Compass (24 page)

Reagan and Alexis wiggled free from his grip. “You’ve already had two corndogs,” Reagan whined in protest.

“Then I need to make it an uneven three,” he countered. He cut a glance over his shoulder to Ryan, nodding his head. Ryan returned the nod, an unspoken acknowledgement between the two men. Alexis was his. One way or another, she was his, and Declan would keep his bear-mitts off her.

“Everything okay?” Alexis purred so low that the sound rumbled deep in his belly. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her to his side. “I didn’t do anything to upset you, did I?”

Ryan leaned in, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Not at all. You’re amazing.” A light blush colored her cheeks. He reached out and tenderly stroked her heated skin. “Something tells me today’s going to be a great day.”

She peered up at him through her eyelashes. “Me too. I like Reagan. She’s a bit…”

“Mouthy, obnoxious, endearing,” Ryan rattled off.

“Yes,” Alexis chuckled. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, coming up behind Reagan and Declan. Reagan handed the ticket agent her press pass along with another card. “Are you okay with us getting along?” Alexis whispered.

Ryan tilted his head down to meet her gaze. He cupped the side of her face, brushing his thumb along the edge of her lower lip. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Alexis closed her eyes, her breathing heavy. “I don’t know…”

His lips came down, meeting the tip of her nose. “I couldn’t be happier.”

She opened her eyelids, to reveal her eyes filled with worry and confusion. Ryan couldn’t resist the urge within him. Declan was right. It was now or never, and he wanted her now. He leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. A kiss so powerful, so strong, that his whole body ignited into flames. Soft, smooth, sweet lips captured by his, craving, longing, aching to be kissed. Her hand slipped into his hair, fusing them together in deep passion unlike anything he’d ever felt before. He wanted to breathe but feared losing the intensity. His body craved to have everything she was willing to give him. When they finally pulled apart, she gasped but the confusion was gone. All that remained was desire. She moved her hands to his chest, and left him to wonder if her heart was pounding as fast as his.

A tiny smile pulled her lips. She was so beautiful with freshly kissed lips that he wanted to do it again and again. Ryan opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sounds of Declan wolf whistling.

They turned to see Reagan and Declan staring at them. Declan was all smiles, clapping as if he’d just witnessed the greatest performance of his life. Reagan, on the other hand, smiled, but it was cold, fake, and almost pained. She nodded to Ryan and turned her back to them. Ryan struggled to understand her expression. Just the other morning, she was encouraging him to take the next step with Alexis. It didn’t make sense for her to seem upset now that he did.

“Let’s go, you two love birds. I’m starving,” Declan called out, waving for them to enter the park.

Alexis buried her face in Ryan’s chest as he led her through the gates. This was the lightest he’d felt in ages. He couldn’t explain it, but kissing her, actually kissing her, made things clear in his head. He knew what he wanted and by the end of the night, Alexis York would be more than a friend. She would be his ─ always and forever.

“Oh my God!” Alexis bellowed.

Ryan covered his face with his hand, wheezing in laughter.

Reagan stood there, mouth gaped open, as Declan shoved an entire Fletcher’s corn dog in his mouth. The man seemed to be a bottomless pit, having attacked three more corn dogs since they entered the Fair.

“Are you sure you’re not gay?” Alexis snickered.

Ryan tugged Alexis closer to his side, pressing his face into the curve between her neck and shoulder. “He sure can deep throat like a porn star,” Ryan added.

Alexis wrapped her arm around his waist, loving the way he felt next to her. This was easy, right, perfect, but most of all, scary as hell. That kiss outside the park had left her breathless and wanton. Her heart raced at the mere thought of him kissing her like that again, and she ached for it, which frightened her. With Ryan, things were different than they’d been with any other man she’d ever been with. He knew her thoughts and innermost secrets. She trusted him, which scared her more than anything. Trusting someone with her heart was her greatest fear.

Ryan pressed a kiss to her neck, sending sweet tremors over her skin.

“I got skills!” Declan bolstered, his mouth so full his words came out muffled. He punched the air, holding the clean skewer in his hand like a trophy.

“Oh, hell,” Reagan balked. “Those aren’t skills.” She wiggled her brows. “You haven’t seen skills until you’ve seen me in action. Right, Flyboy?” She nudged Ryan in the arm, laughing.

Ryan’s head shot up, his eyes narrowed, glowering at Reagan. In the last few hours, Reagan had made comments─some obvious, some subjective─in reference to hers and Ryan’s relationship. Alexis almost felt sorry for Reagan. Much like her, Reagan came into this situation thinking they were on even footing─both friends of Ryan’s. But Ryan changed the rules of the game the instant he kissed Alexis. They all felt the shift. For the most part, Alexis had been able to overlook some of the things Reagan had said, understanding her and Ryan shared a past. What she struggled with was when Reagan insinuated to their extended relationship.

“I don’t know,” Ryan popped back. “I’m sure we’d have to ask Gabe about that. As if any of us really care about your extracurricular skills.”

“Gabe?” Alexis questioned.

“My worst mistake,” Reagan retorted.

“Her ex,” Ryan clarified.

Declan managed to swallow everything in his mouth. “Yeah, that guy was a douche.” He tossed the stick in the trash, dusting his hands off. “Okay, I’m bored. What do we do next?”

“We’ve yet to do anything fun ─” Declan raised his hand, about to interrupt Alexis, but she forged on, “─aside from watching Deck stuff his face.” Declan took a bow. Alexis laughed, shaking her head at him.

“Looking at cars wasn’t fun?” Ryan teased.

Alexis patted his arm, chuckling. “I’m not even going to warrant that question with a response.”

“You just did,” Reagan muttered.

“What do you all say to us checking out the Midway?” Alexis suggested, ignoring Reagan’s little comment. “I really want to see that chicken game you were telling me about.” She kissed Ryan on the edge of his jaw, savoring the taste of his skin on her lips and the scent of his musky cologne in her nostrils. “I mean, what girl can turn down a game that includes a flying rubber chicken?”

Declan gave her two thumbs up, grinning. “Sounds like a plan.”

As they made their way through the crowds toward the Midway, Alexis snuggled into the crook of Ryan’s side, his hand flattened against the small of her back. His pinkie brushed along the waist of her jeans, barely dipping down beneath the fabric, setting her skin aflame.

Declan led the way, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to the others, but content to be the lone man, checking out every woman he could find along the way. Reagan traveled along beside them. Every so often, she’d reach out to touch Ryan’s arm, or grab him to look at something, pulling him away from Alexis. But Ryan always returned back to Alexis, drawing her in closer than she had been.

Alexis glanced around his chest, meeting the other woman’s gaze. “So, you excited about the game today?”

Reagan shrugged. “I’ve covered this game every year for the last three years. I always enjoy it.” She pulled at Ryan’s elbow. “Last year, Ryan joined me in the press box. Remember that night, Flyboy? We got so wasted afterward.”

“Yeah. I remember,” he intoned.

“We can do that again tonight, if you want,” she suggested.

“Tonight?” he queried, his brow furrowed.

Reagan lifted an eyebrow, taken aback by his forgetfulness. “Um, yeah. I thought you were going to the game with me?”

Ryan scratched his jaw. He rolled his head, popping his neck. “I’m sorry, Ray, but I can’t.” He glanced down at Alexis, smiling. “I have plans for later.”

“Make sure to take that shit back to her apartment.” Declan turned around and started to walk backward. “I don’t want to be listening to ‘Oh, Ryan. Oh, Ryan. OH, RYAN!’ all night.” He squirmed and wiggled, making the world’s worst mid-climatic faces imaginable, as he insinuated what she and Ryan would be doing later. With a wink, he turned back around, continuing his strut down the Midway.

The thought burned deep inside her. Their bare skin touching, hands caressing, tongues tasting, limbs tangled. Alexis blinked back the mental images that flooded her mind.

“Oh, I just thought…” Reagan trailed off, her mouth turned down. She pushed a few stray hairs back from her face, turning away from them. “You know what, never mind what I thought.”

Ryan took in a heavy breath that only Alexis had noticed, but gave no other reaction. Tense silence surrounded them for a moment. Alexis struggled with what to say to fix things between Ryan and his friend. She felt as if she’d intruded on something sacred between them, causing a riff.

“Oh, Lexi, look!” Declan grabbed her hand, pulling her away from Ryan. “There it is.” They rushed up to the vendor stand where a row of rubber mallets attached to small catapults faced a rotating vat of water with six cooking pots bobbing inside. Hanging at the back of the stand were hundreds of stuffed animals waiting to be won. Ryan stepped up behind her, wrapping his hands around her waist. “See something you want?”

She looked up into his sweet, twinkling eyes, reliving the moment he kissed her. “Yeah, I do,” she breathed.

Ryan leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. Fireworks sparked between them. Her heart thundered against her chest as she reached up and cupped the side of his face. His fingers tightened around her hips, pulling her back against him. Her soft moan was muffled by his passionate kiss. The desire between them was so strong there was no concealing it.

“Ah, young love,” the middle-aged carny said. “How ‘bout you win this young lady a prize?”

Ryan kissed the tip of her nose, stepping beside her. He handed the man a few bucks, glancing at Declan. “You want in?”

“Hell, yeah, I do.”

Ryan handed over a few more bills. “Hook my friend up, too.”

The carny nodded, giving each man three rubber chickens. “What you need to do is place the critter on the end of the catapult and use the mallet to make it land in one of the pots. One in, wins from the first shelf, two from the second and so on.”

Ryan nodded to Declan, who grinned, while slapping his chicken on the catapult. Ryan did the same. He tapped his cheek with his index finger, waggling his brows at Alexis. “For luck.”

She planted a kiss on his cheek, grinning. Reagan stepped up to the other side of him, patting him on the back. “You got this, Flyboy.”

Ryan tilted his head, giving her a wink. “You bet I got this.” He tucked in the arms and legs of the rubber doll, maneuvered his catapult to where it was angled a little to his left, then watched and waited. First try he got it in. Declan wasn’t so lucky.

The carny yelled out they had a winner. Ryan smiled and shook his head. “Two more tries.”

“Going for a bigger prize,” the man yelled for everyone to hear.

Second try and Ryan managed to get the chicken in the pot again. “Winner, winner!”

Alexis bounced, clapping and cheering. “I can’t believe you did that!”

“I can,” Reagan stated, confident and proud. “He did this exact same thing last year. Remember that huge bear you won for me? I still have it.”

Declan shouted, pumping his fists in the air. His second chicken landed in a pot, barely, but it was in there.

Ryan jerked his head, cutting his eyes to Reagan. Alexis tried hard to ignore the moment of anger that passed between the two of them. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but whatever it was, it had knocked Ryan off his game, because he blundered the third shot. The water made a loud plunking noise as the rubber chicken missed its mark.

Ryan slammed his fists down. “Son of a…” he stopped himself from finishing the curse.

Alexis rested her hand on his back. “Hey, two out of three is amazing.”

“I’ll say,” Declan mumbled, watching his third chicken land on the ground. It didn’t even make it to the water.

“Sure is,” the carny agreed. “You can choose a prize from the second level, little lady.”

Alexis pursed her lips together, feeling Reagan’s stare on her as she made her choice. “The purple monkey.”

The man hooked the monkey, pulling it down from the rack and handed it to Alexis. She hugged it to her chest and then hugged Ryan. “Thank you.”

Ryan tugged a lock of her hair, curling it down around his finger. His smile waned but sincere. “You’re welcome.”

“What about mine?” Declan asked. He pointed out a little blue M&M toy on the first shelf. The man grabbed it and handed it over to Declan, who in turn handed it to Reagan. “It’s no stuffed bear, but technically Ryan did pay for it, so it works for you either way.”

“Thanks,” Reagan snapped with a roll of her eyes, accepting the gift.

“Hey, if you don’t want it…” Declan reached out ready to reclaim this unappreciated present.