Page 201 of Faking the Goal

"Because it slipped."

"Yeah, from your hand. That's generally where darts come from."

I chuckle into my beer.

Cody follows my gaze and shakes his head. "I think we're gonna have to cut Luke off soon."

"Taylor too," Liam says.

"No," I say. "She's having fun."

As if to prove my point, Taylor starts laughing when Luke attempts another throw and somehow sends the dart into the outer edge of the board.

"At least I hit it!"

"Barely!"

"It counts."

Their argument continues while Cody turns back toward me. "Anyway, Hopper wants us tightening up the defensive zone before Friday. We gave up way too many second chances in practice today."

"I know." I set my beer down. "Guys are collapsing too low. It's leaving too much space up top."

"Exactly," Liam says. "If we do that Friday, their point guys are gonna eat us alive."

"They like shooting through traffic too," Cody adds. "So we need to clear the front faster and stop letting guys camp out in your crease."

I nod, but another burst of laughter from across the room pulls my attention back toward Taylor.

She's standing with one hand braced against Luke's shoulder while she laughs, apparently needing him to keep herself upright. Luke isn't doing much better, swaying slightly while insisting that she cheated somehow.

"You threw the dart!" Taylor says.

"You distracted me."

"I was standing behind you!"

"Exactly."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

I smile before taking another sip of my beer.

"Kent."

I look back at Cody. "What?"

He stares at me for a second. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Yeah. Clear the crease."

Liam snorts. "He heard one sentence."

"I heard all of it."

"Sure you did."

I ignore him and glance back toward Taylor just in time to see her retrieve the darts and nearly walk straight into the corner of the table. She catches herself, looks around to see if anyone noticed, and finds me already watching her.