“Same goes for me,” Ronan followed along behind Fitz with a determined look on his face.
“I’m gonna give it a try too,” Jude said to Cope. “Maybe with three of us giving it a go, we’ll have more luck.”
“I hope so.” Cope pressed a kiss to Jude’s cheek. “Go get ’em, tiger.”
Jude growled and forked his money over to the teenage girl running the game. She traded his money for three blue darts. Ronan’s were green, and Fitz’s were red.
Ronan threw his first projectile, and it hit a balloon but bounced off, almost landing back on the booth.
“Oh, Jeez.” Everly shook her head. “We’renevergonna get unicorns like this.”
Aurora, wearing a bleak look on her face, nodded.
Fitz tossed one of his darts and missed the balloons entirely. The dart stuck into the corkboard wall.
“Talk about dull as fuck,” Jude muttered, tapping his finger on the point of the dart. Reminding himself why winning was so important, he took a deep breath and threw. Just like Fitz, the dart hit a balloon but failed to break it. In that instant of failure, Jude felt like he could cry. It wasn’t like him to be this emotional, but he was still feeling awful for being duped when it came to the hotel.
Setting a hand on Jude’s shoulder, Cope picked up one of his two remaining darts. With what looked like practiced ease, Cope gently lofted a dart toward the board and popped a blue balloon.
“Winner,” the teenager said, sounding completely bored.
Cope picked up Jude’s final dart and threw it with the same easy style as the first time. It popped a green balloon.
“Winner.” The game attendant rolled her eyes.
A small smile curled Cope’s lips. He took a step to the left and pointed to Ronan’s two remaining chances to win Everly the unicorn stuffy of her dreams.
“Go for it.” Ronan held up his crossed fingers.
Taking a deep breath, Cope grabbed one of Ronan’s green darts and let it fly. Like the others, it popped a balloon. Ditto for Ronan’s last one.
“They’re all yours,” Fitz said, stepping out of the way with a little bow.
Jude couldn’t believe his eyes. How the hell was Cope so good at throwing carnival darts? He couldn’t wait to hear the explanation.
“Winner,” the girl said when Cope’s next dart struck home. “Winner,” she added when Cope landed the sixth dart.
“What can we get for six hits?” Cope asked. He hooked a thumb toward Everly and Aurora, who were jumping up and down with joy.
“One big one.” The girl grabbed a unicorn with a bright green mane and set it on the booth in front of Cope. “Or two little ones.” Reaching under the counter, the girl pulled out two smaller unicorns, both with aqua manes.
“I’ll take the little ones. Do you have them in pink and purple?”
Without saying a word, the girl reached into the box and poked around a bit before handing Cope what he’d asked for.
“Thanks. You made my nieces’ day.” Cope turned and handed the unicorns to the girls. Aurora picked the pink, and Everly took the purple. Both girls ran to the booth and hugged the attendant.
“This is the best job in the whole entire world!” Everly gushed. “Don’t worry about Brad, he’s just a stupid prick. Harmon ismuchbetter!”
The girl, whose name tag read “Sandy,” stared at Everly with wide eyes. “How did you know about Brad?”
Everly tapped the side of her head. “I’m tiny but mighty. Harmon’s gonna ask you to Homecoming, and you’re gonna win a beautiful crown.”
“I am?” Sandy smiled. She reached under the counter and pulled out three more unicorns. One was neon green, one was aqua, and the other fluorescent yellow. She handed them to Everly, who offered Aurora first pick. She took the green one. “Thank you. The last one’s for your little friend.” She waved to Lizbet, who was waving from her stroller.
Everly hugged Sandy. “No, thank you! These unicorns are my new favorites. I’m gonna name one Sandy and the other one Marie.”
Sandy wore a surprised look. “How did you know my middle name is Marie?”
