With This Heart(65)

“ Yeah, yeah. Let’s see how good you are,” I quipped, stepping back to stand next to him. With easy grace, Ethan landed all three disgustingly close to the bullseye.

“ Pfft!” I gaped. “Be honest, have you been practicing all night?”

He walked backwards to grab his darts. “I’m good under pressure. Especially around pretty girls.” He winked and my heart dropped. But he didn’t give me time to say something awkward. He walked back to my side and started sputtering advice.

“ Okay, try to aim your elbow at the board when you bend your arm backward.” I listened to his instructions and slowly bent the dart backwards. “Now it’s all in the wrist…try to let it flick out of your hand,” he continued. A second later, I tossed the dart and it sailed painfully slow across the room and into the ground about two feet in front of the board.

“ Oh my god! This is pitiful!” I huffed, and turned toward Ethan. “Maybe I shouldn’t take your advice.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “True, even your first turn was better than that one.”

I rolled my eyes playfully and turned back to shoot the next dart. I was assuming what I thought was an okay dart-flinging position, when suddenly I felt Ethan’s hands circle my waist so that he could stand behind me and direct the shot. Yes, everyone, I was actually having one of those classic romance moments when the guy attempts to correct the girl’s sports swing. Except it was with the wrong guy and his hands sent a terror down my spine.

“ Abby?” I heard Beck’s voice behind me and my entire body froze. I didn’t want Ethan’s hands on me, but I didn’t have time to protest. Beck had chosen the worst possible second to find me. I twisted around, trying to get out of Ethan’s grasp, but my dart scratched his arm in the process.

“ Oh, crap! Sorry!” I murmured, my face flushing dark red from the embarrassment of the situation. Should I feel bad about Ethan touching me? Yes. But that girl was touching Beck at the bar.

“ I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Beck stepped forward, his features were hard and accusing.

His tone pissed me off. We were both in the wrong and I didn’t deserve to be talked down to. With a huff, I turned and flung my remaining two darts as hard as possible at the board. They landed ridiculously close to the bullseye. Maybe I had to be angry to play darts well.

“ I came back from the bathroom and my spot was taken , so I decided to check out the rest of the bar,” I explained calmly, turning back to Beck. His arms were crossed and I realized he stood a good half foot over Ethan. I was angry with him in that moment, but you should know that he also looked dangerously sexy and I wasn’t immune to that.

Ethan stood there awkwardly glancing between Beck and I. “I’m guessing you don’t want to finish the dart game?” he asked, rubbing his arm. Poor guy.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and shook my head. “No, sorry, I’m sure you can find another partner though.” I gave him a genuine smile before brushing past him and Beck, wandering out into the hallway.

“ Abby,” Beck called, but there was no need. I wasn’t running away from him. I just didn’t want to have this discussion in front of Ethan. The dark hallway in the back of the bar was a much better venue for our first fight as a couple.

“ We’re together, Abby,” Beck stated, coming to stand directly in front of me so that I was stuck between him and the wall. I still had my arms crossed in front of my chest, attempting to block him from pressing up against me.

“ I know we are,” I bit out, a little too harshly. I didn’t want to admit to being jealous.

“ So what was that? You were letting him touch you and you should have seen the way he was leering down at you. Like you were his latest conquest.” Beck wasn’t hiding his anger, but he wasn’t yelling. That wasn’t Beck’s style, yet his tone gave me chills and for a moment I feared that I’d pushed him too far. We didn’t know each other’s limits. We still hardly knew each other.


“ I didn’t want him to touch me. I came back from the bathroom and that girl was sitting there and it annoyed me. I just…I don’t know what I felt. I just didn’t want to come over and have to stare at her pretty face and compare myself to her. So I went to play darts.”

“ I wasn’t flirting with that girl. She’s here with her boyfriend and they wanted to go check out the Lights with us.”

My face flushed ten times brighter. Fuck my teenage logic. “Well, this,” I motioned between the two of us, “is new to me, and I’m apparently still a nineteen year old, whether I’d like to admit it or not.”

“ You’re my girlfriend. You can’t let another guy teach you how to play darts. I want to teach you how to play darts.” He unwrapped my arms from around my chest and then boxed my head in with his hands against the wall. His face dipped low to mine and I bit my lip in anticipation.

He just called me his girlfriend.

“ He was a shitty teacher,” I joked, staring up into the hazel eyes that were home to me.

Beck closed his eyes and smirked before leaning in and giving me a soul-stealing kiss. His lips met mine and I sighed into him, pressing my hands against his chest and giving myself over to the moment.

When he pulled away, I felt him take a little part of me with him. “I’m sorry,” he offered quietly.