Page 82 of Bound in Blood
Miss.
Logan cackled, leaning into Marco for support. Marco acted calm, but amusement radiated through the bond between them. Mateo, now absolutely fuming, shoulder checked his brother roughly as he stepped back.
“Fine, let’s see if you can do better,” he grumbled.
Marco stepped forward silently, landing a ring perfectly on the first try.
Mateo gaped. “How?!”
Marco smirked and handed a stuffed rabbit to Logan, kissing his temple as Logan graciously accepted his prize. “Would you like to choose next,caro?”
Logan nodded, clutching the stuffed rabbit in a way that might have felt embarrassingly childish if Logan hadn’t been having the time of his life. He was still grinning as he looked over at Mateo, who was scowling like he’d been personally betrayed.
“Have you ever played the balloon popping game?” Logan asked, looking between them. At their confused glances, he figured that the answer was no. “It’s easy. They give you darts, and you try to pop balloons. The more balloons you pop, the better the prize you get.”
What Logandidn’tsay was that this game was typically meant for small children, and it would be incredibly hard for anyone not to land a dart. As funny as it was to watch Mateo get frustrated over Marco beating him so thoroughly, Logan wanted to make sure he got one win tonight.
Mateo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “You’re sure this game isn’t rigged?”
Rigged to help you win.Logan thought, but out loud he said, “Mm-mm. Total game of skill. Scout’s honor.”
Mateo eyed him like he didn’t trust a single word, but he didn’t argue. Marco just smirked. Logan was fairly sure he’d caught on, but Marco didn’t say a word.
They made their way over to the booth, where an older woman with bright red lipstick and a pink plastic cowboy hat gave them a once-over. Her eyes lingered on Logan’s hands, still laced with both Marco’s and Mateo’s in a quite obviously romantic way.
Her mouth tightened, thin lips damn near disappearing, but Logan just grinned at her sweetly. He could practically hear her thoughts. Not only was he gay, but gay and fuckingtwomen? He watched in real time as her face went from disgusted to resigned when she realized they were there to actually play the game at her booth. Hey, money from sinners spends the same as money from the righteous, right?
“Three sets?” she asked, in a similar tone a cashier might have if you approached the counter with condoms, lube, and a cucumber.
“Yes, ma’am.” Logan beamed, all southern charm, laying his accent on thick, “We like a little competition.” She rolled her eyes as she accepted his money, but Logan felt a little zap of ‘turned on’ through the bond, even though neither of his mates said anything. Loganreallyhoped it was from the assertiveness and not the accent. Hehatedthe accent.
The woman handed them five darts each, showing each tier of prize for popping balloons. One to two gets you a small prize, like a sticky hand or a piece of candy, three or four gets a regular stuffed animal, but if you can pop all five, then you get the cool stuff. Logan, personally, had his eye on a stuffed dog with heart patches around its eyes.
Logan stepped up to the line, taking his place first to show Mateo exactly how the game works, since he seemed a bit suspicious. He purposefully missed the first two, turning aroundand shrugging, then hit the last three, making sure the last one looked a bit like a fluke. Truthfully, Logan wasgreatat this game. But he would gladly accept a smaller prize if Mateo got to look good.
The woman gestured to his pick of prizes, and he settled on a small duck plush before turning to Marco. “Your turn,” he said, trying to give him a let-Mateo-win look as he took a step back.
Marco nodded, but clearly didn’t understand the assignment Logan had tasked him with, because he popped all five balloons, one after the other, almost imperceptibly fast. The woman, now clearly a bit impressed, let out a low whistle before gesturing to the prizes Marco can pick from. He looked over at Logan, who pointed to the stuffed dog.
Marco handed Logan the stuffed dog with a small smile, and Logan held it to his chest like it was the best thing he’d ever been given. Between it and the rabbit, it might be. Not because of the prize itself, but because of who gave it to him, and what it represented.
Mateo watched the whole thing with arms crossed, but said nothing as he stepped up to take his turn. He rolled his shoulders, narrowing his eyes at the balloons left over like they had personally wronged him. He threw his first dart.
POP!
His second?
POP!
Mateo glanced over at Logan with an exaggerated ‘You’re watching this, right?’expression. He threw the third dart.
POP!
Logan bit his lip to keep from smirking. Mateo threw the fourth dart.
POP!
Mateo grinned, rolling his wrists. “One more.”
