Page 38 of Finn

I’m pretty excited, but I try to appear nonchalant as I say, “Yeah. Monday works for me.”

“Great. I have an idea of what we can do. It’s something I’ve been dying to try, and I think it’d be a blast.”

“All right,” I say tentatively. “What is it?”

Looking over at me with a sly smile, she says, “Axe throwing.”

“Ha!” I bark out a laugh. “You do remember that I’m from Alaska, right? I’ve chopped a lot of wood in my day, so I’m pretty good with an axe.”

“Perfect, then you should kick ass.” She pauses and peers over at me, her pretty green eyes sparkling in the low light. “So, you’re definitely up for it?”

I nod. “Absolutely, I am.”

She pops open the passenger door. “Cool. I’ll get more info, so we can figure out the logistics. I’ll send you a text with the specifics once I look everything up.”

“Sounds good,” I reply.

“See ya, Finn.”

“Bye, Sammie.”

She slips out of the car and starts to close the door, but then she hesitates.

Popping her head back in, she says, “Hey, I just want to say I had a really good time tonight.”

I smile and tell her, “I did too.”

It’s true.

I had a fan-fucking-tastic time with my new friend.

Sammie

Iwiden my stance, lift the axe high above my head with both hands, and let it fly.

“What the hell,” Finn says from behind me. “Another bull’s-eye? I can’t believe this!”

It’s amusing that he’s shocked at how good I am at this axe-throwing thing. But if there’s one strength I have, it’s superb hand-eye coordination, as evidenced by the fact that this is my fifth bull’s-eye tonight.

And I’ve only thrown six times.

The lone one I missed was close, too, just a little off to the left.

“Now I see why you wanted to go axe-throwing,” Finn says as I turn around to face him. He points at me accusingly. “You’re a secret ace.”

I kind of am, but I just wave my hand and retort, “Aww, I don’t know about that. I’m just okay.”

“Okay?” he coughs out. “You are way better than ‘okay,’ Sammie.”

I am, but I’m trying to be humble here. I mean, Finn’s no slouch at this activity either. He’s done well, but not as good as I have. Still, he’s scored some points by hitting the targets in various areas.

But he’s not nailed five bull’s-eyes.

Nope.

To his credit, though, he has hit a respectable two.

I like that he’s impressed with my performance. And he’s right—I did choose this activity on purpose. I wanted to show off for him. I don’t know why.

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