Page 71 of Will Bark for Pizza
I sipped on my Dr. Pepper as he threw three darts in a row and hit nothing that counted toward his score.
“Can’t blame me for that round,” I said, stepping up to the line again.
“Sure, I can,” he said.
“I didn’t do anything.”
He glanced down at my lips for several beats, then at the straw in my cup. The one with a light pink lipstick tint toward the top.
“Sure, you didn’t.”
With each round, I played dirtier. So did Beckett.
When he pushed aside my ponytail to reveal the dragonfly tattoo peeking out from my tank top strap, my dart hit the board next to us. When I slipped my hand into his back pocket, his dart shot up at the ceiling.
“Christ, at this rate, you two will be here until morning,” Thoren ribbed.
Alyssa had beaten him, but I suspected he let her.
“We’re almost done,” I shot back.
“She just needs a seventeen and a sixteen,” Alyssa said in my defense. “Then it’s game over.”
“Not if Beckett hits the triple sixteen first,” Thoren said. “C’mon. Shut her out, man. You’re our only hope.”
Beckett stepped up to the line, and I stayed off to the side at our small table, slowly unpeeling the wrapper of a cupcake. I traced my tongue along the cone of white frosting.
“Shit, man. Focus!” Thoren said after he hit the single nine with his first dart.
I bit into the cupcake, allowing the frosting tocover my nose.
Beckett’s second dart landed in the regular sixteen spot, but barely.
I dipped my finger into the frosting and sucked on it.
Beckett’s final dart hit the wall, just below the board.
“What happened there?” I asked, feigning innocence as I set my cupcake down. I used a napkin to wipe the frosting from my nose, fully aware that Beckett was starting at my mouth. It made me stare right back at his.
I really wanted to find out if he was the type of man to kiss a woman breathless. Because if I was wrong about that, there was no hope for me when it came to men. Not now. Not ever.
“Would you two stop looking at each other like you want to sneak away and screw in the bathroom so Kira can win this thing already?” Alyssa shouted above the music, turning more than a couple of heads.
I was past caring.
This friendly game of darts was doing some wickedly delightful things between my legs. I couldn’t remember the last time I craved a man’s touch. Even if this never went anywhere, it was refreshing to know that maybe I could date again . . . sometime . . . in the very distant future.
“Kira?” Beckett said, handing me the purple darts.
“Yeah?”
“You missed some frosting.” He swiped his thumb along the side of my mouth, and a quiet whimper escaped my throat. I watched as he sucked the frosting from his thumb, and my panties dampened.
Triple shit.
I spun away and faced the dartboard. I had to end thisgame. Not only because I wanted the satisfaction of beating Beckett, but because if this game didn’t end soon, we’d probably end up making out in front of everyone. Or more. I didn’t need to give Kat another reason to blacklist me from her bar. The fries were just too good.
“You got this, Kira,” Alyssa cheered from the side.
