Page 27 of Foolish Games

“I thought you told me not to do it,” I say.

“I did,” he says. “But if you’re going to make a fool of yourself anyway, I might as well make some money off it.”

“Alright,” I say. “But anyone says a word to Rob, you automatically forfeit the bet, and I keep it whether I fuck her or not.”

“I’m in,” Tony says, tossing his hundred on top of Billy’s.

“Same,” Tommy says, tossing his in.

“Any of you tell Rob and fuck up the team, and I’ll curb stomp you like a Serpent,” Maddox says, dragging on his cigarette before casually tossing his hundred on the stack.

I swallow, looking at the pile of hundreds. Five hundred dollars. I could buy Mom a whole new car with that. Well, a used one anyway. I could get her a new transmission. Or get myself a car and take out any girl I wanted. Sure, it would be a shitty little beater car, but at least I’d have my own set of wheels. I could give Mel rides home on rainy days so she doesn’t have to take the bus. I wouldn’t have to bum rides off Robert anymore.

But if I lose… I owe five hundred dollars. Where the fuck am I going to come up with that kind of cash?

“Go on,” Tony challenges, tipping his chin up. His New York accent is strong in contrast to all the southern voices around us. “You gonna do it, or are you gonna pussy out on us now that we put our money down?”

Glaring at him, I toss my money onto the pile.

Everyone cheers and claps hands and shoulders.

Lexi sweeps the pile off Billy’s hand. “I’ll keep this.”

“No fucking way,” Tony says. “You’ll spend it on shoes or some shit.”

“I got my own hundie to spend,” she says. “It’ll take me six months to find anything worth buying at the thrift store, let alone a hundred dollars’ worth. They should just burn most of the shit that gets donated. It’s not like anyone will ever want our moms’ high-waisted jeans.”

“You okay with this?” Tony asks, gesturing to the rest of us like we’re going to back him up.

“I’m the only one not betting,” Lexi points out, tucking the money into her bra before anyone is forced to take sides. “Therefore, I keep the pot.”

“You spend that, and you’re earning it back with your ass,” he says, slowly eye-fucking her from head to toe. “With interest.”

“Deal,” she says, raising her chin and giving him a defiant look.

“What’s the deadline?” I ask.

“By Christmas break,” Billy says. “So we can all use our money to get shit for our families.”

A chorus of agreement goes up, and everyone holds out a hand to shake with me. I grin, the thrill of a challenge making my blood pump with life as I seal the deal. There’s about to be five families with really shitty Christmas presents this year, because no way am I losing this bet.

*

On Monday afternoon, I slide in across the table from Vivienne at the library. I haven’t seen her all day, and I’ve been dying to know how she’ll react to me after the little incident in her car the other night. She looks like she hasn’t slept much, with circles around her eyes and her hair pulled up in a sleek bun instead of its usual sexy, just-got-fucked bedhead.

“Hey,” I say, leaning across the table and spinning my book around to face me. “How’s my favorite little speed racer?”

She sighs. “You don’t have tutoring today, Sebastian. Tuesday and Thursday, just like every week.”

“I’ve got a test tomorrow,” I protest. “I need extra help.”

“You can’t just come in any day you want,” she says. “I have someone else today.”

“Who?” I ask, giving her my most winning smile. “I bet I can convince him to give you up for one afternoon.”

“You’re in my spot,” says a cold voice behind me.

Forcing myself not to wince, I turn around and widen my smile. “Keisha!”

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