Page 51 of The Golden Goalie

“Is Gunner coming” I ask, looking around.

“No, he didn’t want to,” Bri says as she grabs a big board with balloons all over it. “Okay. Here we go, People.” She sets the board against the wall and hands me several darts.

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Darts?”

“Yeah. You have to throw them to pop the balloons until one of them pops with either pink or blue confetti. The rest are just white confetti. Don’t worry; Mom helped me so the right one is in there.”

I stare at the board. “You do realize I have terrible aim, right?”

“Hopefully not as bad as Bri,” Sebastian says with a laugh as Bri turns her scowl on him.

Aiden smirks but doesn’t say anything. “Nothing from you, Handsome.”

“I didn’t say anything,” he offers up.

Wanting to be a good sport, I push my chair back. “I don’t think putting that board against the wall is a good idea. I’m going to damage the wall.”

“It’s fine,” Aiden says.

“Stop stalling,” Sebastian says.

“You got this, Amber,” Stephanie says.

I take the first dart and throw it at the board. It hits the board, thankfully; but it doesn’t hit any balloons. “Try again,” Bri says excitedly. I throw another one that bounces right off.

“We’re going to be here all night,” Sebastian mutters, and Stephanie elbows him.

“You got this Amber,” Rico calls out.

“Yeah, Amber. You got it,” Bri says.

“Thanks for the moral support, but I really don’t think I do.” Two more darts and two more misses later, I turn around. “This isn’t working.”

“Rico, go help her,” Bri says. Rico doesn’t bat an eye as he stands up and comes over to me.

“I hope you’re better at this than me,” I say, handing him the darts.

“Probably not,” he says good-naturedly as he takes three darts from me. He turns around and mimics throwing it a few times before he launches it hard.Pop.The first balloon pops and sends a spray of white glitter.

“We got one!” Bri says excitedly. “Keep going, Rico.”

“Yeah, see if it’s just beginner’s luck,” Sebastian goads him.

Rico turns to him. “Want me to use your head as a target?”

Sebastian laughs, and I turn Rico back towards the board. “As fun as that would be to see, focus on the board please.”

“Yes Ma’am,” he says with a grin. Then he throws another dart and nails another balloon. Eight balloons later, we’re still going.

“Longest reveal ever,” Sebastian says in a loud whisper.

“Okay, so maybe I got a little carried away,” Bri says. “Keep going, Rico.”

I’m just about ready to go find a chair when Rico hits the next balloon, sending pink glitter everywhere.

“It’s a girl!”

“I knew it!” That’s from Stephanie.

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