Chapter 23: Chapter 23

AVERY

We step into an arcade just off the pier, a cacophony of game sounds and music welcoming us.

Olive looks around in awe. “I didn’t even know this place existed,” she says. “How’d you find it?”

Josh grins, leading us toward two dance-inspired games.

“This magic thing called Google,” he quips.

Olive sticks her tongue out at him as he steps onto the first machine, throwing his arms out in challenge.

“Now, who wants to take me on? Avery? Ready to get schooled by big bro?”

I can’t help but laugh. I was a pro at this game back in high school.

“You’re on, big bro,” I declare, hopping onto the second machine. “But I’m choosing the song.”

I navigate through the list, finally settling on my favorite. Josh grins, positioning himself on his pad. I mimic him, a competitive glint in my eyes.

Reed leans against my machine, a big grin on his face. “A Morris showdown. Haven’t seen one of these in ages.”

I shoot him a confident smile. “You haven’t seen Josh lose in ages either, but you’re about to.”

The music starts, and I’m immediately in the zone, my feet moving in sync with the beat. I laugh as Josh stumbles, missing the entire intro.

“Come on, big bro! Keep up!” I shout.

Reed cheers me on, his hands slapping the bar in excitement. “You got him, Avery!”

Josh shakes his head, trying to focus. “There’s still plenty of song left.”

Olive chimes in. “Yeah, plenty of song for my girl to smoke you in.”

I laugh harder, feeling confident. I don’t even need to concentrate on the screen like Josh does. My body remembers every step, moving instinctively and perfectly in tune with the game.

A small crowd starts to gather around us. The song speeds up, and Josh and I are jumping and twisting, our feet hitting arrow after arrow.

“Nice moves, little sis,” he compliments after a spin.

“You too, big brother,” I reply.

We’re in sync now, moving in the same rhythm. The song finally slows down, and when the last arrow scrolls past, ~WINNER~ flashes in big letters across my screen.

I curtsy dramatically, rubbing it in just a bit.

Reed laughs, patting Josh’s shoulder. “Next time, man,” he says.

Olive hops up to take my place. “I’ve got next.”

“I need a drink,” Josh says, fanning himself.

“I’ll get us a couple of pitchers,” Reed offers.

“I’ll go with you,” I say, jumping down off the platform.

As we walk away, the music starts up again. Olive teases Josh as they step and twirl through another song.

Reed turns to me, winking. “See, I knew you had some moves.”

I laugh. “Yeah, I have dance moves. Not picking-up-guys moves.”

“They go hand in hand,” he shrugs, ordering our drinks.

We’re leaning against the counter waiting when Reed says something that catches me off guard.

“By the way, did you know that you talk in your sleep? It’s cute.”

Our drinks arrive before I can ask what I said.

~He’d tell me if it was something embarrassing, right?~

I stare after him as he hurries back to the group, a mischievous smile on his face.

~No. He’d tease me about it. A lot.~

We arrive back just as Olive and Josh are finishing up their song. Reed points at me, laughing.

“Josh, you should have heard the trash talk coming out of this one.”

“What? I did not trash talk,” I protest.

Olive smirks. “Atta girl, Avery.”

“Drink up, Reed,” I challenge, raising my cup in a mock toast. “I’m taking you to school next.”

Olive bursts out laughing, nearly spitting out her drink. Josh looks surprised at my surge of confidence.

“You’re on, little Morris,” Reed accepts. “What song?”

We step back onto the dance machines.

“I’ll give you a chance here. I’ll let you pick,” I say, flashing a flirty smile.

When I hear the opening beat of my second-favorite song, I can’t help but shake my head.

“Oh, Reed. I’m so sorry for what I’m about to do to you,” I giggle.

As the arrows flash, I tap my foot in time, hitting each note with precision. Reed seems to be doing the same, effortlessly matching my rhythm, even allowing a smug grin to play on his lips. He hasn’t missed one yet.

~Damn. This might be tougher than I anticipated. I wonder if he’s played this game before. He seems pretty good. And he doesn’t seem nervous in the slightest.~

As the song continues, we’re evenly matched, moving in sync, bending and twisting to hit multiple arrows simultaneously. The crowd around us has grown, their cheers and applause fueling our dance-off.

“Keep it up, man! You’ve almost got her,” Josh cheers to Reed.

“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” I protest, hopping to hit the top and bottom arrows.

“Feeling the burn, Avery?” Reed taunts.

“Not even close,” I retort, stomping an arrow a bit too forcefully which causes me to miss my next step by a fraction of a second and mess up my score.

Reed pumps his fist in the air as he overtakes me.

“I think I’ll have you give Champ a bath when I win,” he teases.

“You can come up with something better than that,” I reply, giving him a flirty wink.

He misses a step and curses. I laugh and shake my head as we near the end of the song, the arrows moving slower now. Finally, the last arrow scrolls past.

“Dammit!” Reed shouts when ~WINNER~ flashes on my side of the screen. “How’d you catch up?”

“I’m just that good,” I sigh, hopping down.

Reed laughs and gestures toward an empty table. “Let’s get some food.” He taps on the small monitor attached. “Two pepperoni pizzas in about twenty minutes.”

“Perfect. Let’s go shoot some hoops,” Josh suggests, taking off toward a flashing basketball game.

Reed grins and races after him. The guys aren’t even out of earshot before Olive is…well, Olive.

“You and Reed seem awfully close,” she whispers.

I glance at Madison, unsure of what to say. Madison chuckles and sips her drink.

~Will she tell Josh?~

Thankfully, she doesn’t leave me hanging. With a warm smile, she touches my arm and reassures me.

“Avery, you can talk about whatever you want. I won’t repeat anything I hear to Josh. Your brother doesn’t need to know everything.”

“Th-there’s nothing going on between me and Reed,” I respond, trying to sound casual, but I end up tripping over my words.

“Whatever is or isn’t happening, it’s safe with me,” Madison assures me. “But for the record, I think you two are good together.”

The guys return just as our pizzas arrive.

“Rematch after food,” Reed says to Josh as he takes the seat next to me. He grabs a slice of pizza and turns my way. “Did you girls have girl talk while we were away?”

My cheeks heat up. “First rule of girl talk: You don’t talk about girl talk.”

***

After we finish eating, Reed challenges me to a game of air hockey. Olive, Josh, and Madison wander off to find something else to play.

“This isn’t fair. I’ve never played before,” I grumble.

Reed moves to the other side of the table. “I’ll go easy on you.”

I roll my eyes. “How hard can it be?”

Not hard at all, apparently. I manage to win in under five minutes.

“Oops,” I say playfully.

Reed laughs and resets the score, removing the puck from the center of the table.

“I feel like we should make a bet here, yeah?”

“What kind of bet?” I lean over, resting my palms on the rink.

“Whatever you want,” he shrugs, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Think about it. I’ll catch you outside when we leave…if you beat me. Which you won’t.” He winks.

“Yeah, yeah. Just drop the puck, Everett.”

There’s a sharp ~thwack~ when my paddle connects with the disc, sending it hurtling toward Reed’s goal. A grin spreads across my face as it flies in with a gratifying ~clunk~.

“Lucky shot,” he declares, retrieving the puck and placing it back down.

He tries to fake which direction he’s going to shoot in, but his strategy backfires spectacularly and the disc flies into his own goal.

“That doesn’t count!”

“Oh, it counts,” I retort, chuckling as he bends to get the puck again.

Despite his best efforts, I manage to win again.

“Damn, Avery. You’re on fire tonight,” he admits, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re practically invincible.”

I shoot him a playful wink. “Don’t you forget it.”

***

A few hours later, we finally decide to call it a night. True to his word, Reed catches me outside after Josh and Madison pile into a cab.

“So, you won fair and square. What’s your prize?”

“We’re spending the day at the zoo,” I say. “I’m going to teach you what women are interested in.”

“I don’t need lessons on how to attract women, Avery,” he chuckles, the deep and throaty sound resonating to my core.

“I didn’t say anything about attraction, Reed. I said interests,” I reply, shifting on my feet and hoping he doesn’t see how much the sound of his voice affects me. “Knowing what women are interested in is how you keep them past the one-night stand.”

His eyes twinkle with mischief as he flashes me a roguish grin. “All right, Morris. You’ve got yourself a date.”