Page 71 of Finish Line

Forty-five minutes later, the rest of our group shows up.

“Heard you missed us.” Cam walks up and brushes a kiss on Shelby’s temple.

“Didn’t seem right to have this place all to ourselves,” I say.

“This place is nuts.” Cin’s head whips around as she takes it all in.

Dom sits beside Shelby, and Luke sits with Cam and me. They finish up our food.

“Ahem.” I stare at her.

“What?” I glare at him.

“You know what,” I say.

“No, you cheated.” She crosses her arms.

The rest track our discussion, not holding back their laughter.

“Doesn’t matter, I still won.”

“Fine.” She clears her throat. “Attention, please. I want to say Maverick Knight is the best boyfriend in the world. Even though he cheated and is making me say this.” She chuckles at the end.

I reach over the table and tickle her. “That’s not what I said to say.”

“I don’t want to know what that was. Let’s go play some games,” Luke says.

We play the arcade games, then move to the trampolines. The guys and I have a contest to discover who could do the most flips, which isn’t too smart after eating. Tears fill Shelby’s eyes from laughing so hard.

Next, we do the go-carts.

“All right, devil girl.” I use the name I called her racing ego. “You’re going down.”

“You think you can beat me, Knight?” she teases.

“Hell, yeah,” I say, full of false bravado. If Dom couldn’t beat her, I don’t stand a chance, but it’s too much fun to goad her.

Her one eyebrow pops up. “Want to make a bet on that?”

“Sure, if I win, I get to stay with you tonight.” I raise my chin.

“And what happens if I win?” she asks.

“I’ll do the dishes for the rest of our stay,” I say before realizing how many dishes that is. But I keep the smile plastered to my face.

“Deal.” She shakes my hand to seal the deal.

“Hi, I’m Andy. I’ll be your flag person today.” He appears to be our age.

“Let’s say one lap around, then you can wave the green flag. How many laps around?” I ask Shelby.

She taps her chin. “Ten.”

Cam walks up and throws his arm over Shelby’s shoulders. “What happens if one of us wins?”

“We’ll figure it out at the end.” Shelby flaps her hand, dismissing the notion.

Everyone takes a cart, and Andy gives us the go ahead. We take one lap, then line up in two rows. Andy waves the flag, and we take off.

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