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The only problem– when I went to sit down next to him, my butt was met with air where there should've been chair… and I fell flat on my ass.
I gaped up at him in shock, then immediately snapped my mouth shut.
He just regarded me with a proud smirk. “That’s for the water balloons, Kessel. I know it was you. Now we’re even,” he said with a grin.
I felt my jaw angle to the side as I inconspicuously searched for a water bottle on the ground next to me.
He reached a hand down to help me up, but instead, I squirted the water bottle– a bit aggressively– directly in his face.
He sat completely still for a second, just blinking, as the water droplets dripped down his face and clung to his long eyelashes.
“Noteven,” I said. “I win.”
He was so still and silent that I was slightly worried he was actually angry at me… It felt like someone had hit pause, and we were both staring at each other.
Until his laughter finally broke the silence.
His shoulders shook as he full-on belly laughed and covered his eyes.
Something cracked in me at that moment, and I couldn't stop a laugh from bubbling up inside of me as well. And it felt good to laugh with him; to be happy for a small moment together.
He smoothed a hand through his hair. “We’re way too old for this,” he finally said when he calmed down.
I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. “Yeah, maybe.”
He stuck his rough, large hand out to shake mine. “Truce?”
I smiled sadly at his hand. I wasn't sure if there would ever be a truce between us… because wouldn’t that mean that I’d have to forgive him? And I couldn’t. Why would I forgive him when he never asked me to in the first place? So instead, I pushed into a handstand and walked on my hands to lean up against the back cinderblock wall.
“Bet I can still hold it longer than you,” I grunted.
His eyebrows flew up. “Finally, something I can do without my foot. I’ll take that challenge.”
He carefully kicked himself into a sloppy handstand against the wall next to me, then just because of who he is, he started doing push-ups.
“Showoff,” I grunted.
“Eh, not gonna lie, I’m getting pretty dizzy,” he returned.
I craned my neck to look at his face, which was definitely starting to turn red from being upside down. I kicked off against the wall to land on my feet, then grabbed his legs to help him down.
When he was sitting on the floor, he leaned his head against the wall, and smiled with his eyes closed.
“What?” I prodded him.
“I lasted longer than you,” he grinned like the troublemaker he really was.
I shook my head at him. Of course he would say that. “Still dizzy?”
“Eh.” He shrugged and wrinkled his nose. “Can’t wait ‘til I stop feeling so weak. This sucks ass.”
I could understand that. I hated when I had to baby myself because of an injury, and I always chastised myself for not fully enjoying how good it felt to be completely healthy and strong.
Looking at him now, I noticed his face was starting to look a little pale. I pushed myself off the floor and went to my cubby on the sidewall of the workout room to retrieve some candy from my bag.
“Sugar always helps,” I said while ripping open the package and handing him a Reese's cup. “Sorry it’s not a Snickers.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled happily. “You remembered.”
