Page 4 of Playing Games

Lexi quirks a defiant brow at me. “Will we, though?”

“I’m planning on it.”

She purses her perfect lips at me. “Maybe you shouldn’t hedge your bets.”

“Gah, Lexi!” Ace cries, shoving me forward. “You’re ruthless to this poor, talented man. Give him a break every once in a while!”

I shake my head, disagreeing. “No, no. It’s okay. She’ll come around to me eventually. She should do it on her time.”

Lexi narrows her eyes slightly, studying me. “Cover charge is twenty dollars tonight. Winner takes the pot.”

I pull a trio of twenties from my jeans pocket and hand them to her, waving off Ace when he pulls out money of his own. “I got it tonight, Ace.”

I smile and wink before leaving Lexi to finish business without much of a fuss. I like that she’s not trying to impress me or cowing to my wants and needs right off the bat. I like that she’s an individual with high standards and uncompromising boundaries. It’s a hell of a change from the women I’m used to and a breath of fresh air.

Since my freshman year of high school, when I made the varsity football team as starting quarterback to the chagrin of many upperclassmen, I’ve been an object of female pursuit. Girls wanted to date me, kiss me—fuck me—anything to say they did and list it among their accomplishments with friends.

I took proper advantage of my popularity for a while, but after a few years, the same old shit starts to taste stale. I’m not just looking for a good time anymore; I’m looking for a long time.

And I know damn well, thanks to my parents’ inspiring example of what a marriage full of resentment and bickering looks like, you don’t pick just anyone.

“I’m so excited, I can feel a little tingle in my spine,” Ace says, bouncing on his toes. It’s an innocent statement—one none of us would have thought a single thing about a month ago—but immediately, it casts a pall over us for our missing friends, Scottie and Finn. “Shit,” Ace says, apology in his eyes, and Julia leans in to rub his arm.

“It’s okay. You didn’t mean anything by it.”

“I know. I just… Fuck, I still can’t believe any of that shit really happened.”

I nod. “Either of you talk to Finn or Scottie?”

“I did,” Julia answers. “Earlier today. Things are good. Really good. Scottie is starting to sound like herself again.”

“Yeah,” Ace agrees. “Finn’s stopped breaking shit in our dorm room too.”

“Tonight feels weird without them,” I remark. But at least she and Finn are officially on the mend. It took them a while to overcome all the hurdles in their way, but they’re a strong unit now. I’m sure it won’t be long before they’re doing all this stupid shit with us again, even if the physical specifics for now-wheelchair-bound Scottie look a little different. Hell, knowing Finn and how much he loves that girl, he’d carry her ass around all night if he had to.

“Definitely,” Julia agrees. “Maybe we can swing by—”

“Welcome, everyone!” Lexi greets, moving to stand in front of the group, a small light clipped to the collar of her pink T-shirt. Julia’s message is cut short, but I have no trouble reading between the lines. Sometime in the next couple of days, we need to make sure we pay Scottie and Finn a visit. Which, no doubt about it, I agree, and I give Julia a thumbs-up to communicate it.

Lexi keeps talking, and I turn my attention to her with my usual avid devotion. “Tonight’s activities have officially commenced. If you’re waiting on other people from your group, they won’t be making it. You’re on your own.”

Ace bounces on his toes behind me again, hanging off my back and practically choking me out. I let him do it for a minute, and then I set him to the side with a quick grip of his forearm.

“As you may know, Dickson’s Dragon Stadium has a capacity of thirty thousand seats, positioned in alphabetical and numerical order. What you may not realize, however, is that sixty years ago, one of the graduating classes switched two of the seat numbers as their final prank, and they’ve never been switched back. The challenge tonight is to find them both while there’s still time on the twenty-minute clock. Winner takes the pot. I assure you, though, it won’t be easy, so do yourself a favor and keep your cockiness in your pants.”

“I swear a whole persona comes over her when she’s doing this shit,” Ace whispers to Julia and me, laughing lightly. Even he’s afraid to get caught chatting while she’s talking, and given how crazy he is, that says something about Lexi Winslow. Both Ace and Julia have known her all their lives—their parents are close friends with her parents—so the intimidation factor shouldn’t be a factor at all.

But it is, because Lexi Winslow isn’t just any average girl. She’s a whole other level of backbone, intelligence, and breathtaking beauty.

I smile.Man, she’s so perfect.

“Keep the noise and other identifying factors to a minimum and break into your groups,” my dream girl commands to the group. “As always, teams get paid as a team, and how you split it up isn’t my problem.”

She nods toward her sidekick Connor, who holds up a stopwatch and makes a show of starting it in front of all of us. The crowd scatters like a bunch of damn ants, giggles and chatter running a short course of excitement as they hurry for the stadium seats.

I reach out for Ace’s shoulder, shoving him in the direction I think we should go first, and he reaches back for Julia’s hand to pull her along at a run. “Let’s start with the high-dollar seats in the VIP section. They’d either not care or shit themselves every time, so it’s worth a shot. We’ll either get a win or eliminate a section really quickly.”

Ace picks up his pace as we’re passing Lexi and Connor, and I let him and Julia take the lead and drag my feet. Lexi rolls her eyes as I approach, but I don’t let that deter me.

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