Page 57 of Lucky in Love
“All right. Well, three-pointers are shot from this semicircle.” He pointed to the curved green line and went on to explain the rules using slow, simple words, as if she were a toddler.
“Oh, this is gonna be delicious,” Faith said.
“It’s always sweeter when they underestimate her.” Tess rubbed her hands together.
“Prepare to eat your mic, Ken,” Juliet added.
They seemed to have a lot of confidence in Alex’s ability to shoot threes. Nick had told him about their state championship, so he knew Alex played ball, but still had doubts as to how good she could be.
The rules were simple. Alex would take ten shots—two each from five different spots on the line. She had to make nine out of ten within sixty seconds to win the thousand dollars. There were racks of balls at each spot.
“You understand the rules?”
Alex nodded.
“She looks nervous,” Brody said.
“Part of her act,” Tess said, waving off his concern. “She’s fine.”
“Well, all right,” Ken said. “Just do your best. Trying hard is what’s important.” His condescending tone earned a side-eyed glare from Alex.
“I think I’d rather just win, Ken,” she said dryly, and the crowd laughed.
“This will be a walk in the park,” Faith said, leaning back in her chair. “She was our best outside shooter.”
“But she’s so small,” Brody said.
“Don’t saythatto her face,” Tess muttered.
“People always underestimate Alex,” Juliet said. “Usually, at their own peril.”
“Yeah. Luck may have called her number,” Faith said. “But she’ll win on skill, which she earned through a bajillion hours of practice.”
“Think her ankle will be a problem?” he asked.
“Nah,” Tess said. “She’s barely limping anymore. She’s got this.”
Brody watched along with thousands of others as Alex closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and rolled her shoulders.
“Ready, set, go!” the announcer yelled, pointing to someone, indicating they start the timer.
Alex picked up her first ball, tossed it up, and missed. By a mile. Total airball.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Ken said. “You’ll get the next one.”
“That part of her act too?” Brody asked.
“Shh,” Tess said. “Just watch.”
Without hesitating, Alex grabbed another ball and sank the three from the outside shot. She jogged to the next spot and made both baskets.
Alex moved again and dropped two more. Brody watched as the announcer’s expression flashed from pity to surprise to admiration to panic. Most likely, the sponsors did not expect to have to actually cough up the prize money. These games were usually just a ruse to garner name familiarity for a business. Ken seemed to be stressing out over someone winning on his watch.
The crowd was getting into it. Alex rushed to the next marker and swished both of those too.
“She’s two baskets away. Can you believe it? Let’s cheer her on, folks!”
Ken was now openly rooting for her. As was the entire audience. Alex went to the final mark and sank one more.
