He wasn’t talking now.Thorn was.Oliver had shifted closer to Ender.Basil was looking toward the entrance like he’d gotten distracted by something else.
Jude’s eyes were hidden from this distance, but his head was angled enough that I had no trouble believing he was looking right in our direction.
I looked away first, like I always did.
Annoyance flared low in my chest, more at myself than anything else.
This was exactly what I didn’t want.
I was supposed to be moving forward and having fun.
And instead, my attention kept snagging on the same man it had been snagging on for years.
“Earth to Ever,” Lark said.
“Hm?”
“You’re up.”
Right.
I stepped into position and held the ball in both hands, staring at the red-painted garbage cans like they’d personally insulted me.
“Do not miss,” Alice said.
“Encouraging,” I muttered.
“Just trying to motivate you.”
Lark leaned closer.“If you sink this, I’ll buy your next drink.”
“I thought Wren got this round.”
“She is, but then I’ll buy the one after.”
I narrowed my eyes at the setup and threw.
The kickball smacked the edge of the front can, bounced up in a ridiculous, hanging moment that made everybody suck in a breath at once, and then dropped in.
“Oh!”Wren shouted.
“Yes!”Lark yelled, grabbing my shoulders.
I laughed, surprised enough by it that the sound came out bigger than I meant it to.
Alice groaned.“That was luck.”
“That was skill,” I said.
“That was a fluke.”
“That sounds like loser talk,” Lark chimed in.
Alice held out both hands.“Rematch rules.We’re doing rematch rules.”
“There are no rematch rules,” Wren said.“That’s not a thing.”
“It should be.”
