Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“Aren’t you going to have any?” Gabi rips off a piece of funnel cake and pops it into her mouth. “Or are you just going to stare at me like a serial killer all night?”
“I like staring at you.” I smirk. “Can’t help that I look like a serial killer when I do it.”
A blush colors her cheeks as she shakes her head and shoves the basket of mini donuts in my direction. When I don’t touch them, she sighs.
“Let me guess. You live off the blood of humans?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, you’re giving me a complex.”
I eat one to appease her, and eventually she fills up, and we toss the rest except for the cotton candy. When I take her to the row of games, she pauses in front of the shooting gallery, a distant expression in her eyes as she swallows hard. It’s a safe bet she’s remembering when I won her that threadbare stuffed animal on her bed. I squeeze her hand in mine, and she offers me a nervous smile as I drag her up to the booth.
“Ready for a game?”
“I’ll watch,” she says.
I nod, and the attendant hands me the air-powered pellet gun, then flips a switch to initiate the game. I fire off shots, pellets rattling into the trough beneath the counter as I methodically take down each moving target. The bell rings with every hit until there are none left.
“Wow,” Gabi hums.
The female attendant looks me over like I’m her next meal as she leans over the counter, showing off the tits in her corset.
“That was really impressive. I don’t think anybody’s ever taken them down that fast.”
I turn to face Gabi, stifling my amusement when I catch her shooting the attendant an irritated look.
Pressing my fingers to her jaw, I tilt her face until her attention’s on me.
“Which one do you want?”
“What?”
“The prizes.”
“Oh.” She blinks, glancing up at the giant stuffed animals hanging overhead. She bites her lip as she considers it, then her gaze settles on the shark. “That one.”
I jerk my head at the attendant, and she hesitates like she doesn’t want to give it to her. It pisses me off, so I reach up and yank it down myself, handing it over to her.
“Thank you,” Gabi says primly, casting an icy smile at the attendant. “My boyfriend is so thoughtful, isn’t he?”
The attendant doesn’t answer, and I laugh at my possessive little monster as we head off to the next booth.
“Boyfriend, huh?”
“Well, honestly, it’s annoying. How many women just stare at you like that? I mean, I get it, you’re super hot, but I’m literally standing right next to you.”
“Super hot, hmm?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know it,” she huffs. “You’re like a walking advertisement for bad decisions.”
I give her a look, and she rushes to overexplain like she usually does, which only pleases me more. I like seeing her all twisted up in knots over me.
“I mean, in the 'oh, look there’s a bad boy who’s definitely going to break my heart,' kind of way. Not that you’re going to break my heart, because we’re casual, obviously. I just mean—”
She gets flustered, and I stop to kiss her as she lets out a grunt of frustration.
“If it comes so easy to you, why haven’t you been with anyone else before?” she asks.
“Because I never wanted anyone else.”
She seems to have trouble accepting that answer, but it’s not a lie. I could have left the island and found a meaningless fuck, but there was nothing about that option that appealed to me.
They wouldn’t be her.
“It’s just hard to believe you could have your pick of anyone, and you’d choose me,” she says. “I’m nothing special.”
“Hey.” My thumb grazes her chin. “Don’t talk about my girlfriend like that. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty protective of her.”
A hint of a smile tugs at her lips. “Girlfriend, hmm?”
“There was never a competition, Praeda. Nobody else could ever compare.”
She swallows and forces a nod.
“Okay…well, I’ll try not to get worked up when other women throw themselves at you.”
“Get as worked up as you like,” I murmur the words against her lips. “Lay claim to me then and there.”
A quiet laugh escapes her. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
I take her by the hand, and we venture to the other two game booths. By the time we finish, she has two more giant plushies for her bed. I carry the latest additions for her as we make our way back to the big wheel.
As we approach, Gabi watches curiously as an attendant exits one of the cages with a cleaning basket and flips the colored dot on the front to green. A couple ahead of us enters that cage, and we set Gabi’s prizes on top of the cubbies before making our way to the front of the line—cotton candy in hand.