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“Mixed martial arts?” I asked in disbelief. I surveyed his lanky form, hidden behind layers of clothing, to his arresting green eyes. I wouldn’t have pegged him for a fighter, but, then again, how much did I really know about any of the boys? Even Calax, my enemy for numerous years?

I knew absolutely nothing about MMA fighting, but I decided, right then and there, that I would research everything I could about the sport.

“Are you good?” I asked eagerly. Now that he admitted it, I could totally see him kicking ass. Oh yeah. My little Tam had a fire in him.

Cheeks burning, Tam muttered, “I’m okay.”

“Do you compete in comps?” I asked.

“I used to. I stopped after arriving at Highwood Prep.”

“Why?” Before Tamson could respond, a snowball materialized out of nowhere and hit me in the face. I winced at the cold sting, and Tam jumped to his feet to protect me.

Of course, I didn’t need his protection, especially since I recognized that semi-hysterical laughter.

“You know I’m just going to get you back RyRy,” I said, turning towards the snowball perpetrator. He smoothly skied out of the forest, Declan right behind him.

“You can’t get me back for me getting you back,” he protested.

“Addie can do whatever she wants to do,” Asher pointed out. “And if that means revenge, then more power to her.”

I smirked as the boys approached.

“Maybe I’ll get Calax to hold you down while I attack you. I wonder how long it would take you to become hypothermic.”

Calax chuckled, and Ryder pouted.

“No fair! He’s too heavy.”

I gasped in mock outrage.

“Callie! I think Ryder just called you fat. That deserves a solid sitting on, don’t you think?”

“If it’s you sitting on me, I think we have a deal.” Ryder waggled his eyebrows suggestively at me. Apparently, those were the words that unleashed the beast. Calax lunged towards Ryder.

“Wait!” I screamed, and the boys all froze, Ryder cowering and Calax in mid-step. Once I was sure I had their attention, I gestured towards their feet. “At least take the skis off. My god, if we’re going to fight, we at least should be classy about it.”

The boys exchanged a glance, shrugged, and all began removing their skis, tossing them to the side.

Chaos erupted. Calax tackled Ryder, and Ronan leaped forward to help his fallen comrade. I was beginning to realize that R squared were almost always a team.

Declan joined the fray by jumping on top of Ronan and pelting him in the face with snowballs.

Asher and Tam both stayed beside me, one on either side.

“Those boys are crazy,” I mused, watching Ryder shove Calax’s face repeatedly into a mound of snow.

Tam and Asher exchanged mischievous grins.

“At least they’re not fighting with actual bullets this time,” Asher pointed out.

“That’s actually a good idea!” I said, jumping up and down. “Not the bullets thing, but the shooting each other part.”

“I never said anything-”

“We should go paintballing!” I squealed. My voice was loud enough to garner the attention of the four boys tangled up in the snow - and not the sexy tangled up either, though that would’ve been really hot.

Bad Addie. Bad.