I tap Grey’s wrist gently, leaning sideways toward him. “Grey, I think Caroline is speaking to you.”
His eyes dart up, leveling on me hatefully. “I hear her. I’m not fucking deaf. And Caroline is aware of my answer by way of my silence. Feel free to remove yourself from my family situation.”
Whoa. What the fuck? Excuse me, Your Majesty.
Giving a raise of my eyebrows as I turn away, I right myself in my seat, feeling the rage rise from my toes. Caroline snatches her small pink bag from the table, giving Grey the look of death before she turns and saunters out of the cafeteria. The table is bathed in uncomfortable silence, partially from Grey and the other from the quiet hate coursing through my body.
I shift my gaze to Liam, who furrows his brows and shakes his head like “just leave it,” but I’m pissed. It’s one thing to fight with everyone else, but Grey doesn’t speak to me like this. He doesn’t exclude me from his life. And he certainly doesn’t call anyone “family” without it being me. I push my tray away and glare at him. Before I can say anything, he steals my chance.
“It’s a sore spot. Don’t make it something it’s not.”
“That’s not enough.”
“What’s enough?”
“Answers. Then an apology.”
Grey grips my chair, turning it roughly toward him. “Well, Cherry, I’ll answer your fucking questions when you start answering mine.” Asshole.
I know exactly what he means. He’s talking about what he asked me at the theater. The question that went unanswered. The one that keeps building momentum at every turn.
When I don’t respond, he shakes his head. “No? That’s what I thought.” He pushes my chair back, looking to the table. “Change of subject. Red Oak.”
The banter starts up obediently by the other guys, volleying shit talk about the opposition. But I’m seething, mainly because I was checkmated. Dick. I take a bite of my apple and try to diminish my anger by listening to the conversation, but it’s not working. My mind keeps mulling over how easily he essentially told me to shut the fuck up.
It’s one thing to ask me to respect his privacy but quite another to verbally spank me. And in front of Caroline, of all people. It was cruel. He’s an arrogant ruler, but I’m not under his thumb.
“Okay. Wait a minute,” I interject, sorting through an idea from something I just heard. “You guys act like you’re so superior. Why is this even a thing with Red Oak?”
Kai leans forward, smiling. “We are superior, but we make this match harder—choosing to race in the old-school wooden boats, not the speedier composite ones we get for the season. We also let the other team pick a member to sit out. It can be any of the positions save our one and two—the captain and co-captain.”
“And the one and two for Hillcrest?”
“Us,” Liam answers, motioning between him Grey.
“And for Red Oak?”
Ethan takes a swig of his Coke, setting it back on the table. “Paul Hearst and this dick named Troy.”
My fingers find my bracelets, the thought beginning to form but not enough to stick yet.
“Got it. So you tie one hand behind your back, so to speak.”
Liam claps his hands together, wagging his eyebrows. “Exactly.”
“And they’ve never beat you?”
Grey’s deep voice comes from beside me. “Never.”
It seems insane to me that Grey and Liam have never lost. But that’s precisely what Grey needs. To be given some humility. To lose something he treasures so he appreciates what he’s been given.
“What makes this year different?”
The thought that was circulating begins to take shape, enough for me to grab hold.
Liam leans in to answer. “They have a bigger powerhouse…or middle of the boat, so they’ll likely take Kai, but even if we take one of their powerhouses, their remaining guys are bigger than ours.”
“Which means you could lose.”
It’s not a question even though they all nod. My teeth find my bottom lip, gnawing, as my eyes drift between all of them.
“But what do you lose?”
I know the answer before they say it.
“Pride,” Grey responds, but I don’t look at him, instead directing my eyes at Kai.
Of everyone at this table, Kai’s the person who will take the bait and run with it. Be prepared to be taken down, Grey. A whole ton of pegs.
“Ouch. It seems to me that you need a motivator. Something you want to win, more than the hatred you’ll feel over losing your pride. You know, up the ante.”
Everyone sits silent. They’re considering what I’m saying. My fingers slowly twist a bottle cap from Liam’s soda on the table when Ethan pipes up. “Money?” But everyone shakes their head.
Kai smiles, looking at Grey. “A car?”
I should push that, then cross my fingers he loses that beautiful machine, but I have an even better idea. A foolproof one.
“Very James Dean of you, but probably not,” I teasingly counter, popping a grape in my mouth and waiting for my moment.
“There’s nothing,” Grey states resolutely. “Nothing that we’d wager over our pride.”
“Nothing?” I question, turning to face him, this time trying to hide my smugness.
“No.”
“What about a kiss?” The muscle in his jaw ticks. “From me?”
I hear Kai say, “Oh shit,” in the background, but it’s the anger in Grey’s dark brown eyes that entertains me. I turn to the table and place my palms on the wooden table.
“We win, I kiss Kai. We lose, I give Paul Hearst a big fat juicy tonguefest.”
“No, no, no, no” is rung out around me, furiously by Kai and Liam, but Grey’s silent.
Cat got your tongue, or are you pissed you won’t have mine? That’ll be two people before you ever got your chance.
His glare is boring a hole right through mine. Grey’s pissed. And I’m satisfied.
“No fucking way,” he growls.
Kai sits back in his seat, pushing his hands against the table to tip his chair back. “Actually, it’s an obvious motivator. No offense, but the girl’s got your number. You might be an evil genius, Blondie, but there’s one hiccup.”
My eyes meet Kai’s, wondering where I could have misstepped. There’s no hiccup.
“Caroline would declare world war three and you just made peace. You’ll have to kiss one of them.”
I didn’t think Kai and Caroline were that serious. Especially since I’m pretty sure I heard that girl Mila talking about how amazing Kai is in bed during Poli Sci. My head swings back and forth between the Liam and Grey, brows drawing in. Shit, fuck. Nope. Not the plan. This is bad. That can’t happen. We agreed.
“I’ll kiss her,” Ethan offers until the guys shoot daggers at him. “Never mind. Terrible idea.”
Pointing my finger at Ethan, I nod my head slowly to agree, but I’m paused when Liam leans in. “No backing out now, Van.”
What?
The doggedness on Liam’s face is too competitive for my comfort. He looks at me, then back to Grey. No. I don’t like this. Shit, I’ve stepped in it, and I need to get us out. But before I can open my mouth to put a halt to this disaster, Liam pushes us over the edge.