Page 39 of Dichotomy

“Okay,” I said. “Any ideas for where I should take her? I was thinking about something with an activity instead of just dinner.”

He leaned back in his chair, his face serious as he thought. “Preferably somewhere with sharp objects so if you piss Evie off, she has a weapon. Not that she probably isn’t already armed.” Sebastian’s eyes glazed over like he was thinking about Evelyn drawing a knife on him. He was probably getting off to it.

“Whose side are you on?” I joked, drawing him out of his thoughts.

“Evie’s, obviously. Always hers.”

I really hadn’t expected a different answer. And to be honest, mine was the same. I just needed to show Evelyn that. An idea sparked in my brain, and I sat up straighter in my chair.

“Okay, out,” I directed Sebastian. “I have a date to plan.”

“I knew you would figure it out.” Sebastian grinned as he rose from the chair. “I won’t wait up.”

I shook my head at him, a smile on my face as I pulled up the internet browser on my computer. I had the perfect idea.

Fuck,was this a good idea? I held my breath as I pulled into the parking lot, eyeing Evelyn out of the corner of my eye as we parked. Her eyes lit up when she saw the sign and the symbols below it.

“Axe throwing?” She breathed out. “Really?”

“Really,” I confirmed. “I thought you might enjoy it.”

“I’ve always wanted to try it,” she confessed, “but I never had the time.”

“Well, I have a lane reserved for us for the next two hours,” I said. “And this place is supposed to have really good food as well.”

“This is perfect.” Her words warmed something inside of me, and when she tucked her fingers in my elbow, my heart picked up pace like I’d started running a marathon. Okay, this was good. I just hoped I didn’t fuck it up.

I guided her into the building. The check-in counter was right in front of us. Behind it, on the right wall, a long bar ran at least half the length of the building. It smelled like beer and fried food, and servers bustled back and forth. The axe-throwing lanes were against the left wall. The lanes were about twenty feet long with the target boards on the left wall and half walls stretching about ten feet from the wall for safety as well as to divide the lanes. Evelyn’s eyes were wide and shining as she took it all in.

“Hi,” I greeted the teenage boy at the check-in counter. “I have a reservation under Marcus Stone.”

He checked the screen. “For the platinum package, right?” I nodded. “Gotcha down. Just need you both to sign these waivers.”

We accepted the waiver, and I read through it thoroughly. Evelyn waited patiently until I signed mine, and then she signed hers. I caught her twinkling eyes. “You can take the lawyer out of work, but you can’t take the lawyer out of the man,” she teased.

I laughed and handed the waivers back to the kid. “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t signing your soul away.”

“Frank will be out here shortly, and he’ll escort you to your lane,” the kid told us, and we stepped aside so the people behind us could check in.

A middle-aged man with a beer belly and a blue baseball cap pulled over his white bushy hair walked up to us. “Stone party?” he asked.

I nodded. “That’s us.”

“Right this way.” He gestured. “Got you set up in the back.”

He led us deeper into the building, past most of the lanes to a roped off, quieter section in the back. Only a few lanes of the ten back here were filled.

“Is this like the VIP section?” Evelyn asked curiously.

“Kind of,” Frank answered. “Our platinum package includes more than just axes, and we found it easier to set up this separate section, so the other lanes don’t try to take the knives.”

“We get to throw knives?” Evelyn bounced on the balls of her feet as Frank stopped in front of an empty lane.

“And throwing stars,” Frank said. “Now, let’s walk you folks through the safety brief, and then I’ll let you get to throwing.”

He ran through the safety brief, which was basically summed up by: Don’t get drunk and throw things at people. Always throw from in front of the yellow line at the entrance to your lane. Anyone not throwing had to stay behind the yellow lane. Basically, use some common sense. It was clear from the examples he gave that not everyone did that. He showed us where the food and drink menus were and walked us through theonline ordering system, then he left us to get started. We quickly placed our order for food and some mocktails.

“Why don’t you go first?” I said to Evelyn, gesturing towards the throwing lane.