approaching the prize counter. He waves at the oblivious teenage boy. “How do we play?”
Without even looking up from his screen, the gawky teen points to a row of vending machines. “Right there.”
Erik smirks a little at me, making change. He ends up with a big handful of silver tokens. He glances at me.
“I don’t actually know how games are priced,” he says, looking around the crowded room. “What should we try first?”
I glance at the Dance Dance Revolution game where two players are challenged to see who dances better to Japanese music. “Maybe that?”
Erik pulls a face. “Something easier.”
I crinkle my nose and look around. My gaze lands on two decrepit Skee-Ball machines. The object of the game is to roll a heavy wooden ball up a sloping incline, managing to sink the ball in one of the holes cut in a slanted wall.
I wiggle my eyebrows at him, heading over to the game. “I used to be so good at this game. I bet I can kick your ass.”
He follows me over, slapping down a few tokens on my machine. “I’m willing to take that bet, princess.”
I grin. “You should probably take your tie off because this competition is about to get serious.”
He takes his tie off, stuffs it in his jacket pocket, then unbuttons the very top button of his shirt. I kick my impractical heels off even though the floor is cheap, old, sticky carpet.
“It’s on,” I say, grinning. A game behind me beeps triumphantly, a sign that someone has won.
But I hardly notice the sticky floor or the noises going on around me… because Erik laughs, looking like an overgrown kid.
He puts two of his tokens in the machine and balls roll down a slot, making a noise that I’ve never heard anywhere else.
Shaking my head, I do the same. Then I face the inclined ramp and pick up a ball. The thunk of the wooden ball when I wind up and release it underhanded is so satisfying.
So is the way that the ball climbs the ramp effortlessly, dropping into the nearest hole.
“Yes!” I cheer.
Erik rolls his eyes. “Calm down, that was a twenty-point shot. Watch this.”
Thunk. I watch his ball sail up the ramp and up the wall, coming close to the upper left hole. That one is worth a hundred points… but it doesn’t matter, because the ball rolls down into the gutter.
“Hah!” I say, pointing at Erik’s machine. “Take that.”
“Whatever,” he says, rolling and stretching his neck. “That was only the first one. Let’s see you land one of the top holes, Nika.”
I wiggle my eyebrows, grabbing another ball and rolling it up the incline. We both do it over and over again, twelve times total, until we are out of balls. The machines start beeping and trilling, pushing out some tickets.
I end up winning by twenty five points, which I rub in Erik’s face. “I told you I was the master of Skee-Ball, didn’t I?”
He takes off his jacket. “Let’s go again. I’m sure that the jacket was just holding me back.”
I throw my head back, laughing so hard I’m honestly afraid for the seams of this expressive dress. “You must be dreaming!”
A throat clears behind me. I whirl, expecting an adult. But I find a red-cheeked little boy, probably about ten years old. He clutches a pen and a piece of paper.
“Princess Annika?” he says, blushing. “Would you mind if I got your autograph, please?”
I beam at him. “Of course not. What is your name?”
“Paul,” he says, turning an even brighter red. I take the pen and piece of paper, chatting with him for a second and then signing it.
And then I end by offering him a hug. He agrees and hugs me surprisingly hard around the middle, for so long that Erik clears his throat and steps toward us.
Paul squeals and takes his autograph with him as he flees back into the wall of beeping and ringing machines. Erik’s lips twitch.
“You just earned yourself a fan for life.” He screws up his face. “He’s too young to be creepy, right?”
I laugh. “I think so.”
He leads me back toward the Skee-Ball machines. “That was the first time I’ve ever seen you being the princess of Denmark. I mean, I’m sure you do it plenty. But that was the first time I’ve ever been around when it happened.” He puts two tokens in his machine, making the balls roll down. “You were very natural with him.”
I put my tokens in, eyeing