Wilder (The Wild Ones 3)

“Help!” I screech at the top of my lungs.

“Cougar! Stop it!”

As if Kai’s voice is all it takes to calm her, she releases me, but my feet are still running in place. The second she lets go, I slip forward, crashing hard to the ice, this time on my stomach. I slide for what seems like forever until I slowly come to a stop in front of Reese’s feet.

“Best. Day. Ever,” she states aloud while I try to swallow my heart back into place.

My entire body goes limp.

In the short time we’ve been doing this, I’ve laughed so much my ribs hurt, been attacked by a wild animal, and saw an explosion of some kind.

The whole week has been pretty much like this.

Kai hurries over, and Reese helps me free my head from the dino suit just as he gets his peeled down.

He gives me a lopsided grin when I smile up at him to let him know I’m okay, and he bends swiftly, working damn hard to get our bodies close enough to give me a quick kiss on top of the head.

We haven’t had a whole lot of passionate contact since that one day that one time. The promised encore never happened, because we fell asleep shortly after.

Weirdly enough, he hasn’t spent the night since. Maybe because I’m falling asleep on him all the time. That probably gets annoying, and I hate that I do it, but I’m not used to so much physical exertion on a daily basis.

He slips when Cougar chooses that moment to rush by, bumping into him as she slides on the ice, and my eyes widen as he crashes atop me once more. The breath almost gets knocked out of me, and he groans as he buries his face against my neck.

I can only imagine how ridiculous we look.

“This is why I can’t bring my cat out in public,” he grumbles against my neck.

If I had arms, I’d wrap them around him. My suit is a T-Rex. The arms don’t wrap around.

He lifts his head, eyes finding mine, and there’s a moment where I think he’s going to kiss me. His gaze rakes over my face, settling on my lips.

My stomach clenches and my heart starts pounding like it’s dying from suspense.

“Kai! We’re going to need you!” Shade calls.

As if cold water has been thrown on the moment, he shuts his eyes and lifts off of me. It apparently doesn’t take much to make my heartbeat kick harder, and I don’t know why I didn’t just go for it, regardless of how unsexy I feel in this dino suit.

As he skates back off with half his costume dangling at his waist, shouting at his brothers, I inwardly groan at the missed opportunity.

Fortunately, the chaos on the ice is distracting and entertaining enough to ease the regret.

“I can’t believe how much fun I’ve had since coming here. Especially since our visit didn’t start off too promising,” I tell Reese as I prop up a little better beside her, not attempting to move off the ice.

“This is a vacation to us. This is a lifestyle for them,” Reese states with her own smile, as we both watch the Wild Ones laugh, act like fools, and enjoy the simple, fun moments.

“Goal!” Someone shouts from inside their own costume as they start playing an impromptu game of hockey.

Kai even gets back into costume to join in, and smashes into the first person he can reach, in order to allow one of his brothers to steal the puck.

Liam drops down on the log beside Reese, his dino suit hanging around his waist as he wipes sweat off his brow.

“Hale says you moved out here to chase Kylie,” Reese states with zero preamble.

Fortunately, Liam just smiles as he stares out at the fray of madness, everyone fighting over the puck.

“I moved out here to chase her, but I enjoy the hell out of these days. This is my first Wild Ones winter, same as Benson,” he confesses. “They’re reckless as hell and can take things too far, but I lived a very monotonous life before coming here. The Vincents used to be my neighbors before I realized I couldn’t live on their side of the lake and be with Kylie,” he adds.

That last part confuses me.

“Long story,” he says when he apparently notes the confusion on my face. “Anyway, it takes some adjusting to, but eventually, you get used to it. Unless they set off an avalanche just to scare the living shit out of you.”

I don’t know what to say to that last part. Again, I’m confused.

“Stick around, and you may find it harder than you realize to leave,” he says as he stands, smiling as Kylie waddles toward him.

She struggles to get out of her suit, slipping on the ice several times, and barely manages to keep her balance.