Her chin went up, and she took several more steps backward. “No.”
I hesitated. What did she want? “Meet in the middle?” I nodded toward a spot on the grass between where we stood facing each other.
“No,” she spit out.
What did she want from me? I stepped toward her again, but she suddenly scooped something off the ground and flung it, the loud splat of a mushy apricot exploding on my forehead to drip down my face. I was momentarily stunned. I reached my hand up and took a finger full of apricot off my forehead and brought my finger down to look at it, disbelievingly. “You defiant, little she-devil,” I said, my eyes meeting hers. With one quick movement, I scooped up a soft apricot and hurled it at her. She squeaked as it made contact with the small bit of skin showing at the V-neck of her blouse, breaking apart in a splatter of juice and pulp and sliding down her shirt. Her mouth dropped open and she looked at me as if in shock that I had followed her lead.
“You self-serving, slimy monster,” she hissed.
We both started scooping up the fruit and chucking it at each other in a burst of a hundred emotions I couldn’t identify in myself, much less in her. What is happening? My blood felt hot in my veins, and it was as if the cold indifference in which I’d wrapped myself recently was melting down my skin. Squishy fruit flew at me again and again, most making contact, sticky wetness matting my hair and dripping down every part of my body.
Our wills clashed as the sweet, pungent smell of apricots scented the air. Kira looked about the same as I imagined I looked—like she’d rolled in a vat of fruit. When she paused for a breath, glaring at me, I lunged for her, both of us rolling onto the soft grass, her body coming to rest under mine. Lust surged through me, sharp and almost painful. I had no idea who initiated that kiss, but I thought it might have been her. We licked at each other’s mouths wildly, greedily, groaning and grasping. I slid my hand up her shirt, feeling soft, smooth skin, and she bucked beneath me. I felt the strong rhythm of her pulse as I brought my other hand to her throat, rubbing my thumb in circles over it, glorying in the feel of her lifeblood right beneath my fingers. My desire for her burned, scalding my heart. Beautiful, willful, tender, stubborn, compassionate, infuriating little witch.
“Oh, please, Gray,” she panted, pulling at my shirt.
“Yes,” I managed, rolling my hips against hers. “Tell me you want me, Kira, please say it,” I begged.
“I do, I want you. I want you so much.”
Relief exploded in my gut, sudden and fierce. Oh God, I was ridiculously and hopelessly enchanted with her. I couldn’t wait a second longer. I wanted her so much, every part of her. My cock throbbed eagerly between my thighs. She was going to be mine. I didn’t care if we were rolling in the grass—
“Oh my God” came a woman’s voice from above us.
“What the—？” came another voice.
“For the love of—”
“Well, I’ve never seen anything—”
We both froze, blinking at each other, fog clearing from Kira’s expression as we both looked up. I squinted into the sunshine but could only see the dark outlines of six figures hovering over us. I felt stunned and it took me several long moments to get my bearings and for my blood to cool, Kira pulling away from me as if I were fire and she’d been burned. When I realized she was standing, I pulled myself up too, gelatinous apricot goo sliding down my face and bare arms.
When I was finally able to make out the faces before me, my eyes roamed from Charlotte to Walter, to Shane, Vanessa, a woman with pink hair I didn’t recognize, and to a new face, but one I knew immediately. “Harley,” I said with surprised wonder.
Harley, as big and rough looking as I remembered him, a big bear of a man covered in tattoos, stepped forward, his eyes raking over Kira and me. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“What? How?” My mind grasped to make sense of this situation. I forced myself to pull my focus from Kira long enough to gain some mental footing. “How are you here?” I wiped my sticky hand on my pants but only came away with more sticky fruit pulp.
Harley stared at me for a moment and then burst out laughing, his chuckle deep and warm. “Man, I got out a month ago.” He looked me up and down, an expression on his face between disgust and hilarity. “I think I’m more interested in hearing about what’s been going on with you though. Looks like things have been…sticky.”
Kira suddenly stepped toward us, her face mostly unrecognizable beneath gobs of apricot innards. “Wait, Harley? Harley?” she asked, her voice breathless.
Harley turned toward her, squinting. “Kira?” he asked.
My head moved back and forth between them. “You two know each other?” I asked, my voice filled with the surprise I felt. I could see everyone else in my peripheral vision, their heads swinging back and forth from person to person as well. The only thing missing was popcorn.
“Oh my God!” Kira said excitedly, rushing toward Harley, heedless of the fact that she was about to cover him in the same sticky muck she was covered in. He didn’t stop her, though, when she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. I might have had another moment of jealousy, but the hug was brief and Harley was smiling at Kira with friendly affection. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“How do you know each other?” I asked again.
“From the drop-in center,” she said, not even glancing at me. My head was swimming, not only from this strange blast from my past but from the transition between what had been happening with Kira and me to what was happening now. If the silence of everyone else watching this exchange was any indication, they were shocked too. “How do you two know each other?”
“From prison,” I said.
“Oh,” she breathed, finally looking at me and then focusing back to Harley. “Harley, you served time?”
“Yeah, Kira, I did, I’m sorry to say. Turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to me actually. Life is good. Although”—he turned back to me—“I’m hoping there might be an employment opportunity here.”
“You need a job?” I asked. “Yeah, of course you can have a job. Man, whatever you need.”
Harley’s beefy face broke into a grin. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He turned to the woman with pink hair wearing a skimpy leather skirt and an even skimpier tank top next to him. “By the way, this is Priscilla.”
I showed her my sticky hand as explanation as to why I wasn’t offering it. She laughed softly and said, “Nice to meet you, Grayson. Harley’s told me a lot about you. I can see he might have left out some.” She looked between Kira and me, her expression amused.
Charlotte cleared her throat. “Gray, perhaps you and Kira can get yourself cleaned up from…well, from…well, cleaned up, and we can all get acquainted up at the house?” She looked hopeful. I assumed they had all rushed down here thinking Kira and I were in some kind of physical showdown after what had happened near the maze. Maybe that was somewhat accurate.
“That’s a good idea,” I said. “Kira?” She looked at me, seeming like she couldn’t decide what she wanted to do.