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Lauryn gave me a small shove toward him.
“Sure.” Something tiny fluttered in my stomach. I tried to ignore it. “Five bucks.”
Reed made a disappointed face and crossed his arms, daring me to look at the lines of muscles winding their way up toward his sleeves.
But I didn’t.
Not for long, anyway.
“Slice of pie at Jenny’s Diner?” he asked.
I stuck out my hand. “Done.”
He shook it and broke eye contact for just a moment to stare at our joined hands before pulling his away. “Yeah…done.”
Ben clapped. “Let’s go!”
While we waited for two guys in front of us to finish their shots, Ben pulled Reed to the side and spoke quietly to him, probably some kind of pep-talk strategy thing. Lauryn leaned in and whispered, “So are you starting lefty or righty?”
I smiled. “What do you think?”
She laughed and rubbed her hands together. “I love it when you start lefty.”
By the time it was our turn, the lines for the cup catapult and dunking booths had all but disappeared, making our audience three times larger than it was when we made the bet.
Lieutenant Rose of the Fairfield Fire Department gave me the ball first and flipped her hat around backward. “All right. You know the rules. You’ve got one minute to make as many shots as you can. Don’t cross the line there by your feet, and no funny business.” She shot Reed a hard glare.
He held up his free hand in defense. “That was six years ago!”
“It took me two days to fix that prize wall, Fulton.”
“But I bet you made it twice as sturdy that second time, right?” He smiled, and she finally caved, laughing as she tossed him his ball.
Reed bumped my shoulder. “Good luck, Crowley.”
I smacked his arm and immediately regretted it. Good Lord, he’s all muscle there.
I shook the thought out of my head, quickly changed my shooting stance to favor my left hand and said, “Won’t need it, Fulton.”
The lieutenant started the countdown timer, and five seconds later, a loud buzz rang through the air. Reed and I began to shoot.
He racked up the points, staying two to three ahead of me, laughing the entire time.
“Why are you smiling, Lauryn?” Ben shouted over the noise around us. “Doesn’t look like she’s ‘dominating.’ ”
Lauryn called out, “That’s because I know something you don’t know.”
“What’s that?”
“She is not left-handed!” Lauryn said in a perfect Inigo Montoya voice.
And that’s my cue.
I changed my footing and switched to my right hand. Reed stopped for a second to gawk and then laugh, a big, booming laugh that made me smile from ear to ear.
I made every shot after I switched hands, and he, clearly frazzled by my surprising changeup, missed one too many.
The buzzer sounded, and the crowd cheered.
