Page 31 of Hard Count
“Did you wear a bra?” she asks slower, annunciating each word.
“Yes, I wore a bra. Why does that matter right now?”
“I was thinking we could up the ante a little to knock them off their game. We need an advantage.”
“Are you for real right now? You just said it would take a miracle for you to make a shot and now you want to wager my boobs?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“It can be my boobs and your ass.” She smacks my butt. Eli and Nash stare at us in confusion as we bicker back and forth.
“It might but it also means everyone else is getting a look at our goods.” My eyes roam the backyard. Letting almost the entire football team see me in my thong isn’t something on my to do list but it's similar to a bathing suit, right?
“Even better if you ask me. It will make them jealous and they’ll lose focus. Sometimes you have to force their hand to get them to make a move.” She snags one of the ping pong balls off the table. “Nash might need a little push.” She tosses the ball across the table. It flies wide and Eli has to reach for it. Shaking his head and grinning he throws it back to her.
“That doesn’t help your case. I’m not feeling very confident right now. I also don’t like the idea of scheming to make them jealous.”
“Are you two done yapping?” Eli asks.
“What are the terms?” Frankie bounces the ball on the table and instead of catching it, the ball bounces toward the pyramid of cups. She has to scramble to trap it.Lord, help me.
“Do you want to make bets?” Nash asks.
“We can. It'll make your game more fun. Don’t you think so?” Frankie looks at me for approval.
“Ugh, fine.” I drop my head back and silently groan. I hope I don’t regret this.
“What do you have in mind?” Eli eyes her with suspicion.
“For every shot we make, you owe us a piece of clothing. If you make a shot, you get one of ours.” She smirks back at him.
Nash eyes me leisurely, and I can see his chest pumping with heavy breaths. When his eyes meet mine my skin heats to a boil. The metal can I’m holding pops when I squeeze it too tight as he flicks his tongue out over his bottom lip. I can’t tell if he’s angry about the idea or if he likes it.
They turn to each other and have a short discussion. Coming to an agreement, Nash says, “Fine. But if we make a shot.” He stares at me. “I don’t want your clothes. I want your truths.”
“What does that mean?” Frankie asks.
“It means every time I make a shot you have to answer one of my questions,” Eli replies.
“That doesn’t seem like an equal trade,” I say. Being naked in a crowd sounds like a much better option than openingmyself to a series of personal questions for Nash and everyone at school to know the answers to.
“That’s what I want. Make a shot and I’ll answer your questions too. Whatever you want to know. Deal?” he asks. Frankie and I both nod in agreement, making Nash and Eli visibly relax.
“Did you see that?” I whisper to Frankie.
“I did.” She grins. They didn’t like the idea of us stripping in front of the crowd.Interesting.
“One of you can go first.” Eli nods toward our end of the table.
“Go ahead.” I nudge Frankie.
She wipes her hands down her jeans and pushes her hair out of her face. Lifting her arm, she does a few practice throws without releasing the ball.
“Any day now,” Eli mumbles. She glares in his direction and then lobs the ball toward his head. It would have been a direct hit if he didn’t catch it first.
“Nice try,Francesca,” he says before throwing the ball back in our direction and sinking it in one of our cups. I remove the ball out of the cup before passing it to her to drink.
I miss the question he asked her while I dunk the ball in a water cup to rinse off the sticky beer. Whatever it was, Frankie’s answer is yes and she isn’t happy about having to admit it.
My hands shake as I aim the ball in their direction. It doesn’t help that Nash is staring at me the same way he did when we were at the gym. He’s the only person I know who’ll root for his opponent to win.Maybe he’s just rooting for me to win.I toss the ball in the air and it bounces off the rim and into the middle cup.
