Page 34 of Stealing for Keeps
“Thanks, Lacey.” My gaze moves to Claire. She hasn’t said anything. “Did you also enjoy the game?”
“The cheerleaders were great,” she says with just a hint of a smile. I could talk with her all night long and never get enough of her feistiness.
Lacey laughs and then covers it up by clearing her throat. “Speaking of, I better get back to the cotton candy stand. You’re good to keep Claire company for a while, right, New Guy?” She backs away and wriggles her fingers at us.
Claire takes a small step closer once her friend departs. “I don’t need you to keep me company. I know lots of other people here.”
“Of course,” I say. Wyatt is out of balls, and I handover two more tickets for three more chances. “Maybe you can keep me company though. He has his heart set on a fish.”
She nods, and a small smile tips up the corners of her lips. “I had a goldfish once.”
“Really?” Wyatt finally gives her his full attention.
I lean closer to her. “If this tale ends in a tragic death, maybe not the audience.”
She huffs a laugh and ignores me. “He stays at my dad’s house, so I guess I still do, but I don’t see him as often. Wanna see a picture?”
Of course Wyatt does, and Claire humors him by opening up the photos app on her phone and finding a picture of a big goldfish in an aquarium with pink rocks and a fairy-tale castle.
“That’s so cool,” he says. “What’s his name?”
“Hername is Princess Goldiefin.”
My brother scrunches up his nose, but his excitement over winning a fish is reignited, and he focuses hard on aiming.
“Your parents split?” I ask, guessing by the tidbit she offered up about her living situation.
“Yeah, a while ago.”
I think it’s the first personal piece of information she’s given me since she told me she used to skate. It makes me greedy for more.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She shrugs one shoulder.
We stand side by side, her arm brushing mine, as Wyatt tosses another ball that hits the rim of the tank and bounces away. His face falls with clear disappointment.
“That’s all right.” I place my hands on his shoulders and squeeze lightly. “Try again.”
“I only have one more, then I’m out of tickets, and Mom already said she wasn’t buying me any more if I blew them all on one game.”
I hold back a chuckle.
“Which one are you aiming for?” Claire asks.
He points, and I add, “The big guy in the far right.”
“You know.” Claire squats down at eye level with Wyatt. “I bet if you get the ball in any of the fish tanks, you could ask the nice lady if you could swap the fish for the one you want.”
He considers her carefully. “What if she says no?”
“Well, then, I guess you’d still have a really cool fish anyway. Wanna know a secret?”
He nods his head quickly.
She leans in. “I helped picked out all these fish.”
“No way! That’s a lot of fish.”
