Page 22 of Biggest Player
It’s that easy? All I have to do is pay her?
“Really?”
This kid is fucking brilliant!I like her. I like her a lot.
“Really. I’m having dinner with my family, and they’re boring.” She yawns. “My grandma is hounding my mom about her love life, and who wants to sit and listen to that?”
Sounds good to me! “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
She nods. “Cool.”
I pull the leather designer wallet out of my back pocket and unfold it, glancing down at the money tucked inside.
I remove a twenty and hold it out to her. “This oughta do it.”
The kid has the audacity to fold her scrawny little arms across her chest.
“Twenty bucks?” She snorts. “Don’t insult me.”
I stare her down. “But how old are you? Like, eight?”
She pulls a face. It looks like she’s sucked on a sour lemon. “I’m not eight—I’m ten.”
Great.
A preteenager, probably in middle school.
“You’re not supposed to ask people their ages, unless you’re an ageist,” she announces with authority.
“What’s an ageist?” This is a new term for me.
“When you discriminate based on age.”
I shift on my heels. “I’m not discriminating. I was making an observation.”
“You were trying to take advantage because you thought I was a kid.”
I mean—she is a kid. But I’m not stupid enough to say that out loud so she can give me another set down.
“What’s your name?” she asks.
“Dex.”
The kid lets out a low whistle. “Yikes.”
I refuse to feel insulted by someone not even five feet tall.
“What’s yours?”
“Wyatt.”
I nod appreciatively. “That’s a pretty badass name.”
“I know.” She flips her hair.
“Okay, Wyatt—how much is it going to take to get you to help me out?”
Wyatt rubs her chin, deep in thought. “Well. The LEGO kit I want is a hundred and fifty bucks.”
