Page 42 of The Perfect Steal

Dax glanced over at Kate and waited until she turned. “Probably enough to make it a real challenge. She figured a few baseball players and a few football players would make it fun.”

Making a fist, I punched him in the shoulder, and in return, he took his leg and swiped behind my knees, causing me to tumble to the ground.

“Boys,” Kate began, her face taking on the look of a mother disciplining her fighting children. “We don’t have much time. Can you focus and listen?”

Dax looked more apologetic than I felt, but he was Kate’s boyfriend, so that was understandable. Maybe it was better to not have a girlfriend. Then I didn’t have to conform to anyone’s plans.

I wasn’t assigned a task and turned to watch the rest of the half. Brynn was somewhat fast, given how tall she was. And the way she read the ball from the shooter’s hands in order to get the rebound before the other girl about her height was impressive.

If I had to guess, I would say Brynn was probably at least six foot one. I was six feet even, and everyone always asked if I played basketball like my father, the two-sport wonder. It hadn’t ever been something I was interested in, at least not until now.

Baseball took a lot of talent to be able to hit such a small ball coming in at high rates of speed, but from watching this game, I realized that basketball had a completely different type of strategy, when you knew how to play it, one that intrigued me. From a shot, I could tell if the ball was going in or not, and seconds before Brynn stole the ball from the girl in the center, I could see that’s what she was going to do.

Maybe this game was more interesting than I thought.

The buzzer rang, and the teams ran off into the locker rooms for halftime.

“It’s go time,” Kate announced, and Jake, Ben, Dax, and I picked up the table, taking it out to the end of the court underneath one of the baskets.

“Shouldn’t we be doing this at half court?” I asked.

“I think there would be too much mess to clean up by the time halftime is over,” Penny said, saying it out of the side of her mouth as we all watched Kate. The SBO President seemed a little more nervous today.

The sophomore cheer squad did a quick routine, and then it was time for us to do, well, whatever it was Kate had in mind for us.

Taking the microphone from one of the school officials, Kate put on a broad smile and said, “Hey, all you Rosemont fans! What a great game so far, huh?” She strolled out onto the court a little farther, making sure to address the crowd on both sides.

“We love our women’s basketball team, and we can’t wait to cheer them on all season. To have a little fun, I’ve got members of the boys’ baseball team as well as a few of our football players here, and we’re going to have a pie-eating contest.”

“Say what?” I said, turning to the other guys.

Colt came down from the stands, Hazel following down.

“We’re going to have the guys race to see who can eat the pie the fastest. The one who does gets a gift certificate to Lou’s Diner for twenty bucks.”

That wasn’t enough incentive for me. I hadn’t prepared for an eating contest, and my stomach was completely full. Besides, stepping inside Lou’s diner wasn’t something I’d done since the little accident that caused the scar on my face.

Penny, Serena, Kate, and Hazel all brought pies out and placed them in front of each of us.

“I’m not doing this,” I said, taking a step back.

“That’s okay. I’ll take your place,” a voice said behind me, and I turned to see Garrett Park grinning at me. “Might as well take the chance to school the baseball team and impress some of the basketball players, right? Well, the only one who matters to me, anyway.” He winked at me and laughed, causing my insides to burn hot.

Was Ben’s rumor that Brynn and Garrett were secretly dating true? Were they dating? I hadn’t seen the two of them together at school, and she’d never mentioned him before. The anxiety was now in full force as I thought of the girl I now had a crush on kissing the meathead next to me.

Jealousy reared its head, and I shoved him to the side. If anyone was going to impress Brynn, it was going to be me.

“I’ve got this,” I said, stepping back into my place.

Serena brought over another pie, setting it in front of Garrett, who stood next to me.

“I’ll show her what a real man looks like,” Garrett said, rolling up his sleeves.

I put my hands out to the sides and turned around. “I’m pretty sure she’s not out here right now. Why the sudden beef with me?”

Garrett shrugged. “I’ve seen you hanging out with her lately. Just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“Wrong idea about—”

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