My greatest foe stands there before me, looking all smug and cocky. Chest puffed out, legs spread wide, those black eyes challenging and determined.

Everyone inside is shouting and cleaning up dinner, oblivious to the showdown happening just outside the egress window. I glare at the beast. Sucking in a deep breath, my skin prickles with unsteady nerves as we continue our stare battle royale. Eye to eye, breath to breath. Analyzing the other.

Who will make the first move?

Me?

Or....

The goose.

I take a step to the side.

It follows.

Feathers rising, wings spreading out, beak opening as it hisses. It's more terrifying than a snake and it is the animal I fear the most in the world.

Besides hippos.

Another hiss comes out, slithering up in the air and making my skin crawl. It takes a step forward. Neck bowing low, head rising like a Velociraptor. I swear these creatures derive from the ancient dinosaurs. Ancestors of the clawed, highly intelligent beasts, especially now that paleontologists are saying raptors had feathers.

If people believe we came from apes, I believe geese came from raptors.

I step back only to be halted by another hiss.

Why did I have to go grab something from my car?

WHY?!

Sweat drips down my chest. Fear curls around me as my hands start to shake. I was bit by one of these suckers as a child and the memory of my dad punting the thing like a football is still fresh in my memory.

It almost makes me laugh.

Almost.

I swear to God! If it hisses one more--

This time it's high-pitched, demented, and pure evil.

"Tariq!" I scream so loud I swear the whole campus could hear me.

It lunges for me, fast.

I sprint away as my chest collapses then expands back to life as I scream again, "TARIQ!"

Like lightning he's out of the egress window, his eyes quickly scanning for me. The goose stops its assault at the newcomer coming onto the field, while I pant like a man who finished a marathon.

Tariq's eyes are wide, swimming with panic, his whole body tight and ready to kill. That is until his sight lands on my frazzled little self and then to the spawn of satan bird.

"Are you serious, Blue?" Tariq breathes out in frustration, yet relief. "God, I thought..."

"What's going on? Is she okay?" Rasheed yells from inside, sounding not only alarmed but kind of terrified.

Tariq takes a deep breath. "She's fine," he says back. "Like always, Blue, here, surprised me. But this time scared me to death."

"It's going to attack me! I'm not fine." I sob out.

Tariq's brows pinch up, mouth quirks, and his eyes laugh at me. "It's just a dumb goose, babe. Come on."

"No!" I object. "Not until you kick that thing far, far away from me."

"And have it attack me? No chance."

"My dad did it and he survived." My words die immediately. Tears prick at my eyes, but not from fear this time. I was talking like he was still around to protect me.

"Please," my voice wobbles out.

Tariq stiffens at my tears and without missing a beat, heads straight to me, lightly kicking the crazy psycho bird out of the way. "Stupid mother," he curses, while it tries snapping its beak at him.

The predator guns it for him and Tariq goes from confident protector to fear-ridden child in an instant. "Holy!"

"See!" I shout. "They're mean birds! Wicked. Evil."

Tariq gets to me fast, hoists me up over his shoulder, and makes a run for it. The goose is right at his heels, snapping at him.

"Run faster! It's gaining on us! Where's that hockey speed?" I cry out.

"I'm freaking sore from practice and if I was on skates I'd already be in the house."

It's like watching a scene from a movie. The goose stretches its neck out, beak wide open, ready to clamp down on Tariq's leg, but then Tariq stumbles down the steps. We fall through the egress window, Tariq shielding my body as he wraps his big one around mine, yelling at Beau to shut the window.

We hit the carpet with a thud and Beau slams the window shut, causing the goose to collide with it, then start attacking the glass with its beak.

I sit in Tariq's lap, staring at the thing going all Norman Bates on the window. All of us watch with wide eyes, only the sound of a beak hitting glass filling the silence. Until Rasheed says, "I got that all on video. For once I have something worthy of TikTok. I'm going to get millions of views."

Tariq whips up but makes sure to gently help me up as he lunges for Rasheed. "I'll kill you, man."

"I'm titling it, Hockey God Struck Down by Demon-Possessed Goose."

All the guys crack up, apart from Tariq who's in the process of taking a swing at Rasheed. I know there's not going to be much power to it, but I can't have him hurting my partner in crime. Besides, there's no doubt about it now. After watching Tariq take on the spawn of satan for me, I can't deny it anymore.

I really like him.

And the face of terror he made when the goose started to attack him will make me laugh for the rest of my life, heck, I'm laughing now. And the pain in my chest from earlier vanishes because of it.

Tariq, hearing it, turns around swiftly. "Are you kidding? You're laughing?! After what I just did for you?"

Gripping his arm, I stretch to my tiptoes, my other hand palming the side of his face as I pull him down, kissing the corner of his mouth, whispering, "Thank you."

Tariq banned the guy's for the rest of the night and declared Rasheed suspended for the whole week for posting the video to TikTok.

It's already got thousands of views.

I should be embarrassed, but instead, I can't stop the stupid smile on my face or the little giggles. My phone is ripped from my hand and Tariq glares at me, but he looks so cute I can't stop the giggles from turning into laughter.

"Will you stop watching it. No more phone for the rest of the night," he orders as he puts it up on top of the cabinet his tv sits on that's way too high for me to reach.

"Hey, come on. It's funny."

He picks up a controller and tosses it at me. "007."

I bite down on my lip, in an effort to stop my smile. "You can't tell me you still want to kiss me after that."

He doesn't say anything and starts the game. He's gotten better. He actually manages to shoot me a couple times. "I didn't know you had a drinking problem."

Tariq sucks in a breath and chugs some of his water bottle. "I told you before, Blue. You live in a box."

My chest tightens, knowing exactly why I had lived in a box my freshman year. Clearing the grief from my throat I ask, "Is that why you and Cass broke up?"

"If you're trying to distract me, Blue. It's not going to work, but, yes, it's partly why."

He gets a couple shots on me again and it's gotten to the point I'm in my game mode position. Weight on my knees and my hands gripping the control so hard I may end up getting carpal tunnel.

"How is this happening?" I ask in disbelief.

"Determination is a powerful tool, babe."

I duck under a box just in time. If I hadn't Tariq would've killed me and won. I'm starting to sweat and anxiety is clawing at me because if I lose... he gets to kiss me.

"It's the reason I got injured." I freeze at the seriousness laced in his voice and I forget about the game to look over at him, but he's concentrated on finding my character. "I showed up to the game drunk. Got checked right at my knee for running my booze-filled mouth at another player. Couldn't even blame him for it." Tariq's eyes shift to mine and my heart flips at the black flames in his gaze. "Any last words, Blue?"

"What?" I whisper out. "He presses down on the green B button, a gunshot rings out and my head whips back to the screen to hear the guitar riff and blood pouring down my side of the television.

I lost.

"Wait? No! You cheated. I--"

My controller is thrown out of my grip and Tariq's hand slides to my neck, making me face him as his lips take mine so fiercely, so hungrily, I let out a sharp whimper. His lips whisper on my mouth, in between hot, needy kisses, "I don't care."

My lips fuse with his and he tugs me into his body, earning a harsh, shaky breath from me. My fingers dig into his soft, thick hair and a deep pulse starts at my mouth and travels all throughout my body in crashing waves.

His mouth is so warm, sultry, and his lips feel so good, that I can't stop the little moans he pulls out of me. Tariq takes advantage of it on the last one. As soon as my mouth opens, his tongue glides right inside and it's like silk and the taste of him has me breathe out a low moan.

We push and pull against each other and I need air. I unlink myself from him for a moment, gulping in some much-needed oxygen and he takes the short break to pepper a blaze of burning open-mouthed kisses along my collarbone.

My fingers slide from his hair, down his neck until they're on his shoulders and his lips lock on mine continuing his addictive open-mouthed kisses. His tongue glides in again and I angle myself to deepen the kiss, to explore him and he growls out, "Oh my God."

His voice vibrates through me and ruins me for any other guy. It's so raw, gruff, and demanding that no other man withstands a chance of pulling this burning fire out of me.

Ever.

My body crushes itself into his and he unlatches his mouth from mine, his lips moving across mine, his breath hot and sweet. My pulse is going out of control, my head is cloudy with this curling and all-consuming painful desire.

I don't know when it happens, but it's no longer him kissing me. It's me kissing him. I somehow shifted to sitting up on his lap and I can't stop myself. All the groans and rumbles coming from his chest eggs me on more. I'm desperate for more of him, to taste more of him. I had thought his gingery scent was addictive. But his taste, the feel of him.

Dear God.

I'm addicted to him for life. I don't know how I can ever recover from this. How am I going to handle the withdrawals? This is one kiss. One moment.

With that thought, both my hands cup his jaw and I taste and explore without hesitation as if I'm a woman dying of thirst and he's my drop of water. I allow myself to have him and taste him for as long as I can. Tariq meets me with just as much need, just as much hunger. But then something shifts and I'm no longer in control.

His hand slithers into my hair, tugging my head back and the sharp pain leaves me breathless. His mouth and tongue part from my mouth and feast on my skin, tasting every bit of me, devouring me.

"Do you want more of me, Elodie?" My name rolls off his tongue like sweet, sinful temptation and I whimper out something that I hoped sounded like a yes.

Just as he's about to seal his mouth back onto mine, Rasheed's voice makes us freeze, "Special Agent Mitchel, my brother better not be defiling you."

It's like I snapped back into my body in an instant. Jumping off Tariq, I stumble around frantically looking for my purse and keys. Tariq is shouting something at Rasheed but I can't comprehend it, my mind is too chaotic, swirling with panic at what had happened.

There's no recovering from this.

"That can't happen again." I wince at the sound of my voice, like a croaking dying frog. My hands shake as I hold my keys and run for the egress window.

I don't care if the devil goose is out there.

I'll risk it.

And run it right over.

The cool air whips around me when I open the window and I welcome it, but the moment is short-lived when Tariq's hand slams it shut. His body overtakes mine and my back vibrates from his beating heart. Slow, hard, and resounding every nerve in me.

"You're right.," he whispers heatedly. His mouth blows his hot breath on the side of my head as his beautiful, raw, and heavy voice growls out, "But that doesn't mean I don't want it to."

His hand moves off the window and I rip it open, hightailing it out of there. I drop my keys when I reach my car and I bend down, taking in deep breaths to calm myself. My keys are heavy in my weak hand, and in fact, my body is weak all over. I slide my hand and keys through my hair in horrid realization.

I don't just like Tariq.

I'm mother freaking in love with him.

Okay, don't ask me how I managed to write this today, but I did!!! I even deeper cleaned my house. I guess when inspiration strikes it really is easier to write. On the other hand, though it probably needs to be edited desperately lol! But I was so excited I just had to post it!

So? Goose and first kiss? I hope I did it justice!

Drama is about to unfold and things are about to get sticky for my two little love birds. Dun, dun, duuuun.

Hit that star button if you all liked their first kiss!

Much love,

LivingRed