Cassie froze. "Oh no."
"What?" I whispered. "Do you know it?"
"I think it's... the fifties?" she hissed. "But maybe the forties?"
We looked at Beau. He was staring at the neon sign above the bar, his brow furrowed.
"1948," he said softly.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"I... think so?"
"Think so isn't good enough, Sterling!"
"It's 1948," he said, firmer this time. "I saw a plaque by the door when we walked in. It said 'Est. 1948.'"
I stared at him. "You noticed a plaque while everyone was staring at you?"
"I notice details. Trust me."
I looked at Cassie. She shrugged. "He's the only one with a guess."
I wrote down 1948 and ran it up to Jerry.
Five agonizing minutes later, Jerry tapped the mic. "We have a winner."
He looked directly at our table.
"By exactly one year... the winners are Team Winnie!"
The bar erupted. I screamed, Cassie screamed, and before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed Beau by the front of his shirt and kissed him—hard, fast, and right on the mouth.
It was over in a second. I pulled back, eyes wide, realizing what I’d just done in front of half the town.
Beau stared at me, looking dazed. He touched his lips.
"We won?" he asked, voice rough.
"Yeah," I breathed, my heart hammering a rhythm that had nothing to do with trivia. "We won."
WINNIE
KARAOKE NIGHT
Pawhuska, Oklahoma
22H30
"I thought if I could touch this place or feel it / This brokenness inside me might start healing"
- Miranda Lambert
***
The adrenaline from the win was still buzzing under my skin, warmer than the tequila. We had actually done it. We’d beaten the Hendersons.
Jake and Matt Henderson made their way over to our table through the noise of the bar. For a second, I braced myself for actual beef—Jake didn’t lose well, and neither did I—but he was grinning, shaking his head as he stuck out a hand.
