Page 125 of Well Played

Side-note, anyone who looks like him shouldn’t be that hard up that he needs to look at a tin-cup to find self-worth.

His dark eyes narrow, and as much as I feel like looking away, I will myself not to. I can’t let him see how much he intimidates me, or I’m done for.

“The point of competition is to win, or do you not get that concept either?”

Oh my goodness. We haven’t even started league games, and all he does is whine about winning. Excuse me—losing.

Funny thing is, when I partnered up with other people in those first few weeks, we always won. Of course, it was mostly because of them. But Nico is the best player in the league.

“These games don’t count. They’re pick-up games so we can practice before the real games!”

“If you can’t win a practice game, how do you expect to win a game that counts?”

I shrug and shake my head, struggling to keep the words on the tip of my tongue from spilling out. “Honestly, I don’t care. Not about winning. Not about this stupid game.” He killed any chance of that. “And if you ever lay a hand on me again, you can say goodbye to your balls.”

At just the right time, a raindrop hits the tip of my nose. And another on my eyelash. At least if angry tears spill from my eyes, I can blame it on the rain.

“You need to go home and think about why you’re here. Competing isn’t just about the sport. It’s about life lessons and resiliency. About camaraderie and learning to never give up.”

All I hear is blah blah blah.

I should quit here and now so I don’t have to see Nico ever again. No, I should wait until our first official game, and right before it starts, tell him to take his life lessons and go jump out of a hot air balloon. He’ll have no choice but to forfeit and lose his shot at the prize money. Then I’ll turn around and leave Nico Dupris in my dust.

3

Niko

I wantto laugh at Summer trying to be serious as the large round raindrops collect on her long eyelashes. She wipes at her eyes to clear her vision, but as she swipes them away, more drops fall to replace them.

The rain picks up quickly, from a drizzle to just short of a downpour.

“What do you say we stop arguing and get back to work before we see lightning.” I hate that since we’ve been paired up, there’s so much tension and animosity between us. I’d hoped she’d loosen up with me. Instead, things are worse.

“Didn’t you hear the thunder a minute ago?” Summer stands in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest, quickly turning into a sopping mess.

I shrug. “Thunder isn’t lightning.”

“Where do you think thunder comes from?” She wipes the water from her forehead with her upper arm, but it doesn’t help any more than her fingers did.

Half the dirty blonde hair from her ponytail has fallen and hangs plastered to the side of her face.

“How aboutyoustay here and dare the lightning to strike you.I’mgoing home,” she says through chattering teeth. How did she get so cold so quickly? Easy, she never worked hard enough to break a sweat.

I shake my head, annoyed that she’s not just ready to quit but looking for an excuse to. “Always taking the easy way out.”

Anger flares in her gray eyes. She’s pissed. I bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t smile. She’s cute when she’s pissed. She’s beautiful when she smiles. Or when she does nothing at all. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give in and let her have her way. I can’t go easy on her because of her looks.

“Have fun getting fried. I’ll see you next Thursday.”

“That’s the start of league.” She can’t be serious. She doesn’t want to get together again?

“And?” She shivers as her clothes cling to her.

“A bunch of us are meeting up Saturday. We should practice at least one more time.”

“No worries. I’m sure someone will be dumb enough to partner up with you. See you Thursday,” she repeats before jogging off to her car in the parking lot. I’m left with nothing to do but stand here and watch her ass as she runs away.

4

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