Page 74 of Stand: Part One

Had I even heard him correctly? That was not the winning spoils I expected him to pursue.

The grin clawing up his face was almost disturbing. “You heard me.”

“You want me to babysit a toddler? By myself? For that long?”

“Yes.”

I stiffened in disbelief, my brows practically raised to my scalp. “Why?”

“Why not?” he explained with a shrug. “What? Are you afraid of a toddler?”

I scoffed. “I’m not afraid of a toddler. I’m afraid of accidentally damaging a toddler.”

He cocked an unimpressed brow. “I think you can handle it.”

“What about Katherine and Daniel? Would they even allow me to babysit their daughter? I’m pretty sure they get to decide who watches their kid.”

Darren shrugged. “Daniel has already agreed, and Katherine trusts you.”

I looked away from him and stared off into the distance to think. Clearly, this was just another devious attempt to warm me up to the idea of motherhood, as if spending time with a toddler would cause my last working ovary to burst with maternal yearning. In reality, it would probably do the opposite.

I rolled my eyes internally at the thought. I had no objections to motherhood. I had objections to forced motherhood, especially to children bound for a violent life under the close instruction of their sadistic father.

But fine, I could handle hanging out with a toddler all day just to prove to Darren he couldn’t influence my biological desires, no matter how hard he tried. And Camaro would probably have a blast with Ella.

“We haven’t discussed what the challenge even is yet,” I reminded him.

“Do you remember where Team B’s base point was relocated to?”

I nodded. The base points moved frequently to keep the teams guessing. B’s was now just at the edge of the shore, about two and a half kilometers from here.

“If you can touch the pole before I pin you to the ground and fuck you, then you win.”

I stiffened, my pulse quickening as I cocked a brow at him, the image coming to mind being wild, dirty, and rough. But then reality hit, and my shoulders quickly sagged, a vicious frown forming over my brow as I let out an exaggerated groan.

Fuck, it was going to kill me to admit this.

“Not to stroke your ego here, but I have yet to manage that even without an injury.”

The grin he gave me made me want to punch him right in the throat.

“I’ll give you a ten-minute head start this time.”

Oh, how generous.

In truth, I would probably end up babysitting this kid anyway, even without the challenge. At least this way I had an opportunity to gain a little extra if I did somehow manage to win.

I frowned suddenly. “Hold on a minute, you just gave me all kinds of hell for wanting to simply jog through the woods, and now you’re completely fine with chasing me down in them?”

Darren rolled his eyes. “It’s been two weeks since then, Jaden. Do you want the chance to show me your progress or not? I have other things I could be focusing my attention on right now.”

I grumbled at his dismissal, but the idea of getting to drive even one of Darren’s many sports cars had me practically foaming at the mouth with want. But the realist in me knew damn well he would never willingly hand me that much control.

Negotiating with him was a total waste of time when he knew exactly what the outcome was already going to be. It was just another one of his illusions to make me think that I had even an ounce of influence in my life.

I sighed with disappointment. “Even though I know somehow you’ll ensure I lose, I’m still willing to give you a literal run for your money.”

He grinned something wicked, making my stomach clench in anticipation. Yeah, I was definitely going to lose.