The Pass (Smart Jocks #5) - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,36
Tanner informs me there’s a stash of liquor inside that we apparently walked by while I was too busy scoping out the house. He pours foamy beer into cups for each of us.
“Shaw! Shaw!” The feminine voice invades our bubble and I turn to see a tall, blonde girl in denim cut-offs and a white bikini top jogging toward us. Her cheeks are flushed and her large, blue eyes wide with excitement when she reaches us. “Hey, you made it.” Her friendly smile pulls higher when her gaze slides to me. “Hey there!”
“Willow, this is Sydney.” Tanner inches closer to me. “Willow goes to college with Jonah.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say.
“Same.” She grabs a hold of Tanner’s wrist. “We need you for badminton.”
“Badminton?” I ask quietly as she pulls him behind her. I follow them to the opposite side of the yard where, sure enough, a badminton game is going on.
Willow jogs off to one side and picks up a racket on the ground. “We’ve got Shaw.”
“Teams will be uneven,” someone calls.
“It’s fine. I’m good.” Tanner holds up a hand and stays on the sideline beside me.
Irrational jealousy and a competitive spirit that often gets me in over my head (see kissing my best friend) makes me speak up. “Not if I play on the other team.”
Tanner chuckles, which just makes me more determined.
“Afraid I’ll show you up?” I bat my lashes. “How about a little wager?”
Rackets are thrust in our hands and I spin it around getting a feel for it. Have I ever played badminton before? Not that I can remember. But determination and athleticism I have, so how hard could it be?
“A wager, huh? All right. Let’s hear it.” Tanner’s amusement is clear on his face.
“If I win—”
“Your team, you mean? If your team wins.”
“Yeah, yeah. If my team wins, then this counts as a date.”
“You’re that eager to get me naked, huh?” he asks with a cocky smirk and then straightens. “Fuck, you wanting me so bad is hot.”
“Yes, and your disinterest is a real lady boner killer.” I take off my heels. The grass under my toes is cool.
Using the racket in his hand, Tanner tips my chin up and closes the step between us. “If your team wins, then we count this as a date, but if my team wins, you let me take you out on a real date tomorrow night after Datson leaves.”
“You’re wagering with something I’d say yes to anyway. Why?”
“It’s what I want. Besides, beating you is victory enough for me.” He winks and walks away toward the other side.
It’s four against four. I’m placed in the back with a tall, lanky guy wearing a sweatband around his forehead who introduces himself as Biff. He looks like he’s taking this seriously, so that’s good for my team, I think.
Tanner’s the only guy on the other team. Willow and two of her friends crowd around him like he’s the king of badminton. I’m giving them all the stink eye when Willow takes the birdie back to a point on the ground marked by a cup of beer.
“First team to ten wins. Losing team does a shot for every point they lose by.”
“What if we lose by a lot?” Celia, one of the girls on my team, asks.
Willow says something reassuring, but I focus my thoughts on winning. No, not just winning—total annihilation.
I smile sweetly at Tanner and get in position, or what I hope is badminton position.
Willow serves. It’s low, just barely clearing the net.
“I got it,” Celia calls it and waves her racket in the air. She, in fact, does not have it.
Her friend, Molly, who is also on our team, laughs.
“Shut it. I was close,” Celia fires back, laughing at herself. “Let’s see you do better.”
No problem. Down by one. We got this.
Willow serves again with a similar result, though this time Celia doesn’t call out, she still goes for it and puts the birdie in the net.
“Sorry,” she chirps with a nervous giggle. “Sports are so not my thing.”
“We could switch places if you want,” I offer.
For the love of shuttlecock, say yes. I do not want to have to mow her down to take a swipe at the next serve.
“Oh, uh, sure.” She’s hesitant, but at her words, I step forward with a big smile and take her spot.
“Are you guys ready?” Willow asks, a note of pity in her voice that makes me grit my teeth.