Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134073 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134073 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
He puts the rope back in place and walks over to the group of guys next to the axes.
“Dash, I can’t do this. Oh god, me and my big mouth. We need to go.” She tries to walk away but I snag her by the wrist.
“Hey, where is the confidence you had two seconds ago?”
“I think I’m going to barf it up with my turkey leg.”
I smile and shake my head. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Besides accidentally cutting my own head off?”
“Yes, besides that,” I tease.
“Umm, losing a grand?”
“I’ve got you covered. And let’s just say if you lose, you can work it off for me later.”
I pull her close and kiss her hard enough to make her forget her fears. The crowd behind us cheers and whistles, but I just ignore them. Right now, my focus is to make Brooklyn remember we’re here to have fun.
“Seriously. Throw a few and see what happens. Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re not. But it’s going to be fun for me either way.”
She nods and takes a deep breath as the rope guy walks over to us. “All right, it’s a bet. Take your place over there, and she and the champion will alternate turns.”
I turn to Brooklyn and give her another kiss before I lean back and touch her cheek. “Good luck.”
“I can’t believe I’m about to do this. It’s crazy, right?”
“But fun.”
“I know!” she squeals as she gets into place and I move off to the side.
The rope guy ends up being the announcer for the axe throwing contest and he gets the crowd hyped up. He introduces the champion as Sir Jamie and the crowd cheers. After Jamie waves to the crowd, he looks over at Brooklyn and his eyes linger a second too long for my taste. I remind myself that this is supposed to be a fun competition for her, and I try to let it go.
Then the announcer goes over to Brooklyn and asks her a question. After a second, he laughs and then turns to the crowd. He introduces her as Princess Buttercup and they all cheer even louder than they did for Sir Jamie.
Sir Jamie wins the coin toss and so he elects to go first. He takes his axe and dramatically shows it off to the crowd before he lines up in front of the block of wood. There’s a big round target a good distance from where they’re supposed to stand and it’s shaped like a bullseye. Depending on where the axe sinks in, the closer to the middle, the higher the points.
He takes his time and breathes deep before he raises the axe over his head and lets it fly. There’s a quiet pause from the crowd before it erupts, and then Sir Jamie holds his hands out and bows to them. I look at the block of wood to see he’s just shy of the bullseye and earned ten points. The axe in the target is taken away and Sir Jamie’s points are recorded.
Suddenly I’m nervous for Brooklyn, but to my surprise she doesn’t look the least bit rattled. In fact, she looks as confident as ever as she winks at me and picks up her axe.
The crowd is quiet and Brooklyn doesn’t make any kind of show as she steps up to the line. She plants her feet and lifts the axe over her head, and I hold my breath as she launches it at the target.
With a loud thunk, it lands just on the inside of the bullseye, a hair closer than Sir Jamie’s, earning her twenty points.
I’m the first to throw my hands up and cheer, and she looks at me with complete shock and disbelief on her face. Her mouth is hanging open and I’m practically jumping out of my skin as everyone loses their minds.
All except Sir Jamie.
This time he loses the showmanship as he stomps over to grab an axe. The crowd barely has time to become quiet as he steps up and chucks his axe at the target. Bullseye.
Once he’s landed his mark he turns around and the crowd cheers. Maybe I’m biased, but it’s definitely not as loud as it was when Brooklyn got it. She looks over at me and I give her a thumbs-up.
“You got this, Buttercup,” I call out to her, and I can see her fighting a smile.
Sir Jamie gets a little too close for my taste as he walks past her. Brooklyn doesn’t let it affect her as she takes a deep breath and lifts her axe.
This throw isn’t as strong as the first, and the axe goes a little sideways. She manages to hit the target and it sticks, but just outside the bullseye. She gains ten points by the skin of her teeth and she and Sir Jamie are tied.