Page 87 of The Hearts We've Broken
I waited for him to continue, but was only met with silence. “All right, then. The winner of each game gets five bucks,” I decided.
We stepped up to the first game, the ping-pong toss, where rows of shot glasses were set up and you had to sink as many ping-pong balls as possible.
“Okay, Peachy, show me what you’ve got.” Mikey handed me a ball.
I gave him a smug look. “Please, I could do this in my sleep.” I threw the first ball, and it bounced off the rim of one of the glasses but managed to land in a different one. “See?”
He raised his brows like he didn’t believe me, and I grabbed the next ball, sinking another shot.
“I’ve gotta say, I’m impressed. If I ever need a pong partner in the future, I know who I’m going to call.”
“Like I said, I’m a professional.” I did miss the next shot, but I didn’t have to eat my words quite yet because I made the next two. My percentage may not have been perfect, but it was good enough. By the end, I had made five out of six. “Your turn, Casanova.”
Mikey only made three out of the six, and I shot him a cocky grin as I stuck out my hand. He paid up, handing me a crisp five-dollar bill.
“You can pick the next game. Are we upping the wager?”
“Hmm, tempting, but no. You’re going to drain my pockets if we increase the reward.” He laughed, and it almost made me forget the reason why we made this trip in the first place.
He led me over to the game where you hit a pad with a hammer and test your strength.
I let a boisterous laugh slip. “That’s a low blow!”
After shrugging, he gave me a wink. “I’ve gotta win somehow. If playing dirty is how I have to do it, I’m not above that.”
“I’ll remember that the next time you want to make a bet with me,” I teased.
This time, I made Mikey go first, so at least I had reasonable expectations for how hard I was going to have to swing the hammer.
He rubbed his hands together before stretching his arms and twisting his torso like he was about to compete in a boxing match. Then he took the hammer from the carnie and stepped up to the plate. His muscles rippled and the veins in his forearms popped as he reared back the hammer and brought it down onto the pad.
I brought my hand up to my mouth to make sure I wasn’t drooling over the sight of him, but my eyes widened in shock when the weight only went about three quarters of the way up to the bell.
“I’m kind of shocked you didn’t get it, but I definitely enjoyed watching.” I bit my lip as he handed me the hammer.
“It’s all in the technique.”
I weighed the hammer in my hands. It wasn’t very heavy, so I should have been able to lift it over my headeasily and swing it with enough force. It was making sure I hit the target in the right spot that mattered.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, then opened them, swinging the hammer with all my might. The ball shot up, hitting the bell ever so slightly, but still causing it to ring.
My jaw dropped, and so did the hammer in my hands. It fell to the ground as I spun to face Mikey. His smile reached ear to ear as I practically jumped in his arms from excitement.
“I did it! I can’t believe I did it!”
He wrapped me in his arms, and I felt the vibration of his laughter in his chest as he stroked my hair. “You sure did.”
We raced around the fairgrounds, playing every game we could find. I was sure he was letting me win some of them, but I didn’t even care. It wasn’t about the money, I just liked being around him.
Mikey wrapped his arm around me as we walked toward the food vendors. We’d be heading home tomorrow.
“I’ve had a lot of fun with you this weekend.” I smiled.
“I have, too.”
“Should we talk about…” My voice trailed off as a realization hit me.
Whether or not we talked about our relationship status now or later, I knew what I was going to do. I was going to tell him how I felt. How Itrulyfelt. That even though this all started out as fake, everything now was real to me. That I cared about him. That I wanted to be with him.
