Page 16 of Claiming His Bunny
I snort. “I’m never late, assface. Tell Janice to make banana bread.”
“Oh, she will make it. For the winner,” he adds, laughing as I flip him the bird. Yeah, I should definitely kill him, if only to have all of his wife’s delicious banana bread to myself.
David mocks a salute. “See you in the finals, Ethan. If you even manage to get there.”
“Oh, I’ll be there. I’ll destroy you, prick. By the way, should I bring something for Jake on Sunday? It’s his birthday tomorrow, isn’t it?”
David rolls his eyes. “Dude, don’t bring him anything. Janice’s mother has already bought him the entire fucking toy store. Just bring some beer.”
“Alrighty.”
The announcer’s voice booms above the noise in the building, telling everyone that the first match of the first round is about to start. That’s David’s cue to jump up onto the stage. The crowd cheers and chants his name. Yeah, they love him too. But they love me more!
As the two players with the most points, David and I are placed on opposite sides of the bracket to ensure we don’t meet until the grand finale. After seven rounds of the tournament, I’m a few points ahead of David, but if he wins tonight, he’ll take the lead. And the trophy. There’s no fucking way I’m letting him win.
David wins his first match smoothly, and then I have to wait through several boring ones until meeting my first opponent for the night. It’s an elderly lady with thick glasses and a surprisingly good aim. She’s also my neighbor, and she always gives me cookies when I come to help her call her grandkids on her ancient computer. For that, I let her win one leg, then finish the rest of the match flawlessly.
Instead of shaking my hand, Mrs. Fernandez pulls me down and smacks a wet kiss on my cheek. The crowd roars with laughter, people whistling and cat-calling. Mrs. Fernandez gives everyone a cheeky grin before letting someone help her off the stage. I’m grinning, too. I love that lady.
See? I’m not a psychopath.
The tournament progresses quickly, both David and I winning all our matches, just like expected. Soon, all that’s left is the final.
The crowd goes wild as we climb the stage and ready our darts. David cracks his neck, then smirks at me. “Ready to get your ass handed to you, fucker?”
“Pfft,” I snort. “What an original insult. I’d call you a cunt to reciprocate, but you lack the warmth and depth,” I taunt him, grinning widely.
David rolls his eyes. “I expected an intellectual conversation, but it seems there’s no one around to have it with. Let’s just get on with this so that I can go home with my trophy.”
“The stage is yours,” I say, giving him a mocking bow. It’s his turn to start.
The bastard scores three perfect treble 20s, then winks at me. “You can always surrender.”
I don’t grace him with a verbal response. Giving up is not in my vocabulary. I score a 180 as well, which is a good enough answer to his taunting, I suppose.
The crowd cheers and chants, but I tune it out, focused solely on the game now. David’s mistake costs him the first leg, but he wins the next two. Since it’s best of five, I’m too close to losing for comfort.
David fucks up the fourth leg completely by scoring low twice. Knowing the trophy is at the tips of my fingers, I let out a laugh. “I’ve got you now, Butterman,” I taunt. “You’re slipping. Might as well give up.”
“I was just making it more interesting for the ladies. God knows you’ll need one to heal your wounded pride after you lose.”
I ignore him, focusing on the game. So far, my final leg is perfect. Twice I’ve scored three treble 20s. I’m down to 141. The numbers I need to hit to win are floating in my mind. I can picture the darts flying to the target. I won’t miss.
“Seriously, Bennett, you need to get laid,” David continues. “Just look at the beauties watching us.”
Like the idiot I am, I look. I think nothing of it. Women don’t really interest me. I mean, I do like looking at them, and I occasionally have a one-night stand. Never here in Bluebell Springs, though. And I most certainly never get obsessed with them. Or I never have, not until Kayla Reynolds turned my world upside down.
I turn, my eyes darting over the crowd, taking in every face, old and young, beautiful and less beautiful, familiar and not. And then there’s a face that’s etched into the very fabric of my soul. Kayla Reynolds’ face.
She’s here.
She’s watching me.
She’s smiling at me.
Our eyes meet, and I’m completely, utterly fucked.
The referee clears his throat, reminding me it’s my turn, but all I can think about are those deep black eyes on me. I throw the dart, but I don’t even see where it lands. Definitely not on the treble 19 I needed for my perfect leg.
