Page 68 of Mr. Broody

I take my shot, ignoring everyone talking about how much better I am than Henry at darts. I’m able to get a sixteen, closing them out, then a double seventeen and one fifteen. That means I only have one fifteen left and three bull’s-eyes, which I’m never good at throwing.

His darts are in his hand as soon as I return, and he steps to the line, not saying anything to me, but it’s his eyes. The way they coast down my body and back up to meet my eyes. The way his tongue runs along his bottom lip afterward. He didn’t need to say anything flirtatious to get my body all heated.

“Ky, do you need me to buy you a Lego set?” Rowan asks.

We all look over to see the assembly half done and her flipping through the instruction manual. It’s kind of cute.

“I can’t stop.” She cringes, never raising her head.

“This is her. The task will be completed.” Conor shakes his head, and Kyleigh flips him off.

I throw my dart and close out my fifteens.

“She’s going to beat you. She’s only got bull’s-eyes left,” Tweetie says.

“And a unicorn might fly in here too,” Henry says.

I scoff and narrow my eyes at him. He just laughs. This natural rhythm we’ve found between us again feels really good.

“I think Rubes would kill the unicorn,” Conor says, cringing.

We all laugh, and I throw my last two darts. Each one ends up on nothing.

Henry pushes off the table with a smug look. He closes out his eighteens and seventeens with his first two darts, then takes an extra-long second staring at the board with his final dart pointed that way before he throws it and gets another bull’s-eye.

“Just kick his ass,” Conor whispers.

“I believe in you, Jade!” Tweetie shouts.

Rowan clears his throat, and when I glance over, I see a sleepy Bodhi in Rowan’s arms with a googly-eyed Kyleigh staring at them, a finished Lego spaceship in front of her. I totally get it, girl.

“Not a chance,” Henry says, and I shake my head.

I throw the dart at the board and just miss the bull’s-eye. I take a deep breath and straighten my back, remembering everything Reed taught me when I was ten. I throw the dart, and it lands in the bull’s-eye ring.

One more.

“You’ve got this,” Tweetie says.

“For sure. Take it all, Jade!” Conor joins in.

“Do it for the girls!” Kyleigh adds.

“Man, didn’t take much for you guys to turn on me,” Henry says and winks, nodding to the board. “All it takes is a double bull’s-eye.”

He taunts me, knowing I rarely ever get those. They’re like unicorns to me.

I stop positioning the dart and stare him down. “Give me an incentive.”

“Why would I do that?” he asks. “I want to beat you.”

“Then give me a consequence if I lose.” I raise my chin an inch.

He straightens, crossing his arms, his muscles popping out of his snug long-sleeve Henley. He studies me for a moment. “You lose, and you have to bring Bodhi to one of my games. Come and see me play.”

I tilt my head, and he raises his eyebrows. He knows what he’s doing.

“And if you lose?” I ask.

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