“Yep.”
I set my paddle on the bench and take a swig from my water bottle. Calder walks to the corner of the court and retrieves a ball we neglected to pick up.
“Time to pay up.”
He pauses at the gate. “You didn’t earn the sucker.”
A laugh bursts out of me. Seriously? “The tips, Calder. For me and Garrett?”
His jaw tenses. He nods once, then sets the ball in the holder on the back side of the wall, and exits the court. For a moment I wonder if he’s going to admit he doesn’t have any advice and only said that to get me and Sam to show up, but then he says, “He likes competition.”
I chew my lower lip. “Okay. Like?—”
“Garrett wants to win. He’s always more interested if there are high stakes.”
“Mm. Perfect. So I challenge him to a duel? Pistols at dawn?”
A corner of his mouth ticks. “Make him think there’s someone he’s losing to.”
That makes it click, and it seems stupidly obvious. Of course. Men were always more interested in a woman who was desired by other men. “So I pretend to have a boyfriend.”
He grunts. “That could work.” Calder takes off his shoes and shoves them in the bottom compartment of his bag, drops the paddle into a back pocket, and puts on his slip-ons. “You walking out to your car?”
I nod, pulling on my sweatshirt. Guess I’m washing this. I didn’t realize how sweaty I was until I stopped moving and the AC hit me full force.
Calder hangs his bag back on the fence.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you . . . sometime.” I sling my backpack over my shoulder.
“I’ll walk you out.”
“That’s not necessary.”
He peers at the dark windows. “It’s late. I’m going to walk you out.” He starts for the doors, so I don’t bother protesting. I’m tempted to grab a sucker from the bowl as we pass the front desk, but don’t out of principle. Even though Calder fabricated the stupid rule, it’s annoyingly motivating.
We push through the inner doors, and when we exit through the storm doors to the parking lot, I gasp. Rain is coming down in buckets. There’s a small awning over the entrance, so we aren’t immediately soaked through, but the rain seems to be coming from all directions.
I laugh, remembering my car is at the very end of the row. Wasn’t expecting a thunderstorm in early October.
“Do you have an umbrella?” Calder calls over the hissing rain and grumbles of thunder.
“Nope!” I grip my bag strap tighter and gear up to make a run for the back of the parking lot when I see it. Nestled along the sidewalk is the largest puddle I’ve seen in years. My eyes grow wide as saucers.
“What is it?” Calder leans in, peering through the sheeting rain.
I point. “That’s insane!”
“Oh, yeah. Happens every time it rains. The asphalt is graded in the wrong direction.”
I turn to face him, my eyes huge, a goofy grin painting its way across my face. I shouldn’t do this. He already has opinionsabout me, but . . . that also means I have nothing to lose, right? And this puddle isn’t going to last forever. “I’m sorry. I have to.”
nine
I don’t carethat I barely know this guy. This is way too good an opportunity to pass up. And, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to show off a little.
Being around Calder with his judgy looks and obvious disapproval of everything that is me, makes me intent on proving something. On standing up for every person in the world who smiles and dances for no reason. I need to prove that this way of living is better than his. That there is joy to be had in normal moments and people like him are missing it.
I shove my bag back against the doors under the awning. Calder gives me a puzzled look, but I figure at this point, a picture is worth a thousand words. I launch myself out into the rain, jumping with both feet into the massive puddle lake.
