Page 79 of Stealing for Keeps
I hold in a groan and glare at Austin. “I am so getting you back for this.”
“For doing something nice?” He holds both hands over his heart. “Can’t wait.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Austin
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into another activity,” Claire says as we step into the theater. The lights are on above the stage, but the rest of the theater is shrouded in darkness. “If you leave me alone in here, I’m never speaking to you again.”
“I’m sorry,” I say in a whisper, fighting a smile. Yesterday, she practiced with the chess team, and she’s still grumpy about it. “Most of the other groups around school meet at the same time as soccer practice, and I didn’t want you to miss out just because I couldn’t go.”
Onstage, the theater group is rehearsing. Two actors hold scripts, facing each other. They speak in tense, passionate voices. We walk over to the side where an open door leads up and around the stage.
“I was so bad, they all stopped what they were doing to help,” Claire says in a soft, low voice.
“That sounds nice.”
Her beautiful eyes narrow into slits. “Does it?”
Well, now I’m not so sure.
“Apparently I am an exceptionally slow learner when it comes to chess,” she adds and gives me the same puppy dog face that Wyatt does when he gets in trouble.
“Aww.” I reach out and take her hand, squeezing her fingers, then running my thumb along her knuckles.
“They were really great, but it was mortifying.”
“We all start somewhere,” I tell her.
“If someone would have shown up to an advanced figure skating class and didn’t know how to skate, everyone would have ignored them.” She looks like that bothers her the more she considers it.
“José is very passionate about passing on his love of chess.”
“It shows. I almost agreed to join.”
“Really?” There’s something endearing about it. I like that she went along with letting them teach her even if she was embarrassed.
“No, but I did tell José I would help him come up with fundraising ideas, and I promised to ask Lacey and Andie about having cheerleaders at home chess tournaments.”
That has me laughing. “José was working it.”
“He’s very convincing.”
The scene onstage comes to an end, and suddenly there’s movement from everywhere. People moving set pieces, actors coming and going from the stage, light changing overhead.
“Claire!” Andie bounds toward us with a huge smile on her face.
“Hey,” Claire replies. “Thanks for letting us drop in.”
“Are you kidding? We can always use extra hands, especially backstage. Let me show you.”
Within five minutes, Andie has Claire painting abackdrop onto a large wooden sign on wheels and me moving heavy props and nailing together a frame for another bulky set piece.
I’m facing her, a dozen or so people between us, but we make eye contact so often I find I’m blushing. I don’t know what it is about this girl. She has me building theater sets when I should be doing homework or resting. We have another tough game coming up, and practices have been brutal. Coach Collins never yells, but when he cranks up the intensity, I know he’s displeased with how we’re performing. And he’s been less than thrilled a lot lately.
When I nearly staple my finger, I decide to take a break. Claire has a brush loaded up with blue paint, and she pauses with her hand midair when she spots me.
A knowing smirk tugs at her lips. “Done already?”
