Page 21 of Their Little House Colter
“And what would you have done if we picked someplace else?” Because even if he only put a little bit of money on each card, it could only be spent here.
“I’d save them for next time we go out.” He was already planning a next time. I liked that. It took the pressure off in a weird way. “What game should we play first?”
I looked around. There were so many things I wanted to do, and I was grateful when Dallas asked if there was a whack-a-mole kind of game because it gave us a place to start. It ended up being Whack-a-Worm instead, but we played the side-by-side machine, Daddy cheering us both on.
Not Daddy-daddy, but the daddy—Ari. I was getting so many steps ahead of myself.
Dallas was really great at this game and had far more tickets than I did when we were done, but I didn’t mind because I was having a blast and this wasn’t a competition. Not in any real way.
From there, we moved to a game where you had to get the marbles in the right slots to let out tokens to push off a slider. The whole thing was complicated, and while I was sure there was some sort of skill involved, I never figured out what that skill was. But I was lucky—not only did I get a bunch of tickets, but I also got a card featuring my favorite superhero.
We continued like that, each of us picking a game, alternating back and forth, Ari cheering us on. Small brushes of his hand at our lower backs, a squeeze of the shoulder…
And by the time our buzzer went off, letting us know it was time to eat, I was ready. I had no idea how much money he had put on the cards, but we still had gameplay left.
The restaurant was definitely family-oriented, and I didn’t care how it looked—I ordered the chicken nuggies and fries. Dallas had pizza and Ari a burger. It was far from fancy and mediocre at best, and yet it was still one of the best meals I’d ever had. And of course, we had milkshakes to go with them—because milkshakes.
From there, we played some more games, and Ari won us each a stuffie from the claw machine. He must have known some kind of magic because he got them on the first few tries. I’d learned a long time ago that the claw machine was really more of a money-collecting machine for me, and I didn’t even try anymore.
“Did you want to grab some prizes today, or do you want to keep your cards and collect more for bigger prizes?”
I looked around the prize booth. There were so many choices. Some were really good, some really cheesy, and everything in between.
“I kinda want to get something to remember tonight by.” Dallas settled on a little key chain stuffed bear with the name of the place on it.
“Would it be weird if I got the same thing?” I asked.
“We could be twinsies.” He bounced on the balls of his feet like he did that night I moved in.
I took that as it not being weird and got one as well.
And far too soon, we were back home, Ari walking us to the front door. “I had a really good time tonight, boys. And now, it’s time for your homework.”
“Homework?” I grumbled. I didn’t like homework when I was in school; I sure didn’t want any now.
“Yeah, homework. I want you to think about what kind of rules you want to have between the three of us. I had fun, and I’d like to continue to have fun, but if we don’t know what each of is looking for or expecting, we won’t have fun for long.”
Damn it. He was right.
“Can one of the rules be that we get a kiss good night?” I asked.
“Yeah, that can be one of the rules.” He leaned in and kissed Dallas. I waited for jealousy to rise up, but it didn’t. Something else started to, but that was a different story altogether.
And then he kissed me. His kiss was very different than Dallas’—firmer, more in control.
“Have a good night, boys.”
“Wait,” Dallas said, his bottom lip jutting out. “I didn’t get to kiss Colter yet.”
“That’s true, sweet boy, you didn’t. If only you lived in the same house and could kiss him anytime you wanted.”
Dallas’ eyes went wide. “Wouldn’t you be mad?”
“And that, my sweet boy”—Ari tapped the tip of his nose—“is why we need to figure out some rules.”
Dallas walked right into that one. I would’ve too, if given the chance. There was so much more to think about than I realized.
“I know…I was—”
