Sweet Hatred
Chapter 179: Insult?

Chapter 179: Insult?

I blinked. "Uh... dignity?"

He leaned in just slightly, his voice dipping low against my neck. "I’d rather have your kiss."

My knees faltered.

"I’m starting," I blurted and pulled the trigger on the first target, the loud pop! Echoing through the booth.

I focused, breath steady. A headshot. Then another. And one more.

I could feel Kael watching me.

When I dared glance, he was leaning on the counter casually, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the gun like it was nothing more than a spoon.

His mouth curled. "You’re better than the last time."

"Yeah, well, I’m offended you still think I’m not." I smirked, shot another perfect bullseye, and allowed myself a little happy victory dance.

That’s when I noticed it, people were watching.

Men. Women. Parents with their kids. Teens. A group of college guys whispering.

Kael hadn’t noticed.

Correction, Kael didn’t care.

His hand rested on the back of my waist now, heat seeping through the thin fabric of my shirt. His body leaned just close enough that I could smell his cologne, dark, spicy, unfair.

"Kael," I hissed under my breath. "People are staring."

"So?"

"So we’re in public."

He didn’t even blink. "Let them watch."

"Ugh." I tried to step away. He pulled me right back, fingers grazing my hip like he owned me.

"Kael," I warned, cheeks burning.

He said nothing. Just raised his rifle, and without a second of hesitation,

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Three headshots. Back to back. No delay. No breath.

The attendant actually gasped.

Someone behind us muttered, "Holy shit."

I turned slowly toward him. "Can you at least pretend to be bad at this a little? People are going to start thinking you kill people for a living."

Kael didn’t answer right away. He shot one more clean headshot and lowered the gun with infuriating calm.

Then he looked at me—eyes cool, dark, amused. "But I am bad at this."

My mouth opened. Nothing came out.

The attendant handed Kael a giant, overstuffed black-and-white panda bear, practically starstruck. "Dude... that was insane. Are you, like, ex-military or something?"

Kael just nodded once and handed the panda to me, gaze never leaving my face.

"Here," he said. "For your effort."

"I literally won—"

He shrugged. "You also lost."

I narrowed my eyes, hugging the stupid panda like it owed me answers.

This man was dangerous. Infuriating. Shameless.

And the worst part?

He made my heart beat like it was trying to escape my chest.

The next game was one of those hammer strength things where you slam the base with all your might to try and ring the bell at the top. Kael smacked it once, the bell screamed, and the guy running the game just handed him the biggest prize without a word.

"Show off," I muttered.

"You dragged me here," he said coolly, handing me a ridiculously large plush shark. "Now you deal with the consequences."

"I am the consequence," I grumbled and shoved back to him to carry since my hands were already full with the panda.

A short walk and one impulsive tug later, we ended up at a food truck area glowing under string lights. It smelled like fried sin. My stomach growled. Loudly.

"Don’t look at me like that," I snapped as I ordered two servings of spicy cheese dogs, double patties burger and fries. "I haven’t had real junk in weeks."

Kael raised an eyebrow, resting one arm lazily on the back of our shared bench seat. "Why?"

"Because," I said, dropping down next to him. "My weight’s been creeping up, and I told myself I’d cut out processed junk for a while."

He stopped mid-chew. "Why would you do that?"

I gave him a look. "Um... because my skirts are tight and too much is unhealthy?"

He set his food down. Fully. Slowly.

Then turned to me. "Okay but people will talk."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"If you get skinny, it’s going to be an insult," he said calmly, like we were discussing the weather.

I paused. "...Insult to who exactly?"

He didn’t answer. Just took another bite and muttered, "People might think I’m not taking care of you."

I stared at him.

What.

The.

Hell.

My face heated up. My stomach did a full-on tap dance. He’s impossible. Impossible and infuriating and sexy in the worst way.

"I hate you," I muttered, shoving a fry into my mouth.

"No, you don’t," he said, grabbing a napkin. "You enjoy me."

"Shut up."

He leaned over and wiped a smudge of cheese from the corner of my mouth with infuriating tenderness.

Then—"Do you want more?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I’m not falling for your trap."

"What trap?"

"That you feeding me so you can fatten me up and win this weird dominance game in your head."

He gave a lazy smirk. "You think this is a game?"

"Shut up again," I muttered.

Without warning, he pulled out his phone.

I straightened. "What? You got a message or something?"

But then, click.

A flash.

My eyes widened. "What the hell?! Did you just—?!"

Kael was smirking at his phone like he just got a picture of the Mona Lisa mid-sneeze.

"Let me see!" I reached for it, but he held it high with one hand and blocked me with the other.

"I hate you."

"You just said that."

I huffed, biting into my hot dog while side-eyeing him. He was still smiling like an idiot, scrolling, probably doing or planning something embarrassing or weird with it.

"If you wanted a picture, you could’ve just asked, you freak."

He glanced up.

There. That look. That millisecond of bashfulness before he caught himself and snapped back into his usual composed expression.

Kael. Bashful?

"Oh my God," I said, mouth full. "Were you too shy to ask for a picture?"

Kael snorted. "Please. The last thing I am is shy."

I leaned into him. "Oh yeah? Then what was that little flinch, huh?"

He shrugged like I hadn’t just witnessed him malfunction. "I just thought candid shots would capture your natural charm better."

"You’re not fooling me."

"I don’t need to," he said, lips twitching.

When we finished eating, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the bench.

He didn’t resist. "Where are we going now?"

I gave him the sweetest smile. "Photo booth."