Page 87 of Give Me a Shot

“Okay, m’lord.” She glanced at the clock over his shoulder. “Why don’t you stay here, just to breathe. I told Doug I’d meet the photographer outside a couple of minutes ago.”

“Okay, m’lady,” he said. He leaned to kiss her cheek, but she was already turning to leave. “See you,” he called out. She waved and slipped into the hall.

—

Once he’d finished some tea and tossed his emptied paper cup into the trash, he headed back to the smithy. The previous construction noise was gone, a near silence wafting into the building through the open windows. Mo found it quite odd, so he passed his smithy and headed out the back door of the School.

A small crowd of School volunteers was standing in a semicircle, facing the archery field, watching Jess shoot. Even though he didn’t have his sunglasses, and the light might start a headache, Mo joined them, nodding hellos. The photographer was lying on her stomach on the ground, her camera pointed up at Jess, who was down on one knee, aiming at one of the targets. Jess was listening to her instructions, and she moved a little bit this way, a little bit that, changing the way that she held the bow and arrow. Her beautiful sable hair with its warm depth glinted in the sunlight. Mo tucked in his smile at the fact that now he knew what that gorgeous curtain felt like on his skin. Then the photographer got up and the videographer came closer. Jess began shooting. The onlookers had been quiet during the photos, but the quality of the silence changed. Mo glanced at the others out of his peripheral vision. Then he let his gaze fall to the ground and go unfocused so that he could get a feel for the emotions in the group. Their quiet wasn’t one of restraint; it was a quiet of surprise. Mo furtively looked around. Eyes were wide, jaws slack, watching Jess. Ned was the only one who didn’t look shocked.Arms folded and standing off to one side, he looked like a proud father. Ned glanced up, met Mo’s eyes, and he smiled and nodded once. Mo returned the gesture, and then happily allowed himself to look back at Jess.

She’d gotten up from where she’d been half kneeling on the ground, and was stalking toward a bale of hay, slowly, as the videographer had asked. To a silent beat, she removed an arrow, shot. Removed an arrow, shot. Each one sailed silently through the air until it pierced the center of the bale. Mo wanted to keep watching, but he also knew he needed to get the forges going for his and Rick’s photos. His stomach flopped, and his breath stuttered for a moment.

It’s for the School. For the best cause.

He held on to the thought and Jess’s hug to keep his nerves away as he walked back to the smithy. Just as he was about to step out of the sunshine and into the building, he looked back at the crowd, still mesmerized by Jess. He caught sight of one of her arrows piercing a disk flying through the air. The “ah” that rose up from the others brought a smile to his lips. In agreeing to step out of his comfort zone for the School, he’d gotten the chance to know her. Before he could doubt himself, he slipped out his phone to text her a little encouragement she could find when she’d finished. He began to acknowledge a tiny bit of gratitude for the Ren Faire. Without it, he probably would have kept to himself, stuck in his grumpy, as Khalil liked to say.

Maybe this is a good thing for me, too.

—

Twenty minutes later, the forges were roaring away. Mo had laid out the tools that he thought looked traditional and placed a few bar stocks into the fires to heat up. He was feeling at ease, approaching the relaxed state he got into while working the metal, when Rick sauntered through the door.

“Hey, man, did you see her?” he asked, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “She’s awesome.”

“Uh, yeah,” Mo said.

Rick shook his head as he opened his tool bag.

“Silly me. Of course you’ve seen yourgirlfriendshoot,” he said. He peered at Mo out of the corner of his eye. Mo swallowed back the blast of nerves that had sparked at the word “girlfriend” and scowled.

“Didn’t want to interrupt you guys in the break room,” Rick said, winking.

Mo didn’t like feeling seen, especially without his knowledge. But a small part of him realized that Rick knowing was fine with him. He just didn’t want to be talked about. He didn’t like people examining him and his feelings. He wanted things to continue going well with Jess, though. That would mean the people around him being aware that he liked someone. He knew on paper that was a very good thing.

It just…feels safer when I’m single. When I’m in my quiet little bubble and no one on the outside can see what’s going on inside.

But Jess was…starting to feel like…one of his safe spaces. He’d been worried about opening up with her, and that had gone well. He could continue. Plus Rick had said “girlfriend.” He wasn’t the first person to bring it up. Maddie had, then Mrs. Sargysan. The idea made his skin tingle and throat constrict at the same time. Everyone seemed to be noticing, no matter how he felt about it. Even though it made him feel terribly shy, the idea of Jess being his girlfriend was appealing. It made his heart flutter a little. Rick was still smirking at him, holding back a laugh like Khalil would have. Mo narrowed his eyes and blasted a sigh through his nostrils.

“All right, all right, man,” Rick said, chuckling a little with his palms up. “Pretend I never said anything.” His hammer in hand, he grabbed the cool end of one of the heated pieces of bar stock and went to his anvil. “The photographer will be here soon, let’s bang some metal.”

Mo did the same, blowing out a metered breath and relaxing into smithing mode.

This is difficult, but it’s for the best reason, for the best cause.

He raised his hammer, bringing it down for the first blow.

And becoming Jess’s boyfriend might be the best thing for me, too.

Chapter Twenty-One

Jess

Back at the archery supply closet, Jess smiled at the message she’d discovered from Mo.

Mo:

Neither the Dread Pirate Roberts nor Princess Buttercup have anything on you, m’lady.

She didn’t know if things had begun in the smithy yet, so she couldn’t guess at his emotional state. She hoped the nervous discomfort of being photographed hadn’t built too much. It had been disturbing for her, but once she could move while they were shooting video, she had been able to get into the zone, far from any anxiety or worry. Any sadness about Cassie got tucked away where Jess couldn’t feel it. The applause from the other School volunteers had come as a surprise once they’d stopped filming. Jess had forgotten they were there.

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