Page 30 of Sing Me Home
“Bo,” Granny said. “Put in a little more.”
Obediently, Gramps pulled his phone out with the rest of them. “How do I work this confounded app again?”
Bowen—named after the man himself—stepped over to help. “I gotchu, Gramps.”
My head gave a little shake. “Since when do Duprees gamble? What happened to you all while I was away?” I looked at Granny. “You’re okay with this?” The grandmother I knew would’ve put the maternal smack down on the very idea.
She squeezed me tighter against her side. “It’s all in good fun.”
I shook her loose and took a step back. “You’re not my real family. Aliens abducted myrealfamily and replaced them with…” My face scrunched. “Whoever you people are.”
One side of Cash’s mouth lifted in a slow, knowing smirk. “Figures. Perfection like this doesn’t just happen by chance.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please.” But my cheeks flushed. Because he was pretty darn perfect.
Theo looked at me like I was crazy. “If we were aliens, don’t you think we’d have picked a better sport? Like, I don’t know, intergalactic dodgeball?”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“I’m just saying.” He held his hands up. “You think aliens went through the trouble of replacing us just to make sure we could gamble on a Spartan race? That’s the weakest invasion plan I’ve ever heard.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Nerd.”
“Geek.” He hit me with a perfectly executed brow lift. “A sexy geek. And proud of it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are those the sweet nothings your last girlfriend whispered in your ear? Oh, you sexy geek,” I said like I was narrating a perfume ad. “The way you push up your glasses and say ‘Fascinating’ in your best Spock voice is doing things to me.”
I caught Mom and Dad smiling at each other, delighted at our sibling banter.
“Girl.” Anna laughed. “I’ve missed you.”
I fluttered my lashes.
“It’s really us,” Aunt Christy shook me by the arms. “We just decided to up the stakes this year. Give people a little more incentive to keep running when they’re thinking about walking. Maybe hang onto the monkey bars when it would be easier to let go.”
“A little more incentive?” I pursed my lips. “Eight thousand dollars isn’t a little more incentive. That’s?—”
“It’s up to twelve thousand now,” Ford said proudly.
I shrieked. “Well, somebody take Blue out at the knees so the rest of us have a fighting chance.”
Everyone laughed.
Fourteen-year-old Blaze punched his fist into his opposite hand, dimple popping out. “I’m going to smoke all of you.”
I’d been to plenty of Blaze’s youth league games. He was super talented at football just like his dad—and stupid fast.
“Not if I smoke you first,” his twin sister, Belle, said with a snort. Holden rubbed his hands together, taking charge. “It’s time to draw for partners.”
“Whoa,” Griffin said, his mouth hanging open. “No one said we didn’t get to pick our partners.” He gestured at his girlfriend who looked just as shell-shocked.
“It has to be by chance,” Ford said. “That’s the only way to make it fair.”
“But…but…” Griffin made an over-exaggerated circle around Maggie’s face. “I promised her we would do the race together.”
Ford scratched his temple and looked at the older adults. “What do you think, guys?”
Silas shrugged one shoulder. “You can be partners but you can’t compete for the pool.”
