Page 52 of Betting on the Brainiac

“Sit with Madi,” Ruby says. “You already share a workspace. Call it team building.”

“Happy to share.” Madison snags my wrist and gives me a gentle tug toward the chair. “There’s plenty of room. I promise not to make it weird.”

I can’t make the same promise. Beads of sweat form at my nape just thinking about being compressed between the firm chair on one side and firm Madison on the other.

She gives my chest a light push and I plop onto the chair in my sequins and stripey knee socks. Like Friday, Madison easily takes charge of me. I love it, but I keep that off my face.

“Be afraid,” Sami says. “Turns out Madison is into guys in costume.”

“Only masks,” Madison says. “You’re safe.” As if to prove her point, she sits down next to me, wiggling until I shift to make room for her.

Leave it alone, the sane part of my brain tells me. But my mouth says, “What about guys in masks? Is this about that theme night at the club?”

“She’s been swooning all day,” Ruby says.

“Goofy look on her face,” Ava confirms.

“Kissed her frog prince,” Sami adds.

“I didn’t say that,” Madison protests, but her friends are having too much fun teasing her to let it go.

“Dude rocked her world,” Josh adds. “I’ve caught her staring into space twice.”

“I hope y’all get only red lights until Christmas,” Madison mutters.

“I didn’t do anything,” I protest.Except rock your world. Which makes us even, because that’s what she did to me Friday.

“You can have green lights, Oliver.”

I don’t want the teasing to stop. I want to hear all about her take on our kiss. I want to relive every slow, hot second of it. But if I let this keep going, when I do explain it was me, she’ll kill me and make it slow for egging them on.

There is nothing I want to do less than put an end to this, but I better—and quick.

Chapter Nineteen

Oliver

Think fast, I tell my brain as Sami starts joking about the Great Masked Makeout.

“Mask doesn’t start with S,” I say, “but I assume whatever we’re watching does. What did the birthday girl pick?”

Sami accepts the change of subject. “I thought hard about this. I went with alliteration, so we’re watching a horror movie calledSoul Survivors.It came out when we were in preschool, and I’ve never seen a film with an average rating this low, ever.”

Madison gives my shoulder a quick squeeze to say thanks.

“Sounds perfect,” Ruby says, and like they’re following a cue, everyone sinks down, curls up, or otherwise makes themselves comfortable.

Ava calls for Joey, while Madison draws her knees to her chest, scooting and adjusting until she’s nestled into the corner of thechair—the A-frame of her honey gold legs almost—but not quite—resting against my abs and chest.

“Am I squishing you?” she asks.

Crushing me beneath the temptation to reach out and run my palm up the slope of her calf? Drowning me in the need to run my hand over the crest of her knee then trail a single finger down the smooth incline of her thigh?Yes. I grit my teeth.Definitely yes.

But squishing me? “No.”

“Cool. Tell me if I do.”

Then, in a move calculated to kill me, she wiggles her butt to settle farther into the corner of the chair while Ruby calls for Joey. “We’re ready to start the movie, Joseph!”

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