Raging Hard(70)

You have to relax, I thought to myself. He doesn’t know that you know yet. Use that anger against him.

“Best of five?” he asked after I won a second time.

“No way. Where’s my prize?”

He laughed and then stood up and grabbed me a stuffed elephant. “Good?”

“Perfect.”

What a cliché. The only prize I really wanted was to see Joshua’s face stomped on over and over.

We stood and began walking again. “So, what do you want to play now?”

“How about that game where you try and knock over the bottles?”

“Good choice.”

He led the way, winding through the crowds. We found the booth, and again the kid running the game immediately left as soon as Joshua nodded to him.

“That’s a little creepy, you know,” I said.

“Maybe, but I prefer privacy.”

“This isn’t exactly private.” I gestured at the crowd surrounding us. The place was busy, full of noise and excitement. Families of all ages milled around, plus random packs of teenagers. It was a pretty average day, all told.

“Sure it is. Haven’t you ever felt alone in a crowd?”

“Now you’re getting deep.”

He laughed again. He had a charming and disarming way about him, but I wasn’t about to get suckered by his nice manners. I was angry and I was staying that way.

“Not at all. I’m just saying, we’re only two anonymous people here.” He paused and looked at me. “Then again, you are wearing that stunning outfit.”

I smiled. “Thank you,” I said, touching his arm. I had to play into it; otherwise, I wouldn’t get what I wanted.

He paused, looking at me, and then reached under the front wall of the booth. He came back up with three softballs.

“Give it a try?”

“Prepare to be impressed.”

“I already am.”

I took one ball, aimed, and threw as hard as I could. The ball glanced off the jugs, barely knocking one over. Joshua laughed as he reset it.

“That was awful,” he said.

“Watch this.”

I wound up and threw again, this time hitting a bottom jug but hardly budging it. Joshua laughed again. “I don’t even need to reset it.”

“I have it now.” I wound up and threw again, as hard as I could, but the ball barely glanced off the jugs, tipping over the top one.

“Almost,” Joshua said. “But you know, I bet you can’t do it even with fifty tries.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s rigged, of course.”

“Seriously? People always say that, but I thought that was illegal or something.”

“Illegal or not, it’s rigged. These milk jugs are really, really heavy, and your softball is mostly made of cork.”

“So it’s really light.”

“Exactly.” He picked up a ball and threw it as hard as he could, point blank, and only managed to knock over two of the three. He turned back to me, grinning. “See?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s terrible!”

“I know.” He plucked another stuffed animal from the rack and tossed it to me. “Hopefully this will buy your silence.”

I pretended to be insulted. “A stuffed rabbit isn’t nearly enough to keep me quiet.”

“I knew you weren’t cheap.” He hopped over the wall again and leaned close to me. “What will it take?”

“I don’t know,” I said, leaning nearer to him. “You’ll have to try pretty hard to impress me.”

I took a sharp breath as he moved closer, almost as if he were going to kiss me. Instead, he reached over my head and pulled down one of the enormous bears. I laughed as he placed it down on the counter.

“How’s this?”

“Not what I had in mind, but it’ll do.”

My heart was pounding. I was sure he was going to try to kiss me, and I had no clue what I was going to do about it. He didn’t seem like a bad guy, if maybe a little intense. He was kind and funny and knew how to have some lighthearted fun. Still, he was my enemy, and I wasn’t going to let myself get sucked into his game.

I was in control here. I was full of rage.

I looked at the giant bear and then back at him. “It’ll do, if you carry it.”

He laughed again, shaking his head. “I like you, Claire Forester. You’re tough.”

“What can I say? I’m my father’s daughter.”

“I see that.” He scooped up the big bear, and I tossed the other animal behind the counter as soon as he wasn’t looking. “Where next?” he asked.

“There.” I pointed at the basketball game, and he led the way. Once there, he dismissed the worker, and we took turns taking shots.