Page 70 of Kickoff

“Whoa, you want us to go to Winter Formal together?” As much as the idea surprised me, it also excited me. If we went together to Homecoming and Winter Formal, perhaps we could score a hat trick and add prom to the mix at the end of the school year.

Alarm flashed on her face, and she flicked her wrist. “Forget it. It was a bad idea. I’m sure you’re already planning on going with someone else.”

I lifted my hands in surrender. “No. I accept. Your proposition. The bet is on. If you win, we’re going together. If I win, we watch those movies.” In my head, I was doing a victory dance, a fist bump, and bouncing around like a kid on Christmas morning. If I won, how could I convince her we should go to the dance together, no matter what? Right now, I wanted to both lose and win. It had never happened to me before. I was a winner. Always had been. But Winter Formal was two months away. Winning would mean spending time together sooner. My brain overworked. How did this dare turn into an impossible choice?

“Wanna shake on it?” Melinda asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yep.” Our palms connected, and tingles jumped from hers to mine. Shivers lined my spine at the contact. I yanked my hand away before she could tell I was affected or my dick, now hard as a steel pole, embarrassed me. “Ready to be crushed?”

Melinda tapped my arm. “Prepare yourself to lose, Pierce. I know you’re not used to it, but this is my pool, my sport, and my winning stroke.”

Later, we sat at The White Lotus, eating lemongrass chicken and sautéed vegetables with jasmine rice. Melinda had not only annihilated my ass when we competed earlier, but she did by at least eight seconds—which was enormous in swimming time. For the first two laps, I had the advantage, but soon my lack of technique cost me the victory when she passed me like I was swimming backward and she was riding a jet ski.

In all fairness, she deserved the win. And I couldn’t be prouder to have my girl making me bite the dust. My girl. It was a dangerous thought—a recurring one—that I had more and more difficulty chasing away when I thought about Melinda Shepard.

After our little competition, we spent an hour in the weight room at her request. It was part of my I’ll help you get back in shape promise. We ended up doing a push-up competition, which I dominated, and a handstand competition, which she won without blinking.

“You know what?” I asked after I polished off my food like I’d been starving for days. Melinda barely touched hers, playing around with her rice, grumbling about a stomachache which brought back Nurse Pierce, who inquired about her well-being and made sure it was nothing he should worry about or the result of too much exercise. “I still would have accompanied you to Winter Formal even if I had won.”

“You would have?”

“Yes.”

She watched me, her elbows propped up on the table, a soft expression pasted on her face. “It’s funny because if you wanna face your fears and do a horror movie marathon, I’m your girl. I’m not easily spooked by rotten zombies, bloodthirsty vampires, or chainsaw-wielding sociopaths.” My girl. Again, those two words. Heat swirled through me. Could she tell I’d combust soon or kiss the shit out of her if she didn’t stop staring at me like this? Like I was hers.

I discarded my napkin, crossing my arms. “You think you won’t get scared?”

She forked a tiny piece of chicken into her mouth. “I know I won’t. I may not look the part, but I pack some courage underneath my skin.”

“We should do some sort of trial. See if you can eat your popcorn and not scream when you can’t take it anymore because blood has splattered everywhere the moment the bad guy catches his victims.”

Melinda studied me for a second. “You think I will run and hide?”

I shrugged. “No idea. There’s just one way to find out.”

“Oh geez, you serious?”

“Mel, I never do anything half-assed.”

“But I won the bet. I need something in exchange if we do this.”

“Oh, I love a girl who holds up her own and knows how to bargain.” I paused, reflecting on it for a minute. “If you watch the movie with me, I’ll do any dare you throw at me. I’m a team player, and I lost, so it would only be fair that you get to decide my fate.”

Melinda’s face flushed, and she shook her head, a hand cupping her mouth, laughing. “Are you always so dramatic?”

“Can’t help it. It’s part of my charm. But I lost, so I’m all yours.” And not just for a few hours. For as long as you’ll have me. Can you put me out of my misery now and kiss me?

“We can brainstorm something together.”

“Nope. A bet is a bet. I’ll survive anything you put me through.” I stood and offered my hand for her to grab. “Let’s go. We have a movie to watch.”

She slipped her palm into mine, and nothing had ever felt so right. “Then surprise me, Mase.”

On Monday morning, Melinda rode with me to school. It took a bit of convincing over the weekend, but she finally agreed. Turned out she didn’t lie when she said she could watch horror movies without blinking. She proved I was the most coward of the two of us.

We ambled down the hallways together after she grabbed the books from her locker. “I’ll walk you to your homeroom,” I said.

“Mase, I can do this.”