She reaches up and touches my chin as she shakes her head. “I think everyone has that fear. But the way you said it made it sound like you used to feel that way. Do you still feel the same?”
“No, not anymore.”
“You’ve had a change of heart?” She cocks her head to the side.
“Something like that.” I lean down and kiss her as I slide my hands around her waist.
“Is that your axe or are you happy to see me?”
I laugh as I press my erection into her belly and squeeze her close. “Oh, I’m very happy to see you.”
Her eyes widen and then her cheeks blush as I kiss her once again. The sound of cheering nearby reminds me we aren’t alone and I force myself to release her. I see a few men at the tavern hold up goblets of ale and shout “huzzah” as we pass.
We walk around and look at all the different things being made and we decide to get a turkey leg to share. Watching Brooklyn walk around holding a giant leg of meat as she talks excitedly about everything she sees makes this whole day perfect.
After a few hours of eating and then watching the joust, we make our way to the axe throwing area.
“I’ve always wanted to try that,” Brooklyn says as we move through the crowd.
“Really?” I’m surprised, but then again, I can see her being a little competitive. Especially after witnessing how she cheered at the joust for the red knight to kill the green one.
“This is going to sound crazy, but I always thought I’d be really good at it.” When I laugh, she holds up her hand. “I know, I know, but I’m serious. I’ve never done it before, but I have this feeling like I could dominate.”
“Okay, let’s do it.”
“What do you mean?” Suddenly she’s looking at me like I’m the crazy one.
“When have you ever had the chance to prove this theory? Come on, Buttercup. Let’s get you an axe.”
I grab her hand and we weave through the people watching. I can hear a few protests from her, but not enough to actually make me stop. I don’t know why I have this pressing urge to make all of her dreams come true, but damn it, I’m going to do it.
When I get to the fenced-off area I see a guy in the corner keeping score.
“Hey, my lady wants to throw,” I tell the guy, and he looks at me and then at Brooklyn.
“Does she know how?”
“N—”
“Yes,” I say over Brooklyn’s protest. “And I’ve got a thousand dollars that says she beats your best guy.”
“Dash!” I feel Brooklyn tug on my arm, but when I don’t turn around she tries again. “Dash,” she hisses, but I just wink at her.
“It’s okay. You got this.”
“Let me check with the boys, but we’ll take that bet,” the guy says as he opens the ropes for us. “Right this way.”
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.