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"Here, let me show you how it's done," I teased, taking a deep breath. I relaxed and exhaled. The world slowed down and I squeezed the trigger.
“You did it!” squeaked Rhea. “She’s amazing, Daddy!”
“She is.”
With each target I hit, the excitement grew. The girls gasped, and, although I was focused on shooting, I could feel Cole getting more and more tense. Like he was really rooting for me. When the fifth and final cowboy cutout pinged over, Cole, Lexi, and Rhea erupted into applause and whoops of delight.
I smiled wide and took a goofy bow.
"Quite an impressive display," the stall owner said grumpily. "It's not every day someone wins one of the big prizes."
"That was fucking superb!" Cole said.
"Daddy!" Lexi gasped. "That's cursing!"
"Sorry, I just haven’t seen shooting like that for a long, long time. Damn, El, that's impressive." I wanted so much to kiss him, but that couldn’t happen in front of the girls.
"That was so good! You're a superstar!" Rhea exclaimed as the man handed me the giant stuffed panda, which I promptly gave to the girls.
"Seems like your mom is a natural at this," the man said curtly.
My cheeks reddened.
"She's not their mom,” Cole snapped. “Just a friend."
The comment stung more than I'd have liked to admit, but I forced a smile and shrugged it off. After all, he was right—I wasn't their mom. And this thing between us? It was just temporary.
"Yeah," I said breezily. "I'm just a friend."
The stall owner shrugged, clearly completely disinterested.
I cleared my throat. "Okay, let's move on, shall we? There are plenty more games and rides for us to try."
"Okay!" Rhea agreed, her eyes already scanning for the next attraction.
***
It was an hour or so later, as we sat enjoying hot dogs after a spin on the Ferris wheel, that the kids really went for the kill.
"Daddy, is Elara your new girlfriend?" Rhea asked, all wide-eyed innocence.
Lexi turned to me, curious.
"No," Cole said firmly. "We're just good friends, that's all."
"She'd be a great girlfriend for you. She's super pretty," Lexi declared between bites.
Rhea nodded sagely. "Way too pretty for you, Dad. You're so hairy and angry."
"I am not angry all the time."
"There's a girl in my class who's got two mommies," Rhea said. "If Elara was your new girlfriend we could have two mommies, too."
Cole swallowed hard, shooting me an apologetic look.
Lexi looked at me solemnly. "Elara, please will you date our dad? I know he's hairy and annoying, but he gives great hugs."
"Girls," Cole said, more forcefully now. "This is inappropriate. I'm not interested in Elara being my girlfriend."
