“Remember, my offer still stands.” Colsen chuckles. “You can have ten more tries on me.”
“And you remember that I told you that I don’t need more than three tries.” Tucker argues. “Now quiet. I know where I went wrong.”
This time Tucker is successful in fishing out the golden duck.
“Heck yeah!” He pumps his fist in celebration as he hands the rod with the duck still attached to it to the attendant.
“Congratulations.” The girl looks as impressed as I am. “This game is a lot harder than it looks. These are the top tier prizes.” She points to a clear case behind her. “You can choose one of these items or one of our giant stuffed animals.”
His eyes shine with glee when he sees the giant version of the teddy bear Colsen won for me. “That must be the daddy of the bear you already have.” He pulls me to his side, lowering his voice so that only I and Colsen can hear him. “After all, we all know that whoever says that size doesn’t matter is full of shit.”
To my surprise, Colsen is amused rather than angry.
“Good one, buddy.” He chuckles. “But you know better than me that I don’t feel the need to compensate with a big ass teddy bear. I’m confident about my assets.”
I look at my two hockey hotties as if I were watching a tennis match.
“I wasn’t implying anything.” Tucker’s blue eyes shine with mischief. “But if the shoe fits…”
“Trust me, I can fill pretty big shoes.”
Something tells me they stopped talking about the size of shoes and teddy bears a while ago.
“Regardless,” Colsen adds. “We’ve just gotten started. And if you want to carry around that huge bear for the rest of the night, you can be my guest.”
I have to agree with Colsen on this one. “That teddy bear is awesome. But I don’t know where I’m gonna be staying past tomorrow night. If we don’t get selected for the cheer team, Jodie and I will be sharing a room for the foreseeable future. And I’m sure my best friend will be grateful not to have a giant bear as a third roommate.”
Tucker doesn’t argue with that. “I understand. Come on then, let’s choose something else. I won this for you after all, so it should be your choice.”
We lean in to look at the glass case with the other prizes.
There are a couple of phone cases, a navy baseball cap with Star Cove embroidered in gold on the front of it, and a few metal keychains in the shape of a star.
I’m about to go for a keychain when my eyes land on the cutest little bracelet ever.
“Can I have that one?” I ask, pointing at the dainty silver chain.
“Of course. Great choice.” The attendant hands me the clear packet with the bracelet in it.
There are silver charms attached to the bracelet; some are tiny stars and they alternate with the cutest silver ducks.
The only problem is that I don’t think this will fit me. “Aww, this is definitely too big for my wrist.” I complain once I free thebracelet from the cardboard with the logo of Star Cove Souvenirs stamped on it.
“That’s because it isn’t a bracelet.” The attendant explains. “It’s an anklet.”
“Oh. I’ve never had an anklet, but it sounds fun. Hopefully it fits me.”
Tucker takes the dainty piece of jewelry from me. “There’s only one way to find out. Please allow me.”
He drops on one knee and secures the anklet around my left ankle with deft fingers.
“It fits perfectly.” I smile, elated by how cute it looks.
“It looks gorgeous, baby.” He doesn’t get up straight away.
He looks up at me with an intensity that causes a wave of warm tingles that from my spine works its way to my lower belly and between my thighs.
When his fingers trace the silver chain around my ankle, that tingle turns into an ache.
