. Hook a duck, Boston.”

I chuckle, shaking my head. I put my bag on the floor and set Squishy on top of it. Then, I hover my stick over the water.

I try to catch one of the little f*ckers—I really do—but they’re moving a lot quicker than I realized, and they’re all bumping into each other, knocking the others away.

I nearly catch one, but another bumps into it and knocks the f*cker away from my hook.

“Little bastard,” I hiss.

Liam laughs. “You can’t call a duck a bastard.”

“It’s not a real duck.” I give him a look. “Aha! Got one!” I proudly lift my stick with the duck hanging on the end of it. “So, now what?”

“What do you mean, now what?”

“I mean, now what happens?”

“Nothing. That’s it. Well, you win a prize, but considering that we broke in here, taking a prize would be stealing.”

“Oh.” I take the duck off the stick, stand the stick against the pond, and set the duck on the small ledge below. “Well, it just feels kind of…anticlimactic now.” I lean against the pond next to him.

“Anticlimactic, huh? How about I make you feel climactic?”

I turn my face, meeting his gaze, and see the desire right there in his eyes. “Here?” I whisper.

“You wanted to have sex outside. It’s on your list.”

“Yeah, but this is hardly outside. We’re in a tent filled with a fake pond, rubber ducks, and cheap toys.”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to f*ck before an audience.” He gives me a sexy smile. Putting his hand on my thigh, he slides it upward, taking my dress with it.

“You’re not a stranger. I said I wanted to f*ck a stranger.”

He leans his face down to mine. His breath is burning over my lips, and I’m suddenly in dire need of his kiss.

“So, pretend I’m a stranger.”

I lift my eyes to his. “So…just pretend like I don’t know you?”

“Mmhmm.” He brushes his lips over mine, softly, teasingly. “You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. We’re two strangers with insane chemistry that we need to f*ck out.”

I graze my lip with my teeth.

Next thing I know, he’s in front of me, pulling me against his body and kissing me, hard.

I wind my fingers into his hair, gripping, as his tongue explores my mouth.

He steps forward, moving me back against the pond. His hand comes up my side to cup my breast.

“The rubber duck is jabbing me in the ass,” I whisper against his mouth.

Liam rumbles out a laugh. “Lucky f*cking duck.” He reaches behind me and moves the duck out of the way. “Better?” he asks.