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Preston’s grin spread wider. “Ask her.”
I ran my tongue over my lower lip then, with my cheeks flushing, said, “The raccoon, please.”
The woman unhooked the raccoon from its noose in the back corner and passed it to me. “Here you go, darlin’. So sweet!”
The stuffed raccoon was soft and warm as Preston draped it around my neck. He pulled me into him, eyes shining, lips still curved. Except now there was a self-satisfied glint that bordered on smugness.
“Told you,” he said in a low voice. “And you still didn’t beat me.”
“All right,” I said back, peering up at him through my lashes. “There’s a shooting game just over there. Goldfish for the winner.”
He tickled my chin with the tail of the raccoon. “You’re making this too easy, do you know that?”
I shrugged and followed him. It took everything I had to hide my smile. My dad had spent hours on these games with me, telling me how to shoot accurately. I’d won these games before I’d been able to shoot an actual gun in the range, and it’d done me well.
I was many things, but a bad shot was not one of them.
I also didn’t advertise my ability with a firearm. There was no way for Preston to know that I was about to beat his ass at this game.
We made our way over to the shooting game. He bragged about his finesse the entire time to the point I actually pulled the money out of my purse and paid for his turn.
I shrugged. “Put your money where your mouth is.”
He side-eyed me but didn’t argue with me. I stroked the tail of the stuffed raccoon that was snuggled firmly around my neck and took a step back.
This was fun.
Too fun.
Damn it.
He took his designated five shots. Somehow, he missed every single time bar one. That one that did hit was so bad it only grazed the target.
“I thought you were a great shot.” I turned to him, sliding the raccoon down to the stall. I set it on the counter in front of me and handed the guy on the other side the money for my turn.
Preston took my purse. “You’re not going to do better than me.”
I shrugged. “I can’t do much worse.”
The guy in the stall chuckled. “She’s not wrong, dude.”
I took the gun he offered me with a small smile and got comfortable with the flimsy thing in my hands. I lined up my shots and, one by one, hit each target almost perfectly.
“What the fuck?” Preston muttered, handing me back my purse. “What the hell did I just watch?”
I grinned and took the goldfish in the little plastic bag I was offered. It swam around quite happily, and I held it out to Preston. “Here you go.”
He looked at the fish, then back up at me. “You’re giving me the goldfish?”
“You won my raccoon. I won you a goldfish.” I shrugged. “Seems fair.”
“I don’t have anywhere to put a goldfish,” he replied.
“And I don’t have anywhere to put a stuffed raccoon. The real ones might get jealous. Yet here I am, carrying it around on my shoulders like it’s a hairless cat and I’m plotting world domination.”
“Take the goldfish, man. All you need is a little bowl, and you can get those for like ten bucks in Walmart.” The stall guy shrugged. “Besides, you need a reminder that your girl is a better shot than you.”
“Oh. Um… I’m not his girl,” I said, shuffling awkwardly.
“First date.” Preston swooped in with the recovery and a wink in my direction.
“My bad. Well, at least you know that she won’t miss if you ever get someone break-in.”
I hid my smirk with a dip of my head.
Preston took the goldfish from me and muttered something under his breath. I think it was related to going to the range and practicing so he wouldn’t be shown up by a girl, but he walked off before I could hear it all.
Laughing, I made sure I grabbed my raccoon and chased after him. He was still muttering to himself when I caught up to him, and I couldn’t stop laughing. His face was red, and I could taste his embarrassment from where I was walking along next to him.
“It’s a game, Preston,” I reminded him. “A game.”
“You’re such a good shot that you could shoot me with your eyes closed. Me and Uranus don’t deserve this.”
“Uranus?”
He held up the goldfish. “This is Uranus.”
“Why? Because the guy was an ass?”
“You’re a good shot, beautiful, and annoyingly smart. What am I doing here?”
“Punching above your weight?”
He shot me a dark look. His lips twitched, giving away his amusement, and within seconds, he was laughing and wrapping one arm around me and pulling me into his side. “You’re something else. Do you have time to ride the Ferris wheel, or do you have to get back to feed your neighbors?”
