He caressed her skin briefly, and his gentle yet firm grip caused a moan to escape Nahla’s throat.
“Focus, Nahla,” Cannon said before grazing her elbow. “Now, bring this in tighter. When you pull the trigger, the gun is gon’ kick back a lil bit, but as long as you keep your frame where it is, it won’t be too bad at all.
“Keep your hands high on the backstrap to control the recoil. And always keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. Aight?” he asked, placing his hands over hers once again.
“Okay.”
“Good. Now, you see that lil green dot at the front of the gun?”
Nahla nodded.
“That’s the front sight. I want you to focus on that—not the target. We’re gonna line the front sight up dead center, and the bullet will go where your eyes go. You ready?”
She nodded again, slower this time.
“Aight. We gon’ do it together the first time. I’ma count to three, and I want you to squeeze the trigger, nice and slow. One, . . . two, . . . three.”
Cannon kept his hands loosely over hers but allowed her to squeeze the trigger.
“How was that?” she asked, excitement in her voice.
“That was damn good,” Cannon said honestly. Surprisingly, she did exactly what he instructed her to do. He half expected her to jerk the trigger more or try to lower her arms too early, but she remained steady and squeezed like it wasn’t her first time.
“Okay, move. I wanna do it by myself this time.”
Cannon laughed but released her.
She shot again. With him no longer steadying her, there was a little kickback, but Cannon readjusted her and repeated his earlier instructions about her stance. She went again. And again. Each shot got a little cleaner, and he was glad to see that she was enjoying herself.
Nahla emptied the magazine before she finally took a break. She handed the gun to Cannon then took a seat on the bench.
“That was fun,” she said, grinning.
Cannon glanced at her as he removed the magazine from the gun. After setting it on the ledge, he sat next to Nahla and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Yeah, you might be a natural for real.”
Grinning, Nahla nodded. “I knew I would be.”
“Man, watch out,” he said, playfully pushing her away from him.
Nahla grabbed his arm and paused. She turned it and peered at his forearm more closely. On it was a tattoo of an eagle, globe, and an anchor.
She glanced at him with a slight frown. “You’re a marine.”
Glancing at his own tattoo, he said, “I was.”
“What made you leave?”
Cannon tensed immediately, and he could tell she noticed it. “I’on wanna talk about it,” he said, standing. He grabbed the gun and put a few more rounds in.
He didn’t want to end their little outing on a sour note, but he wasn’t willing to talk about that marine shit. Not today—maybenot ever. Doing his best to soften his expression, he focused on Nahla again.
Her beautiful eyes were sad now, but she didn’t push the issue further. Cannon extended a hand to her, and she grasped it, allowing him to help her up. He positioned her in front of him.
“You got another round in you?” he asked.
Nahla remained silent for a few seconds before finally responding with, “Yeah.”
