Blackbird (A Stepbrother Romance #1)(35)

My frog flew wildly and fell in the water with a heavy splash. That meant I lost.

“Try again.”

My second try went no better than the first.

Victor slipped behind me. His arms came up around mine and he clasped his hands around mine as my back pressed to his chest. I wasn’t thinking about the frogs. He lifted my hands and brought the hammer down. The frog went flying, too high I thought, and came down with a solid thump on the edge of one of the cups. It hung there for a moment and I thought it would slide into the water, until it rolled in. The attendant brought over a small stuffed rabbit and handed it to me.

“Let’s do some rides,” said Victor, taking my hand.

“Which one?”

He pointed at the far end of the little park. There was a huge viking longboat with a dragon head on either end, swinging back and forth until it went from horizontal to just past vertical.

“I am not riding that,” I declared.

“Oh, come on. Look at all the people doing it. We’ll be fine.”

Somehow, he ended up pulling me into the line with him. My heart pounded harder the closer we came to getting on. I almost ducked into the exit line when he handed over the tickets for our spots on the ride, but he gave my hand a squeeze and pulled me along with him.

“It’s not as bad if we sit at the end,” he said.

Like a fool, I believed him.

A cross bar tightened over my legs, and I clung to Victor for dear life, hugging his arm and clutching my rabbit. He pulled my hat off and held it in his other hand, and the boat started to swing. It was only moving a little, building up momentum, but I knew it was a mistake. I clutched him tighter as it moved a little more with each swing, my stomach always just behind, or so it felt. When I opened my eyes next the boat began its first real swing, and the ground swept away, too far away. I screamed into his shoulder and pulled him tight, and then we reached the top. Everything went weightless. The boat swung the other way, and I felt like I was dangling inches above the ground at the other end of the swing, only to sweep backwards. Not being able to see made it worse and I jammed my face into his shoulder, hiding.

It was exhilarating. It couldn’t have been five minutes, but it felt like we were swinging for an hour. By the time the boat stopped, I was molded against his body and panting. I walked oddly down the exit ramp. He never once let go of my hand, until he settled my hat back on my head.

We took every adult-sized ride in the park. The spinning teacups had me screaming, the helicopter ride had me staring out at the ocean as it carried us high over the park. The only one I refused was the haunted house.

My head still swimming from the pounding I took on the bumper cars, I walked with him down the boardwalk. We ate hotdogs on the way back to the car, and I ate a funnel cake on the way back to school. I broke off pieces and fed them to him as he drove, and shuddered in strange excitement when he lightly licked powdered sugar from my fingers. The crispy, sugar dough melted in my mouth, so sweet it made me sick, but I didn’t care.

I was so happy, I never once noticed that we were being followed.





Chapter Twelve





Evelyn





It was a Tuesday, in the afternoon, after my introductory math class ended. The work was trivial. I barely paid attention. My tutors did a masterful job of preparing me.

My phone rang.

“Evelyn,” my father said.

“Hello, Father,” I said, cheerfully. “How are you?”

“Shut up,” he growled. “Walk back to your dormitory. Now.”

He hung up.

I almost dropped the phone. My fingers were trembling. Victor would be over after classes to pick me up. If Father saw us together…

He was waiting for me. I knew it. My feet moved on their own. I drifted out of the lecture hall and down the hall, then outside. Then, I saw him. He was standing on the sidewalk in front of my dormitory building. After a quick glance to either side, I rushed across the street and walked up to him, clutching books to my chest.

“Hello, Father.” I said, warily. “I need to…”

“Get in the car.”

He was parked illegally in the street. I went over anyway and got in, my temples pounding as I waited for him to get in. He started driving.

“Victor is here and you’ve been seeing him socially.”

“He took me to the beach,” I murmured, in a very small voice.

“To the movies, to the park. You see him almost every day.”

“Yes.” There was no point in lying. He would know. He always knew.

“What do you do with him?”

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. I clutched the books harder to my chest. “I… I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Has he f*cked you yet?”

The question was like a slap to the face, like cold water dumped on my head.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“That… I…

I hadn’t slept with him. Not yet, but when he spoke like that, Father was at his angriest. I tried to sink through the seat and disappear.

“You’re coming with me.”

“Where?”

“Home. I’ll make arrangements for you to transfer to another school. Had I known the boy transferred here I would have taken care of it already. I’ll send someone to gather your things. We’re leaving. Now.”