Page 29

Twenty-Nine

Jade

Reed taught Henry and I how to play darts when we were young. We spent so many nights with the music on and playing darts, obsessed with getting better.

“This is going to be fun to watch,” Tweetie says, rubbing his palms together.

I grab my beer and wait as Henry practices with his dart a few times.

“I assume he always beats you?” I ask Tweetie before sipping my beer.

“Damn, I like you talking like he’s the shit.”

I glance at Henry, and he throws his first dart and gets a bull’s-eye. Smirking over his shoulder, he winks at me and throws the next one, getting a double fifteen.

“But yeah, he’s good,” Tweetie says.

Henry throws his last one and gets nothing.

“I’m better though.” I sip my beer again and walk over to my place at the line. “Good job on the bull’s-eye. Too bad you couldn’t bring it home at the end there.”

“Playing mind games?” he asks, heading up to the board to pull his darts. I try not to notice his ass in his jeans, but it’s hard to keep my eyes up.

“You two are fun,” Conor says, joining us.

I see Rowan and Kyleigh are now deep into Lego, pieces spread across the table.

“We should do a team competition after this. I get Jade on my team,” Conor says.

Henry circles around from marking his board. “Yeah, that’s a no.”

Conor laughs and pats Henry on the back as they head over to the table with the beer. “I like this side of you. It’s like a ‘me Henry, you stay away from Jade’ vibe.” He deepens his voice.

Conor’s funny. Well, they all are. It’s a nice thing Henry’s got here with them. I sense that they’re all kind of welcoming me into the fold but still kind of watching me too.

“Shut up, Pinkie.” Henry downs a gulp of his beer.

“Tell me about these nicknames.” I throw three darts, getting a triple nineteen, one eighteen, and a double sixteen. The real fun will come when we have less to get on the board. “Why do you call Henry Daddy?” I ask, pulling my darts from the board.

The two of them laugh.

“Because he’s the responsible one. Case in point.” Tweetie nods toward Bodhi. “And he’s always the one to make sure we get our asses home after a night at the club.”

Henry ignores them, stepping up to the line to take his turn.

“He’s the one who gives advice, although I’m starting to think he needs to take some of his own.” Conor raises his eyebrows, and I can’t see Henry’s reaction because he’s behind me.

“He’s just Daddy. Literally and figuratively.” Tweetie shrugs.

“Let’s not forget how broody he is too,” Rowan says from the table.

Henry walks over and puts his hand on my lower back again, sliding past me to get his beer. “Triple twenty,” he whispers.

Goose bumps lift the hairs on the back of my neck.

“Triple nineteen.” He sips his beer, licking his lips after. “Triple sixteen.” He sips his beer again, staring at me over the rim of his glass.

I swipe my darts off the table and wind out of his grasp out of self-preservation.

“Competitive girls are the best, right?” Tweetie looks at Conor. “I fucking love it when they come at you.”

I’m starting to think that maybe Tweetie has a side that isn’t all bravado.

“I don’t know. I like the competition, but I also love being the guy to win it all for her, you know?” Conor chimes in. “What about you, Daddy?”

“I thought we were talking nicknames,” Henry says.

“That was five minutes ago. Stop staring at Jade’s ass and pay attention.” Tweetie laughs, and I glance over to see Henry glaring at him.

I have a hard time concentrating when I think about Henry staring at my ass, but I’m able to get a double eighteen to close them out, a single fifteen, and a single seventeen before grabbing my darts, marking my score, and returning to the table.

“I’m with Tweetie on this one,” Henry says, staring at me with one hand on my hip, circling around me. “I love competitive girls.”

My heart hammers. I probably shouldn’t have come here tonight. It was a really bad idea because I can literally feel myself falling for this version of Henry.

“So, Jade, what kind of guy do you crush on?” Conor asks, leaning his back against the wall.

“I didn’t realize I had applied for The Bachelor, ” I say, grabbing the pitcher and refilling my beer. I understand why the guys like to hide in this back room. It allows them to be themselves.

“Who gets the rose, Jade?” Tweetie asks.

“None of you dumbasses,” Kyleigh says from the table, scanning for a specific piece of Lego as Rowan and Bodhi seem deep into the instruction booklet.

“There go my fifteens,” Henry says, pulling my attention back to him.

I see one dart on a single.

“And here go my eighteens.” He throws his dart, but he only gets a single.

I lean in before he throws his final dart. “Your cockiness is killing your game.”

His last dart hits the double seventeen.

Damn. He’s getting way too close to beating me.

All Henry does is smile at me as he walks up to the dartboard. On his way back to the table, he circles his arm around my waist, and he tugs me toward him. “We never negotiated the stakes.”

I glance over at Bodhi, but he’s leaning into Rowan’s body now, eyes closed while Kyleigh has taken over putting the whole thing together.

“I thought this was for fun,” I say, grabbing my darts and walking to the line.

“Since when do we play for fun?”

I take my shot, ignoring everyone talking about how much better I am than Henry at darts. I’m able to get a sixteen, closing them out, then a double seventeen and one fifteen. That means I only have one fifteen left and three bull’s-eyes, which I’m never good at throwing.

His darts are in his hand as soon as I return, and he steps to the line, not saying anything to me, but it’s his eyes. The way they coast down my body and back up to meet my eyes. The way his tongue runs along his bottom lip afterward. He didn’t need to say anything flirtatious to get my body all heated.

“Ky, do you need me to buy you a Lego set?” Rowan asks.

We all look over to see the assembly half done and her flipping through the instruction manual. It’s kind of cute.

“I can’t stop.” She cringes, never raising her head.

“This is her. The task will be completed.” Conor shakes his head, and Kyleigh flips him off.

I throw my dart and close out my fifteens.

“She’s going to beat you. She’s only got bull’s-eyes left,” Tweetie says.

“And a unicorn might fly in here too,” Henry says.

I scoff and narrow my eyes at him. He just laughs. This natural rhythm we’ve found between us again feels really good.

“I think Rubes would kill the unicorn,” Conor says, cringing.

We all laugh, and I throw my last two darts. Each one ends up on nothing.

Henry pushes off the table with a smug look. He closes out his eighteens and seventeens with his first two darts, then takes an extra-long second staring at the board with his final dart pointed that way before he throws it and gets another bull’s-eye.

“Just kick his ass,” Conor whispers.

“I believe in you, Jade!” Tweetie shouts.

Rowan clears his throat, and when I glance over, I see a sleepy Bodhi in Rowan’s arms with a googly-eyed Kyleigh staring at them, a finished Lego spaceship in front of her. I totally get it, girl.

“Not a chance,” Henry says, and I shake my head.

I throw the dart at the board and just miss the bull’s-eye. I take a deep breath and straighten my back, remembering everything Reed taught me when I was ten. I throw the dart, and it lands in the bull’s-eye ring.

One more.

“You’ve got this,” Tweetie says.

“For sure. Take it all, Jade!” Conor joins in.

“Do it for the girls!” Kyleigh adds.

“Man, didn’t take much for you guys to turn on me,” Henry says and winks, nodding to the board. “All it takes is a double bull’s-eye.”

He taunts me, knowing I rarely ever get those. They’re like unicorns to me.

I stop positioning the dart and stare him down. “Give me an incentive.”

“Why would I do that?” he asks. “I want to beat you.”

“Then give me a consequence if I lose.” I raise my chin an inch.

He straightens, crossing his arms, his muscles popping out of his snug long-sleeve Henley. He studies me for a moment. “You lose, and you have to bring Bodhi to one of my games. Come and see me play.”

I tilt my head, and he raises his eyebrows. He knows what he’s doing.

“And if you lose?” I ask.

“You tell me.”

It’s quiet, and I feel everyone’s eyes on us, but as weird as it sounds, it’s as if they need to see this dynamic between us to trust me with Henry.

“You lose, and you have to volunteer for the winter party at St. Pat’s and be in charge of a craft station.”

He blows out a breath.

“And Mack can’t save your ass,” Conor says.

Henry lowers his arms and steps forward, placing his hand out between us. “Deal.”

We shake on it, and he goes back over to the table. Everyone is watching me. I haven’t felt this much pressure in a long time.

I throw my dart, and it lands in the bull’s-eye, but only one, which means I only need one more. I jump up and scream, then quickly turn to Bodhi. Thank goodness I didn’t wake him.

“No worries, he’s a pretty sound sleeper.” Henry replaces me at the line, and a lump forms in my throat because I know I’m losing.

As excited as I am to only have one bull’s-eye left, this is Henry, who can score them all day long.

“Tell me, Jade…” I can’t fight my smile because he used to do this all the time. He aims his dart and stares at me while he throws it at the board. “Which color jersey do you want? Home or away?”

The dart hits the bull’s-eye, and the guys and Kyleigh all groan, but I can tell by their smiles that they’re happy Henry is getting me to a game.

“You can sit by me,” Kyleigh says.

Henry doesn’t bother throwing his other dart, coming over to me and getting into my space. “You know how much I love you wearing my jersey. It’s just too bad you’ll be wearing clothes under it this time.”

Fuck me, is he serious right now? I don’t know how I ever thought I could resist him.