Alia sucked in a deep breath and fired. Her first shot struck a yellow balloon, but her second one hit a red.
"Just a lucky shot," Emline muttered bitterly under her breath. She lined up her pistol and took a shot, only to curse when her first shot hit the board, missing the balloons by a mile.
"Then maybe you have very unlucky shots," Aiden muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Emline to hear. She turned and scowled at him, sneering. If this gun fired real bullets, Aiden might even have one through his skull for that comnt.
Nevertheless, Emline soon turned her attention back to the board. She chewed on her bottom lip, aid, and fired two shots in succession. This ti, her first bullet hit a green one, the second a red one.
This ti, she smiled, satisfied. With that, Emline’s points were ahead of Alia’s. She looked smugly over at Alia’s side only to see that her cousin wasn’t even paying her any attention.
Alia had her eyes glued to her board — they each had separate boards to target — and her tongue stuck out just a little due to how concentrated she was. She fired once more, and this ti, the bullet hit a red balloon, the pop echoing loudly.
Emline and the vendor’s eyes both twitched in synchrony when Alia fired another, causing a third red balloon to pop. She only had to clear three more― with it, she would complete her side of the wager.
"Good shot," Matteo whistled from the side, and Alia paused to smile at him. With the glittering carnival lights as his background, Matteo looked as though he could glow. His smile sent flutters through Alia’s heart, and she felt giddy with delight at the small praise. "Three more."
"I’ve got this," Alia said confidently. She raised the gun and continued. She hit another red, causing the vendor’s eyes to bulge out.
This... This was too much! He hadn’t expected such a frail little young lady like her to be so masterful with a gun. While it held no actual bullets, the rifle itself still weighed a significant amount― it was not for the untrained arm!
Alia readied herself and fired again. The bullet first hit a green balloon, which caused the vendor to sigh in relief, but it was too early to rejoice for Alia then another red one. That left one last balloon to hit.
Alas, the next two shots from Alia didn’t hit the last red balloon. It popped a yellow one to its right, then the green balloon just above it. Alia clicked her tongue in irritation. She had two more shots left, and for so reason, the last one just refused to hit.
Emline gritted her teeth and tore her eyes away from Alia. There was only one of that gaudy little unicorn, and she was determined to win it. She didn’t even like that ugly toy, but whatever Alia wanted, she decided she must have as well.
Taking in a deep breath, she aid and fired. She managed to hit the red balloons before going for the greens. However, she didn’t manage to rack up the needed five hundred points to claim the unicorn before she ran out of bullets.
"Such a sha," the vendor said with a sigh, shaking his head. "I suppose―"
"Give another eleven," Emline gritted out, digging through Aiden’s pocket before slamming down a wad of cash she retrieved, ignoring Aiden’s curses.
The vendor eagerly snatched the money before Aiden could take it back, quickly counting the amount given before handing Emline the next round of ammo. She readied herself and fired.
anwhile, Matteo frowned at Emline’s table as he stood slightly behind Alia. The fierce competition that brewed between the two won was starting to turn heavy, and he looked worriedly at Alia.
He didn’t doubt her capabilities, but with how quickly Emline was tossing cash at the vendor, even if she blindly shot, she would eventually get to the unicorn faster than Alia would with how slowly and carefully she was aiming her last two tries.
"Hey," Matteo suddenly said, coming forward. He placed a hand on Alia’s shoulder encouragingly, causing her to relax and turn back to look at him. "Take a deep breath. You’re too tense."
Alia blinked dazedly before releasing the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. Her body felt as though it had been on edge for an eternity with how she was focusing on the last red balloon, seemingly taunting her.
"You need to aim a little lower," Matteo said. He ca behind her and gently guided her hands, inadvertently embracing her from behind.
Alia stiffened at his touch, her body quickly turning red and feverish as Matteo’s fingers guided her own to the right angle. With how they were positioned, she could feel the taut muscles of his body pressed against hers― no amount of padding from a winter coat could hide that incredible physique.
"Just take a deep breath in," he murmured right beside her ear, his warm breath fanning over her skin as she shivered from the ticklish sensation. "Breathe out, relax your muscles, and―"
His finger pressed down on her trigger, and the shot was fired. Red rubber danced through the air before slowly swaying to the ground like a leaf in the wind. They managed to hit the last red balloon just like that, and with one bullet to spare.
"See," Matteo said, pulling away. Imdiately, cold air replaced the warmth of Matteo’s body. "Atta girl."
"We did it!" Alia jumped, chucking the carnival toy to the counter before practically jumping into Matteo’s arms. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he caught her by her waist. The grin on her lips was so wide that Matteo couldn’t help but smile as well. "We actually did it!"
"You did so good," Matteo agreed with a nod.
Her smile was infectious, and he couldn’t help but allow the sa warm fuzzy feelings to bloom across his face. Matteo’s thumb rubbed small circles on her waist where he held her, and Alia’s smile widened.
Then, it struck her just where they were, and her eyes widened into the size of saucers. Alia quickly removed her hands and stepped back, turning to face the vendor, whose face turned as dark as coal. She cleared her throat and gestured to the unicorn, trying her best to make sure no one knew how quickly her heart was beating.
"Just as we agreed," Alia said. "The unicorn, please."
The vendor closed his eyes and shook his head. "No can do, Miss."
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