Page 54 of Protect Me
Bracken chuckles at my expression. “Not in the mood for roulette?”
“No, I think ring toss is more my style.” I stop in front of an old-school ring toss game, and the male attendant nods at us.
“How many?” he asks.
“Duncan?” I turn to see him scanning the crowd rather than paying attention to me and Bracken. “Do you want to play?” I ask.
“I’m good,” he says, glancing at me and then back to the others.
I shrug it off but can’t help feeling dismissed. Then again, isn’t that what I did to them when I turned down their offer?
An offer I haven’t stopped thinking about every waking moment since.
“Two please,” Bracken tells the attendant as he takes the offered rings then grins back at me.
“You’re going down, gorgeous.”
“Is that what you think?” I take my rings, holding them lightly as we both face the targets: a sea of empty glass bottles.
The attendant moves aside, and I focus, blocking out Bracken. Again, my magic stirs, but I don’t let it influence me. Or him. I want to do this all on my own. And besides, my magic is the last thing I want ruining this night.
My first ring misses, bouncing off the side of a bottle and falling onto the ground. Bracken’s first ring hooks, and I turn to glare at him.
“Two more to go,” he says, grinning deviously.
“You can’t use your supernatural senses. That’s cheating.”
“We’re both capable of—”
“Nope,” I say. “Not me.”
He frowns. “It’s not like I can turn it off.”
“Try,” I say dryly.
My second ring misses, but so does Bracken’s. I square my shoulders, focusing on the third and final ring. Bracken goes first—and misses. I eye him, wondering if he’s done it on purpose, but he gives nothing away. Duncan has backed off and stands at the corner of the stall, watching us with arms crossed.
I ignore him too because his distant attitude is starting to bring me down.
I concentrate and toss the final ring.
It hooks a bottle, and I let out a whoop.
“Woo!” I do a little dance, and Bracken laughs, grabbing my hand and twirling me.
“You do know a tie isn’t a win, right?” he asks when I come to a stop.
“It’s not a loss, though,” I point out, refusing to come down off my high tonight. I don’t get enough good days, so I refuse to let it be anything else.
“We don’t get a stuffed bunny for a tie,” he adds.
“Well, damn.” I pout, eyeing the stuffed animal prizes hanging above our heads. “We could go again.”
“I have a better idea. We need a tiebreaker,” he says.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Come on.” He grabs my hand and leads me through the aisles, past a dart board full of water balloons and a dunk tank where Kleo currently sits in the hot seat. I offer her a small wave and swear Duncan growls behind me. But a glance back at him gives away nothing.