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Lyla smiled. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.” And then he shoved Lukyan so hard in the shoulder he sent his brother flying before making his way to me.
“Was that really necessary?” I asked, barely able to control my laughter.
“Yep.”
He picked me up easily, and I wrapped my legs around his torso, my smile bright and beaming. He peppered me with kiss after kiss, making me laugh harder and harder.
“I love the sound of your laugh,” he rumbled low, kissing my jaw, my neck, my throat, up and over my chin.
I squirmed, the movements quickly making me ticklish. Yet at the same time, I didn’t want him to stop. I never wanted him to stop.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Autumn DeValos
“Here we are…the last game of the Volkov Games!” Mikhail declared, a loud, roaring applause echoing all around us from the phone he had thrust into the air. “It has been a very entertaining game to watch. Very entertaining. Truly. I think, in fact, this might be my favorite year yet, and that, in part, I think, is because of our new additions! So a very big thank you to Autumn, Drea, Tatiana, Lyla, and Arturo for participating this year!”
We all joined in on the applause coming from his phone, cheering for each other.
Mikhail turned the phone off and continued. “Now, a cursory glance at the scoreboard puts Aleksandr and Drea in first place with fourteen points. Well done, you two.”
The only people not to clap were Nikolai, Lukyan, and Illayana, the three of them glaring at their older brother.
“In second place, Dimitri and Autumn, on thirteen points. Good work…” He looked Dimitri dead in the eyes, smirking as he said, “DeDe.”
Dimitri scowled, his right eye twitching furiously. I supportively patted his back, and the muscles beneath my fingers relaxed…somewhat.
Mikhail winked before moving on. “Illayana and Arturo in third with twelve points. Nikolai and Tatiana in fourth with eight points. And in last place, Lukyan and Lyla, on seven points.”
Illayana snickered, covering her mouth.
“Shut up.” Lukyan hissed, shoving her in the shoulder.
“Now, for the final game of the day, we have the Hula-Hoop marathon. I’ll admit, it was a surprising game to see on the roster, but nonetheless, I think it will be a good one. An…amusing one. I will be recording this game for…prosperity.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.” Dimitri growled.
“Sorry, DeDe. As the designated referee of the games, what I say goes.”
“Give you the tiniest bit of power and it goes straight to your bloody head,” Dimitri grumbled under his breath.
“No one to blame but yourself,” Mikhail sang, doing an elaborate bow. “Scoring for this game is simple. Last the longest to win. Got it? Good.” He signaled with two fingers for one of the guards off to the side to come forward. The man walked over, holding a bunch of different colored Hula-Hoops in his hands. Mikhail took them and placed them at our feet before stepping back into the middle of the field. “Everyone, take your positions inside your Hula-Hoops, please.”
Dimitri softly kissed the back of my hand before taking his place. A smile tugged at my lips watching him pick up the neon pink Hula-Hoop and pull it up his body. For some reason, the idea of the big, bad Bratva Butcher about to Hula-Hoop his way to victory made me want to laugh my fucking ass off.
I took my spot, holding the Hula-Hoop tightly.
“Everyone ready?” Mikhail asked, his gaze moving slowly down the line.
We all nodded.
He raised his hand into the air, holding everyone’s attention. “Hoop!” he yelled out, swiping his hand down fast.
I slowly rocked my hips, gently distributing my weight back and forth between my feet to get wide, slow circles. Tiny hoops required more speed, which were a lot harder to maintain over a long period of time. The way to win was to go slow and steady.
Slow and steady always won the race.
