His dark glare slid silently down my stone-walled face as his hardened eyes searched for any sign of weakness. Taut like a bowstring, my sense of survival was humming with intensity.

Not giving an inch, I never broke eye contact.

Stand strong, Libby.

Don't flinch. Don't breathe. Don't move one millimeter out of his way.

You got this.

Like a mantra, I repeated those words in my head as the boy circled me slowly like a snake measuring up its prey. I could almost feel a scaly tail of pressure wrap around my throat with his malintent.

When he reached out to kick me, I countered and punched on instinct, knocking him out of the ring and gaining the point I needed to take the tournament medal.

As my teammates cheered from the sidelines, I reached down to lift Carter back onto his feet. Smiling, he gently shoved me away, his feet slapping the mat as he stood up. "Should have known."

"Yeah," I laughed. "You should've. How many times did I land that one on you during regular practice?"

"Too many," he replied with a defeated rub on his neck before reaching out to yank on my swinging ponytail.

I loved when he flirted with me, especially when his sideways smile made his dimples come out and play. "So, fair's fair. Let's go over to Sandy's and celebrate."

"Ok," I agreed with a bounce in my step.

Sandy's has the best double-chocolate-mint-chip cookies. Hot and melty, they get everywhere. Watching Carter's eyes light up as I licked the decadence from my lips and fingers was so much fun. It was a tease move, but since I was his tease Carter loved it. The amount of chocolate kisses we'd shared this month were too numerous to count, and I always felt sexy as hell crushing my hungry mouth against his when no one was looking.

"I'll buy," I offered, almost feeling bad for besting him.

"No, I will," Carter said, grabbing his karate bag and mine off the floor on our way out. "You win, I pay. That's the deal."

"Lead the way, then, Carter," I replied, winding my fingers through his as we stepped out into the sunshine with matching smiles.