The Punk and the Plaything (When Rivals Play #3) - B.B. Reid Page 0,49
if it was because of the face paint or the way they devoured him with their eyes.
Had Jamie noticed, or was he completely oblivious to the attention?
I started to tell him, hoping to tease him and make him blush as he’d unknowingly done to me so many times already, but then a streak of something hot speared my chest, and all I saw was green. I didn’t know what it meant, but it was enough for me to keep my mouth shut about his admirers.
“No, thanks,” I mumbled as I toyed with the hem of my dress. My mom would have a stroke if I fell and flashed the entire town my bum. Maybe that was why she’d forced me to wear a dress to a carnival. It had been her way of making sure I didn’t have too much fun. This dress felt heavier than a pair of iron shackles clamped around my wrists. I no longer blended with my crew and, instead, stuck out like a frilly pink thumb.
“It’s just a dress,” Jamie said, sensing the reason for my hesitation. “You’re still you underneath.”
“But you don’t even like me. Why would you care?”
“Summer isn’t over yet,” he replied, unmoved by my suspicious gaze. “There’s still time for you to change my mind.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”
How could he assume I’d give a crap if he liked me or not?
His only response was to press the tickets into my palm. I stared at the ladder, watching Ever and then Jason topple over for the fifth time. It’s just a dress, I thought, repeating Jamie’s claim in my head. I’m still me underneath. Vaughn was next in line, preparing to hand over his tickets when I cut him off at the front of line. The operator looked from me to Vaughn with wide eyes, waiting for him to blow up, but Vaughn only stood back and crossed his arms with a grin.
“It’s about time you got in the game, princess.” In a terrible Jamaican accent, Vaughn said, “I hope you’re feeling lucky, mon.”
They’d all been trying to win the five-foot banana with the dreadlocks, colorful beanie, and a creepy smile. I shuddered at the thought of waking up in the middle of the night and seeing that thing grinning at me through the dark.
After handing off the tickets, I moved to the bottom of the ladder and filled my lungs with as much air as I could before slowly exhaling. I had the urge to look over my shoulder. To see if Jamie was watching me.
I already knew he was.
Gripping the fifth rung, I started my climb, ignoring the boys’ strategy of going fast, and took it slow. But just like the boys, it wasn’t long before I topped over and landed on my back on the bouncy mat. Sitting up, I could see Vaughn, Ever, and Jason holding their sides while Jamie watched me with what could only be pride in his eyes. Determined, I rose up, making sure my dress stayed in place and got back in line after snatching the tickets Jamie held out for me. The second time, I made it a little farther, keeping my hands and feet on the outer edge and using the rope. I was only three or four rungs from the top when I landed face-first in the mat.
This time, when I rose to my feet, the boys weren’t laughing. They looked a little surprised and more than a little eager. I started for Jamie, ready to use every single one of his tickets if I had to, but Ever cut me off, offering up the last of his tickets. His golden gaze stirred the butterflies in my belly, and I was suddenly reminded of my crush and all the weeks I’d spent secretly pining over him. I still wasn’t sure when it began, but I knew then that it hadn’t ended. I’d just been so distracted by hating Jamie that Ever had faded into the background. I’d forgotten how handsome, boyish, and kind Ever was. He’d certainly never pushed me down, chased me through the woods, or made me feel unwanted. I slowly accepted his tickets, trying my hardest not to blush, and when I turned for the ladder, my gaze somehow found Jamie’s.
His brown gaze, not as bright as Ever’s but somehow more magnetizing, never wavered. I knew then that he’d been watching me this entire time. His tantalizingly wide mouth had flattened with anger, making me think