I bent down and tore them off, showing them to Sky. “Voila! Tickets! Now you try.” He hesitated, uncertain, the cup of tokens gripped in one hand, like he wasn’t sure what to do with them. I reached out and brushed hair out of his face, offering a smile. “Hey, relax. It’s not gonna bite you.”
“I just… I feel awkward,” he admitted, glancing between me and the machine. “I’ve never done this before.”
“Well, no one’s judging you. Everyone’s too busy playing games. C’mon, how about I show you all my other favorite games and let you decide which ones you wanna try?”
“Okay,” he agreed. “That sounds good.”
We walked around the arcade, dodging little kids who ran around with laughter in their hearts and tickets gripped in their hands. I pointed out different machines and showed Sky how to play them.
Then we came to another one of my favorites.
“This one’s fun.” It was an oversized, creepy pirate head with a wide-open mouth, his gnarly old teeth just waiting to be knocked out.
“You gotta blow out as many teeth as you can with three balls. The gold one’s worth the most points, but it’s the hardest one to hit. Watch this.”
I sat down on the stool and loaded a token into the machine, and a sea shanty started playing. Immediately, the pirate mocked me, but I was quick with the gun. I aimed and fired three balls, knocking out a handful of teeth.
“Oi, ya got me, matey…” Tickets came spitting out the side. I tore them off and stood, then waggled them in Sky’s face.
“You’re up.”
He looked a little nervous, but I saw it—the gleam of curiosity and interest shining behind those heterochromatic eyes. He might not have gotten to play at an arcade as a kid, but Adam and I would make sure he got to play them as an adult.
And we’d bring our daughter here, too, when she got to be a little older. I smiled at the thought.
Of course, Sky missed all but one ball, knocking out a single tooth. The pirate responded by laughing at him. “Yar-har-har! Better luck next time!”
Sky laughed. “That was kind of fun. I wanna do it again.”
I patted his back. “Enjoy. I’m gonna go play something too. If you need me, I’m right around the corner.” I winked at him. “Have fun!”
After playing for a while, Adam waved us over to the token machine. He had a sizable wad of tickets in his hand, and a cup of tokens in the other.
Sky’s eyes widened. “Wow, you must be really good at this.”
Adam chuckled. “Oh, I am. I didn’t get to have fun growing up, so I take all the chances I can get to enjoy myself as an adult. It’s the little things.”
“Now…” His grin turned wolfish, and my stomach flip-flopped. He was up to something. “I have a challenge for you. Hold out your cups.” We did, and he counted out twenty tokens into each one. “Whoever can win the most tickets? Wins all of my tickets,anda blowjob.” He dropped his voice to a hush for that last part, thankfully.
Sky’s face flushed red at the same time I gasped, “Adam! God!”
“Sounds good?” He waggled his brows. “Good. On your marks, get set, go!”
I threw my head back on a laugh, shoulder-checking Sky who was still bright red. “Good luck, babe,” I teased, then took off.
We spent the next half-hour slapping buttons and aiming guns, playing Duck Hunt and arcade games while the machines flashed and chimed and doled out tickets like their mechanical hearts depended on it.
When my token cup ran dry, I returned to Adam’s side. We waited on Sky, who was still knocking the teeth out of the poor pirate.
I grinned up at my mate. “I think he’s getting the hang of it.”
“Good. It’s good for him to let loose and have a little fun,” he agreed.
Sky caught up with us about ten minutes later, his Converse scuffing over the worn carpet. “I’m pretty sure I lost, but hey, it was fun,” he said, offering his tickets to Adam, as if he expected him to count them.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I murmured. Sidling over to Sky, I tucked my tickets into his hoodie pocket and kissed him on the cheek. “Well, would you look at that? We’ve got a winner.”
Adam smirked. “Guess we do. Congratulations, love.” He handed Sky his tickets. Sky looked confused for a moment before his face morphed into a look of glee. He giggled and gathered all the tickets up in his arms.
