Max by Ali Parker

Author:Ali Parker [Parker, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BrixBaxter Publishing
Published: 2019-11-20T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Max

Piper hadn’t been lying when she said she was freakishly good at carnival games.

She swept every game we came across, whether it was dart throwing, balloon popping, ball hurling, ring tossing, or hammer smacking. After one particularly well-earned victory, she threw her arms in the air above her head and spun in a circle. The wine sent her a little off kilter, and she stumbled a couple of steps.

I caught her elbow and steadied her.

Piper swept her hair away from her rosy cheeks and laughed openly. “I should have warned you before we started that not only am I amazingly talented at this, but I’m also a really poor winner. I mean, I don’t have a humble bone in my body.”

Being around Piper made it impossible not to smile. She made me feel like the literal sun was shining out of my ass and I was on cloud nine.

“Humble winners are usually humble because they never win,” I said.

Piper steadied herself with a hand on my shoulder. “Good point. Whew. Can we sit for a minute? I think all my victory endorphins are getting to my head.”

I led her to a bench close by, and we faced the carousel about fifty feet away.

Piper pointed across the pier at it. “When I reorient myself, we’re going on that.”

She wouldn’t receive any arguments from me on that. I’d had my eye on the carousel all night. And I had one game plan of what we would do once we got on it.

I’d been waiting for the perfect moment to kiss her.

And this sure as hell felt like it might be it.

It wasn’t going to get any more romantic than this.

Piper let out a contented sigh beside me before slumping low on the bench and leaning to the side to rest her head on my shoulder. At first, I was unsure if it was an invitation for me to get close, too. So I stayed stone still, terrified that any movement might scare her off, like she was some sort of bird.

Piper wrapped both her arms around mine and nuzzled in closer to my side. “Were you and Holly born here in California?”

“No, actually. Oklahoma.”

She lifted her cheek from my shoulder and smiled at me. “A country boy? I didn’t see that coming.”

“It never felt like home.” It felt like a cage.

“How long ago did you leave Oklahoma?”

“As soon as I was able and fresh out of high school. I got a scholarship and came to LA to start school. Holly followed two years later after she graduated high school.” I chuckled softly as I recalled how different things used to be back then. “She didn’t have any money when she came to LA. Our parents wouldn’t let her have a job while she was in high school because they didn’t want it to distract her from her studies. Realistically, I think our father just wanted to make sure she was home and not out with boys. And close by to grab him a beer from the fridge when he told her to.

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