Page 57 of Her Marine
“I don’t know if I should take that as you having confidence that I’ll hit it or you pressuring me to do so.”
Journee smiled at him. “It’s confidence.”
Killian placed two tokens into the slot, and the plexiglass in front of the large mallet lifted. He pulled it out, and the game started a countdown to begin. It shouldn’t take too much force to get the ball to the top and hit the bell, but he also knew how establishments liked to rig games. With that in mind, he decided not to take any chances and not to hold back.
Swinging the mallet, he brought it down hard on the pressure plate. The ball soared upward until it hit the bell, and the game began to announce there was a winner as tickets slid out of the slot. The area where the mallet was kept flashed for it to be returned, and Killian put it back while Journee collected her tickets.
“Thank you, baby,” she stated, tickets in hand. She rose on her toes, and Killian kissed her.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
She retook his hand, and they weaved through people until they came to the next game. This one was a shooting game. Someone was playing it, and from what he could tell, you had to shoot the targets that popped up randomly across the screen.
“This game is fun and frustrating,” Journee told him as they waited. “It gives you a minute to hit as many targets as possible. The closer to the bullseye, the more points you get, but if you shoot one of the targets without a bullseye, it takes points away.” She huffed, and Killian took that to mean that she often shot the ones without the bullseye when she played. “But you get a ticket for every hundred points, and a center shot is worth just that.”
“Again, baby, I don’t know if it’s confidence or pressure,” he teased her.
“I have faith in you, babe.”
The person playing finished, and he and Journee stepped up. Killian placed a token into the slot and picked up the gun. A countdown started on the screen, and once the game commenced, the first target to pop up was without a bullseye. He wasn’t surprised, but he could understand how Journee ended up shooting them; they were damn similar.
When the minute was over, Killian placed the gun back where he got it from, took the tickets from the slot, and handed them to her. He’d come close to the high score and got many tickets.
Another happy dance ensued, and Killian couldn’t help but smile at her. She returned it before leading him to another game. It was a two-player game where they’d have to play against one another. From what he could tell, both sides would be given tickets, but the winning side would naturally get more.
They competed to see which one of them could hit all five of the acorns in time with the sliding target to crack the ice and get to the bonus area that would allow for more points, which equaled more tickets. Journee beat him to it, and Killian grabbed the tickets that came out on his side. He handed them to her, and they continued through the arcade area, playing several more games.
“Baby,” Journee stated after another forty minutes of playing. “I need more tokens.”
Killian led her to one of the exchange machines and pulled a twenty from his wallet. Journee stopped him before he could put it in.
“I don’t need that many. Just enough to get a few more tickets. Then, I think I’ll have enough for the prize I want.”
Killian put a five into the machine instead and took the twenty tokens.
“We can give whatever you have left over to that group of teenagers we passed a couple of minutes ago if they’re still here after you get the tickets you need,” he stated.
They played a game where throwing footballs through specific targets earned you points, and based on your points, you received tickets. After that, they played the basketball equivalent of it. Once they finished playing a game where they had to keep a group of monkeys from stealing their bananas, they went to look for Axel and Kaydence. It didn’t take long to find them.
“Let’s go play the dance revolution game,” Journee stated, and Kaydence agreed.
Journee handed her tickets to him while Kaydence gave hers to Axel. They looped their arms together and headed towards the dance machine, with him and Axel following them. They had to wait for a couple of people to finish up, and they decided on a song.
“What overly ticketed item is Kaydence trying to win?” Killian questioned as the countdown started for the song.
“Tasmanian Devil. Journee?” Axel inquired.
“Tweety Bird.”
That pulled a chuckle from Axel, and both men focused on the game as the women began to dance. He vaguely remembered hearing the song a time or two when he was in the car with Journee but didn’t know the name of it.
She and Kaydence laughed as they followed the steps that came up. It was more of a game of concentration since arrows they needed to step on came up on the screen, but they were having fun adding their own twists to how they did it.
When the song was over, their score was high enough for each of them to get tickets, and they grabbed them before stepping off.
“I think I have enough tickets now,” Kaydence stated. “I want to count them first.”
They all headed back to their table, and they counted their tickets. Journee was a few tickets short, remedied by Kaydence giving her the extra ones she had. They went to get their prizes, leaving him and Axel alone.
