Page 40 of The Perfect Steal

Kate appeared at the bottom of the steps. “Because I have to be there, and I need volunteers for the halftime show.”

I smirked and shook my head. “Isn’t that usually assigned to the drill team? Or the cheerleaders?”

“Yes, but the principal wanted us to do something else to get school spirit up since our teams haven’t been doing so well.”

“The boys’ team, you mean,” Penny pointed out.

Kate nodded. “True. The girls’ team should be going pretty far this year.”

At the mention of the women’s basketball team, I smiled, thinking of Brynn. “Let me get my jacket.”

I’d never been excited to go to a basketball game. It wasn’t something I was usually interested in, but the prospect of seeing Brynn in action, in her element, made me wonder if I’d understand her better.She’d been Shy Brynn for the past few days and it would be interesting to see if I could uncover even more about her, especially after the past couple of days together.

“I’ll just meet you all there,” I said, taking my keys from the table next to the door.

“Can you pick up some whipped cream, then?” Kate asked, heading back to Jake’s Jeep. I could see Dax sitting in there, with Ben and Serena in her little bug waiting behind them.

“Why not?” I said, not exactly happy about that. There were, like, twenty of them. Would they miss that much kissing time if they had to go into the store to get the whipped cream by themselves?

Okay, that wasn’t fair, mostly just the ornery side of me coming through. I’d been fine without a girl, been fine without anyone but our group, until they all started pairing offand then dragging me into things. But this thing had to do with Brynn, and that thought changed everything around, lifting my bad attitude and changing it out for a better one. Maybe some fun by us would put a smile back on Brynn’s face.

I called Colt, hoping he’d go with me.

“Hey, are you coming to the basketball game tonight?” I asked, sliding into the front seat of the Hummer.

“Yeah, I’m heading there now.”

I frowned. He was already on his way? “Why didn’t you call me, ya tool?” I said, anger burning my chest. I hated being left out of things, and as grateful as I was that Jake and Penny had stopped by, why hadn’t Colt said anything?

“Jake said he was stopping by to grab you anyway, so I knew I’d see you there.”

“Yeah, butbest friendswatch out for each other and occasionally call or text to reveal the plan.” A voice in the background caught my attention, and I said, “Who’s in the car with you?”

“Hazel,” Colt said, and as much as I tried, I couldn’t decide what to make of that.

“What’s going on with you two?” I asked, revving my engine as I got ready to back out of the driveway.

“I’ll see you at the game,” Colt said, hanging up.

There was a lot more going on there. Was I going to lose my closest friend to a girl too?

I needed to focus on what I had going with Brynn and leave the rest of the worries for the future.

25

Brynn

I shook my hands, trying to get all the jitters out. This was how I usually was before a big game, and even though this wasn’t the state championship, yet, it was a big one. We were set to play Seaton, a school about thirty minutes away from Pecan Flatts. They had been a powerhouse in women’s basketball for several years. If we held them to a decent score and even won, our numbers in the state rankings would skyrocket.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re looking for the holes, right, Stephanie?” Coach Adams said. He was holding up a large clipboard smeared with all kinds of dry erase marker after all the plays he’d gone through in the past five minutes.

“Brynn,” he said, and I looked right at him, giving him a small smile. “I need you crashing the boards tonight, right? Their center is your height, and she led the state in rebounds last year.” From the fast pace he was talking, I wondered if Coach Adams was just as nervous as the rest of us.

“Got it,” I said, reaching out my arm and stretching it over my body. Having something to do was a lot easier than just standing there, waiting to rush out for warm-ups.

After another minute of instruction, Coach Adams put his hand into the middle of the circle formed by the team and said, “Everyone in. Teamwork on three. One, two, three.”

We all yelled, “Teamwork,” and then made our way out of the locker rooms and into the large gymnasium. The crowd was larger than normal, and I avoided looking into the stands, knowing I needed to focus on my game. John had said he had his own group project to work on tonight, and getting my parents there would be a miracle anymore.

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