“Right. I’ll get the hang of it.” They were at the ring toss booth. “Pick out what animal you want because I’m going to win it.”

“Yeah, well, you pick out the top three and I will win them all.”

“You’re on!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

When Mike saw Kyle Hatten walking toward them, she scowled so hard her eyebrows met in the middle.

Kyle grinned. “This your new boyfriend?”

“I hate you,” Mike said.

He reached out to ruffle her hair as he’d done since she was a kid, but she did a half backbend to avoid his hand. “Ah, come on, Mikey. It was just for fun. So how bad did you beat him?”

Griff was standing beside her. “If you mean the archery, she killed both of us. Did you put the target up?”

Kyle was looking at Griff in a sizing-him-up way. Kyle was taller, more handsome, and went through life with the belief that whoever he met was going to like him and they almost always did. He looked at Mike. “Come on. It was just a prank. Ol’ Hayes was bragging about his ‘artistry with a bow’ and I was shocked that you hadn’t told him that you with an arrow is a lethal weapon. What was I supposed to do?”

Mike was still frowning at him. “Not put in a new gate. Not set up a target. Not put me in a situation like that.”

Kyle grinned more. “You mean when you had to show him up?” He looked at Griff. “Have you learned yet that our Mikey is the most competitive person on the planet? Double-dare her and she’ll do anything.”

“I wasn’t going to shoot but—”

Griff took a step forward. “It was my fault. I forced her into it. And really, she was just protecting Hayes.” He emphasized the name.

“Is that true?” Kyle asked. “I bet the Brookside guy loved being bested by a girl. Did he run away and hide?”

Mike glared at Kyle. “You’re a jerk.” To Griff, she said, “I don’t need you to defend me.” Turning, she walked away from both of them.

When she was gone, Kyle turned to Griff. “I’m Kyle Hatten, Adam and Kelly’s youngest kid. The late-in-life one.”

“And now the groom.”

“That’s me. Who are you?”

“A friend of Vera and Miguel.” Griff hesitated, but there was something about this man that made him feel he could trust him. Or maybe it was that Kyle obviously adored Mike. “I’m here to try to talk Vera into letting me write a bio of her.”

Kyle gave a whistle through his teeth. “That’ll never happen.”

“I’m not convinced.”

Kyle put a five down on the counter and the two of them picked up water pistols and aimed. They tied the game.