Page 50 of After You Returned

She glares at me. “I do not always lose on lane seven.”

I lift an eyebrow. “You don’t?”

“Stop challenging me.”

I chuckle. “But it’s fun.”

“How about another bet?”

My brothers inch closer – they’re addicted to betting – but I motion for them to stay where they are. This is between Blaze and me.

“Name your bet.”

“If I win, you have to singI Believe In A Thing Called Loveover the intercom.”

I groan. “I can’t sing that song.”

She giggles. “I know. I remember you trying to sing it at Mermaid Karaoke. You were booed off the stage.”

Not one of my proudest moments but Kai dared me. I don’t turn down a dare any more than Hazel refuses a challenge.

“You want everyone to boo me.”

She shrugs. “If you’re a loser…”

I narrow my eyes at her. “If you lose, you have to attend one of my surfing classes.”

Hazel is not a fan of surfing. She enjoys watching it, but she hates getting too far out in the ocean where all the ‘vicious animals’ are. She’s never recovered from theJawsmarathon we watched when she was fourteen.

She shivers. “Fine, but if the sharks eat me, I am going to return as a poltergeist and haunt the mermaid out of you.”

“If you can knock on windows or throw objects, you’re totally haunting your brothers.”

She sniffs. “I can haunt youandmy brothers at the same time. I’m a woman. I can multi-task.”

“No shark is going to eat you anyway.”

She smirks. “Because you’re not going to win.”

“Game on, Blaze. Game on.” I place my hand on her lower back to lead her to the lane. She gasps at my touch and I duck my chin to hide my smile. She still wants me, but she’s being cautious. And stubborn. I’m not worried. I can out stubborn Hazel any day of the week.

We join my family at lane seven, and the lights begin to flash.

“The pins aren’t the only things going down tonight,” the DJ declares.

Eli hands out shot glasses filled with moonshine.

“To the bootleggers!” The DJ hollers before the lights go out. Our glow-in-the-dark shots provide the only illumination.

“Masters of the sneaky snips and secret stashes. Thanks for keeping the party alive,” we toast before drinking our shots and the lights blink on again.

Hazel slams her shot glass down on the table. “That was way better than whatever moonshine Miles tried to poison me with the other day.”

I frown. “I wasn’t trying to poison you.”

She blinks. “Oh, it was a lucky side effect?”

“Lucky?” I snort. “I think not. Do you not remember when you got food poisoning junior year and moved into the bathroom for two days?”