"And I didn't need a lightsaber to do it."
"You did not, my Zolotse." He smiles, and I lean over and kiss it. Then I start to press them all over his handsome face. How could I not?
Chapter Twelve
KILLIAN
Acarnival would typically give me a headache. All the people and sounds. Then there is the smell. That one is pissing me off right now. The only time I was able to experience Teddy's cotton candy smell again was while riding the Ferris wheel. The cotton candy here cannot be compared to her scent. Nothing can.
Since I stepped foot out of the car, I’ve been on high alert. My body and mind are trained to home in on my surroundings. It would be easy to off a person here. There might be people everywhere, but there are also all these nooks between tents and rides. The food trucks take up a big section, and you could slip right through them quickly.
I spotted a few nice places on a couple of buildings across the river that I could make a killer shot from. Not that anyone is in the business for offing a clown or bearded woman, but you never know. You catalog these things and file them away in case you need them for later.
"Do it! Do it. Do it." Teddy bounces on her heels, cheering me on to hit a hanging ball. A few people have punched it, and a score lights up on the board. Teddy wants to know how I'd do.I hand the lanky man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth the tickets you need to play.
"Don't fuck with me," I warn him in a low, calculated tone. I see him audibly swallow before he nods and moves a handful of steps away from the machine, making it clear to me he's not going to fuck with it.
Smart. He would actually be harder to get my hands on. This machine is toward the center of the games, but there is always a way. I step back to take my shot, hitting it dead center. It lights up like a freaking Christmas tree, the score maxing out at one thousand.
Obnoxious sounds pour from it, and I want to hit it again. It's drawing too much attention, but when I see Teddy bouncing up and down cheering, I can't stop the smile that forms. I also don't understand the warmth that hits me in the center of my chest every time I see her this way. Her being happy brings me a comfort I’ve never experienced before.
Teddy throws herself at me, and I catch her easily. "You nailed it!" A small victory scream leaves her. I simply stare at her and take her in. A person so full of life and happiness. It pours from her, and I drink it right up. I can no longer imagine a life without it, without her.
Her comment about kids threw me off. Could I settle into one place and make a life with her? As soon as she said the words, I somehow knew without a doubt that I would do whatever it took to make that my reality. The idea of Teddy round with my child made me dizzy. Thankfully I was sitting down.
"All right, big guy. It's my turn to take on a few of these games." She kisses the tip of my nose and wiggles, indicating for me to put her back on her feet. I could carry her. It would make things easier. She's tiny, but I put her down, honoring her silent request.
Teddy's small hand slips into mine, and she tugs me in the direction she wants to go. I eye each game but not in the same way that she does. There’s genuine excitement on her part and skepticism on mine.
"Oh, oh, do this one." She pulls me over to one that has these guns that shoot pellets. You have to hit the old-school white milk-shaped can.
"You don't want to?"
"We can do it together?" The man behind the counter waits. I pull out the tickets, and he hands us the pellet balls you're supposed to load into the gun. I pick up Teddy's first and flip over the gun that's connected to the stand to clear out the under clip.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the man rushes to ask.
"Fixing it," I tell him. "Is that a problem?" I give him a look that lets him know if he says one more word about what I’m doing that he’s the one that’s going to have the issue.
"Ahh, that's nice of you," Teddy says, inspecting the fixed pellet gun.
He rushes over toward us, and I turn fully toward him. “Is a punch to the face really worth you handing over a stuffed panda when you have a whole wall of them?”
"No problem. Thanks." He scurries across to his spot, and I fix my own.
Teddy misses her first shot. I step behind her and help guide her, and she nails the rest. I do mine next. She beams as she picks out our prizes.
I have to admit, these games are kind of fun, but not for the same reasons that Teddy thinks they are. I’m enjoying the terrified looks on all the carnies' faces.
We head to the ring toss next. I watch the people ahead of us, and this one can't be rigged. At least from my calculations. When it's our turn, I take one of the rings and feel the weight.
"You got tricks up those sleeves?" Teddy asks.
"Not tricks. Logic." I toss one, and it bounces and lands on the bottleneck.
"You nailed that!" I shrug. "They only got one because they just threw them all in the air and got lucky." That is what the couple ahead of us did.
"Throw it like a Frisbee in a steep arc so that it lands in the middle of a close group of bottles." I point to an area. “It needs to bounce in order to stay on the bottle because the ring will always have too much momentum to stay.” I put one of the rings in her hand, showing her how to test the weight.
