Page 79 of Burning Embers
I’ve never really considered myself a competitive person before, but I really,reallywant to beat him.
Ethan has moved closer to me subconsciously as we played and chatted, and he now sits only a few inches away. His tongue pokes out from between his lips as he concentrates on the race.
I shouldn’t find that as cute as I do.
As we reach the final lap, I stealthily inch my fingers towards one of the throw pillows lying beside me.
Ethan’s gaze remains intent on the screen as his character makes a sharp turn. I’m controlling my character one-handed, but that’s okay. I know this course like the back of my hand, thanks to my last foster home.
Just as Ethan prepares to make another turn, I slap him across the face with the pillow. He’s so startled that he actually drops his steering wheel and begins to blink rapidly at the screen. His glasses are askew, and the static from the pillow causes his hair to stand up at odd angles on his head.
I giggle madly as my character easily passes his motionless one and then zooms across the finish line.
“What the…?” Understanding dawns on him, and he turns to me with a feigned scowl, even as his eyes sparkle with amusement. “You little cheat!”
I bite my lip to keep from smirking and then shrug noncommittally. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Is that the way we’re going to play this?” He cocks an eyebrow.
“The pillow slipped from my fingers,” I respond innocently as the next race begins.
“Hmmm.” Ethan’s grin is positively wicked, almost lurid, and does strange things to my insides.
The first lap starts off relatively uneventful. I keep glancing at Ethan out of the corner of my eye, certain he’s going to strike at any moment.
He never does.
My paranoia puts me in sixth place. Deciding he’s bluffing and isn’t actually going to do anything, I focus entirely on the game and swerve my car around the AI players until I reach second place.
I can see Ethan’s red car right in front me. He’s so close?—
I scream when a blanket is tossed over my head, enveloping me in darkness.
“Ethan!” I screech as I attempt to free myself from the soft prison.
He laughs boisterously.
Oh, it’ssoon.
As soon as I’m finally able to get my head free, I dive at him. I begin to tickle his sides with my free hand as I steer my car with the other, swerving like mad and bumping into every wall.
Ethan laughs and attempts to swat my wiggling fingers away.
“Seriously?” he asks. “That’s not going to work.”
But even as he says that, he begins to squirm and laugh harder, especially when I find his sweet spot—the skin just above the waistband of his jeans, where his shirt has risen up slightly.
“It seems like it’s working,” I tease with a wink.
Ethan gives up on trying to push me off and instead grabs a second pillow, which he uses to whack me across the head. I laugh and attempt to shove him off the couch, but he’s too heavy for me to move.
We end up in eleventh and twelfth place.
And I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to lose in my life.
Twenty-Six
IZZY