Page 88 of Trick Knot Treat

I raise a hand and wave and let Zaire drag me to the last stall. Fox shifts his weight nervously.

“All righty, Foxy boy, what are we doing?” Clint rubs his hands together.

“Nope, you are standing this one out,” Jace protests. “Let other people have fun.”

“Aww.”

“Actually, this is a group activity,” Fox corrects. “You all have to play.”

“WOOHOO!”

“It is? That is alarming,” Felix whispers under his breath.

Fox smiles widely. “You get trick and treat this time.”

“Okay! I’m ready,” Jace says. “We have this, Clint, don’t worry.”

“It’s a race. You have to drink a cup of beer, eat a pie with sauce. A frog cake is calling your name- eat it. Then, to finish it all off, a spoonful of Vegemite. The winner gets to choose one person to sit out the trick round.”

We all line up.

“On your marks…get set…go!”

I’m giggling so hard I spill half the beer down my top. I skip the pie and get the frog cake, eating it slowly.

I close my eyes, it's so good.

“And Clint is the winner.”

I open one eye and glance at him. Jace is looking at Clint in disgust. Clint has stopped eating his to eat mine, and is now almost finished my line as well.

Felix is slowly munching on his pie but clearly isn’t playing, while Zaire has the spoon of Vegemite held down, and Spectre is going to town on it.

“Okay, Jace, who is sitting out the next round?” Fox asks, while I giggle.

He looks at all of us. “Zaire.”

I give my alpha an approving smile and pat Zaire’s arm before following Fox behind a curtain.

There are easels set up and a whole variety of foods. I look between them, trying to figure out what we are doing.

“Right, come stand here.” Fox maneuvers Zaire into standing in front of us and then points at the easels. “You have five minutes to give me a portrait of your alpha. It will be hung up, and one chosen by social media votes will get a significant reward on the next date.”

Clint sighs. “All right, Z, we've got this. YAH!”

I blink in shocked amazement as Clint rips open his T-shirt, revealing abs and muscles, and I blink and realise time is going.

“You sneaky bastard!” I shout. “That was cheating!”

Clint gets the giggles. “I have to use any advantage I can against you arty types.”

“Did it work on you, too, Felix?” Jace asks loudly, laughing so hard he isn’t even trying to paint a portrait.

Felix’s cheeks turn red. “I decline to answer.”

I snort and end up giggling, but I do focus and make some kind of something before we run out of time.

“Congratulations! You have survived your Trick Knot Treat date and learned the value of fun.” Fox looks at our portraits and turns back, opening and closing his mouth. Clearly, we suck. But I’ve never painted with tomato sauce before, especially when I was distracted by the sounds Clint was making.