Page 20 of Whimsical Ink

“Out!”

“Hey! Mum, how is that sportsmanship?” Emma whinges, but when we meet in the middle of the sandy pitch, she reluctantly hands the bat to me.

“One run is worse than Mum. At least she got a six. What happened to winning?”

She grins at me and whispers, “Of course I’m not gonna win when it’s your fake girlfriend’s birthday, and she’s being smothered by our family. She deserves to win something.”

I glance at Maddy, who’s glaring at me but can’t help her lips turning up. “She does.”

Reaching the wicket, I right them and fake surprise at her mock glare. “What? It’s not my fault she wasn’t ready.”

She scoffs. “I watched you wait until she wasn’t looking.”

“Too bad it wasn’t in her rules.”

“It’s like that, is it?”

I grin. “Yep. Good luck getting me out.”

My grin falls when she brushes a hand down my chest and walks backwards to the waves crashing on the sand. “I don’t need any.”

“What are you planning?” I yell, rubbing a hand across the tingling skin her fingers touched.

“You should pay attention to the game.” She nods at Dad, getting ready to throw the ball.

“Sweetie, remember who buys you skincare.”

“Sweetie, remember who tattoos your ink,” she says with a saccharine smile.

Emma laughs on my left by the dunes. “Don’t piss her off.”

The girls share a look, and now I’m scared.

Shouldn’t have opened my big mouth.

I face Dad and wait for the ball to come at me. When it does, it cracks against the bat and lands in the waves. Then I’m sprinting, and I can’t enjoy watching Maddy wade into the water to find the ball.

The waves sucked the ball out further, giving me more time to run until Maddy re-emerges, wet, and running towards me.

I falter, but make it over the crease. The ball bounces off my back, and I whip towards her to see her biting her lip against a smile. Water drips from her body and clings to her chest.

I shake myself. “Why’d you hit me?”

“I didn’t do anything. You got in the way of the ball.”

“I got in the way of the ball?” I try to stop my smile, but she looks too adorable in her hat, soaked in water with flushed cheeks. I’m glad she’s enjoying herself. Her mood’s contagious.

“Yep. You should work on that.”

I laugh and watch her walk away, eyes dropping to see her one-piece riding up her ass now that she’s wet. How the fuck am I supposed to concentrate when she’s right there, looking gorgeous and relaxed? And wet.

“We still playing, or are you two forfeiting to go do disgusting things to each other?”

“Emma, shut?—”

“You ready, Danny?” Dad asks.

A glance at Maddy shows her giggling, and I say, “Always.”