Page 57 of Playing to Win
“Probably at home eating with their families. I rented the entire place.”
“As in, all of Chuck E. Cheese?”
“Yep. Sometimes I use my fame to my advantage,” he said with a wink. “Now, are you ready to get in the Ticket Blaster and get a chance to win the big ticket worth one thousand points?”
“Ticket Blaster?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a whirlwind of fun!” Kyle led Callie over to a big, clear booth that looked a lot like a phone booth and placed a set of goggles on her head. “All right, Curly. Here you go! The object of the game—grab as many as you can! And you’ve only got one minute!”
The giant mouse pressed a button on the wall of the booth and tickets started shooting out from the ground. There must have been thousands flying around Callie’s head, up her shirt, and getting stuck in her tangle of curls. She looked through the whirlwind of flying tickets to see Kyle pointing like crazy at a bright yellow ticket floating through the booth. That must be the one he mentioned being worth a thousand points. All on its own, Callie’s tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she tried to track down the elusive ticket. All of a sudden, a ten second countdown began. Frantic, Callie managed to grab the ticket just as the clocked chimed that her time was up.
Kyle opened the door just as the final ticket was falling to the ground, picked her up and swung her around in a circle. “You did it, Curly! You got the super ticket, you stud, you!”
Callie couldn’t help but laugh. The look on his face was so adorable. And, she had to admit, this party wasn’t such a failure as the last few. Not yet, anyway.
“So what’s next on the itinerary, Dimples?” Callie asked, her lips inches from Kyle’s.
“Oh, that’s a question for moi, not your little friend here, even if he is a famous basketball player. But this is my show and I make the rules.” Giant mouse pulled Callie out of Kyle’s arms and placed an aired-up plastic tiara on her head and an aired-up plastic guitar in her hands. “Now, we rock!”
Callie looked at Kyle in stunned silence as Chuck E. Cheese birthday-themed rock music began blaring out of the loudspeakers. Gigantor mouse grabbed a guitar of his own and a mic stand and started lip-syncing his mousy heart out. With a shrug, Callie grabbed her guitar, ran over to the microphone and started jamming with Mr. Cheese. She looked over to see Kyle grinning from ear to ear. With a laugh, she ran over and handed off her guitar to him and he jumped up on the table and started jamming.
Callie ran over to where her dad and friends were standing. Aria sported a smug smile, her dad was beaming, and Cassie had a cat that ate the canary look on her face.
“One word,” Aria said. “Told ya.”
“That’s two words, Aria.”
“Whatever. You’re having fun and you know it.”
“Fine. Fine. I’m having a little fun.”
Cassie squealed and hopped up and down. “I’m so happy for you, Cal! He is so amazing! And beautiful, too!”
“Whoa, whoa. Calm down before you hurt yourself jumping in those heels.” As usual, Cassie and Aria had gone all out with the dress code. Heeled, knee-high boots over leggings, sexy, off-the-shoulder sweaters. Her friends looked amazing.
Callie looked down at herself. Yep, same as always. A pair of skinny jeans, Converse sneakers, and a t-shirt from a beach hut restaurant they had visited last summer at Orange Beach in Alabama. Sometimes she wondered how she became such great friends with the two most sophisticated girls she’d ever known.
“Don’t worry that they look so fancy. I like this look on you, Curly,” Kyle said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arm around her middle.
“What? Plain?”
“Sexy,” he said, kissing her earlobe, sending shivers down her spine. Wowzers.
“Is it hot in here?” she asked, breaking away from him before she did something stupid, like pull him on top of the table and kiss him senseless in front of her friends and family.
Kyle looked at her, a mischievous look on his face, like he knew the exact thoughts that were running through her head. “What do you say we go play some games, Curly? Sound like fun? Bet I can beat you at skeeball.”
“You’ve beaten me at basketball once. There’s no way you’re beating me at skeeball, Mister.”
Kyle loved seeingCallie like this. Uninhibited, unworried. Just having fun. Not stressing about anything. He knew she would never admit it, but he was good for her.
“You’re on, Curly. Just remember, I don’t take it easy on anyone, not even my—”
“I remember, Dimples. Not even your four-year-old nephew. Good thing my dad let me come to Chuck E. Cheese when I was a kid. A lot. And skeeball was my favorite game.”
Callie ran over to the wall that housed the skeeball ramps and put her tokens in the slot. “Ready to get beat, stud?”
“You’re on.”
