Page 35 of Just One More Thing
TING.
SPLASH.
Wayne claps like it’s a playoff game. “Again! Again!”
She hauls herself back onto the seat, pointing at him. “Zip it, Wanker!”
Wayne beams. “Wheeler, your girl’s got jokes!”
TING.
SPLASH.
“I hate you!” she shouts.
I grin. “I know.”
Wayne cups his hands around his mouth. “Still got it, eleven!”
The crowd laughs. The noise hits something in me that still remembers.
Ryan shakes his head. “Man didn’t even warm up.”
“Mo,” I call, “meet Ryan Knox.”
Ryan lifts a hand. “Hi.”
“Ryan, meet Emory.”
She opens her mouth?—
TING.
SPLASH.
Ryan laughs.
“You couldn’t wait two seconds?” she says when she resurfaces.
“Introductions completed,” I say. “Efficiency matters.”
Fifth throw.
“This one’s for telling everyone I cried duringSteel Magnolias.”
“You did cry!”
TING.
SPLASH.
Half the town has gathered now. Phones out. Someone chanting my name. Someone chanting hers. Hank retrieves the ball every time, head and butt shaking like he’s won MVP.
“You peaked in college!” she snaps.
“Oof,” Ryan murmurs. “Direct hit.”
I clutch my chest dramatically. “That’s a low blow, Mo.”
