Page 62 of Out of Bounds

"Bingo." She flicked the card away. "You don’t take this off for practice."

"Holidays. Birthdays."

The card flew out of her hand. "You busted two of the frat guy—?"

"Ribs."

"You thought Grindr was—?"

"Coffee app. Coffee."

"D-T-F?"

"Directing the fact. Fact."

Kassie thumbs-upped me. "Bird?"

"Pants."

If I had been paying attention, I would’ve seen everybody else’s mouths falling open and June dropping her cards. But I didn’t notice either one. My whole concentration was on the woman sitting up in her lawn chair, twirling the cards between her fingers, chucking one after another to the table. She shot me a smile that didn’t help with the stunned feeling that sank somewhere deep in my stomach.

"Time!" June shot out of her chair. "TIME!"

The hourglass finished and I took a slow look at the cards. Birthday, radio, ingredient, all of them popped into view, more than twenty fucking cards. There was no way. I’d placed all my money on a team to win the Superbowl and they’d fumbled, hard. I couldn’t believe it.

A smile split across Kassie’s face in a way I’d never seen before. "Ryan."

I stared at her. "We won."

"We won." She repeated my words in a completely different tone, hurrying to pull her knees up to her chest. "Wewon."

"We…holy shit."

"Fucking right!" Kassie sat up in her chair and threw her hand in the air.

For a couple of seconds, I forgot how small Kassie was, and she almost flew back when I met her for a high five. I had to grab her chair to keep her toppling to the grass.

"Shit." I gripped her chair. "Are you okay?"

"We fucking won!" she belted out, bursting into laughter.

Coming back to the game meant acknowledging the shock around us. With a sheepish smile, Kassie settled back in her chair. Everybody started congratulating us. Their words faded into the background.

It wasn’t just the questions, it was the fact that Kassie knew exactly how to phrase everything. She knew what I would respond to.

Am I that easy to read?

Maybe, maybe not. But nobody else could’ve done that like Kassie did. Someone clapped me on the shoulder, and I nodded without taking my eyes off her.

Leaning back in her chair, she patted my thigh. "Ryan, I hate to say I told you so, but let me say it once. Wait, let me say it again."

Her hand’son my thigh.

"I told youso. Actually, let me repeat, I told you so!"

Her fingernails grazed the fabric.

She had green nails and I couldn’t think of a nicer nail color. That was the most I’d ever thought about nail polish in my entire life. And it might’ve been because all the blood had just rushed to my cock.

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