Page 7 of Playing to Win
Chapter 3
Kyle let out a whistle. “Damn, Cur—I mean, Callie. You’ve got some skills. I guess I have my work cut out for me. But remember, I don’t even let my four-year-old nephew win. So I’m not taking it easy on you, even if you are adorable in your baggy pants and freckles.”
“You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Callie asked him, echoing his words from earlier. Her impish smile and red cheeks at his adorable comment made his stomach do some fluttering he contributed to his empty stomach. A girl that was cute, feisty, and could play ball? Definitely one he could take home to his momma. Unfortunately, one that also made it clear she never dated professional athletes. Which was why he had to make sure he won this game. He had to ensure that he had at least five more times with her to change her mind.
“Not bad, not bad,” he said, grabbing the rebound off her made shot and dribbling back to where she shot it. “But are you sure it wasn’t just a lucky shot? I mean, I guess I could take it easy on you if you want a shot at winning.”
Kyle proceeded to shoot it one-handed, the ball finding nothing but the bottom of the net.
“Show-off,” Callie said, heading for the top of the arc again. “Let’s make it two for two, shall we?”
The game continued for way longer than Kyle thought it would. After a while, he glanced at his watch. They had been at it for almost an hour and Kyle was tired. When he said a game of Horse, he figured it would be a shoot ten shots, put her out of her misery, get to spend time with her five more times again. Easy peasy. However, Curly couldn’t miss. It didn’t matter where he shot it. It didn’t matter they were playing with a guy’s ball. She was holding her own. However, they were both down to being H-O-R-S and Callie had just barely missed a shot from the top of the key. It was time to put this one in the books before he collapsed on the floor. “All right, Curly, I like you and all, but I played four quarters before this game and I’m about outta gas. Plus, I bet my cat Garth is out of food and mad as a wet hen. So if I don’t want him coughing up a hairball on my pillow, I better get this over with, collect my winnings, and be on my way.”
“First off, you have to make your shot, and I have to miss said shot before it’s game over, which as you can see, wasn’t as easy as you thought it would be. Secondly, no one but my nana says mad as a wet hen. And lastly, you have a cat? Named Garth? Who names their cat Garth? You’re like an eighty-year-old lady stuck in a twenty-six-year-old’s body.”
“If I were as cool as my eighty-year-old meemaw, I would be one happy guy. And I do,” Kyle said, stepping up to the half court line and letting the ball fly. With a resounding swoosh through the hoop, Kyle continued, “And I named him Garth because Garth Brooks is the best musician in the history of music.”
“Well, you’re definitely in the right state then. Garth was raised in Oklahoma. Or did you know that?”
“Why do you think I agreed to sign with the Thunder?” he said with a grin. Jogging to the goal and retrieving his made shot, he rolled it to half-court where Callie was waiting. She stopped the ball and flicked it with her foot to her waiting hand much like a soccer player would.
“Did you play soccer, too, Curly?”
“Nope. Dad said it was a commie sport. I played softball. And golf. And the name’s Callie. Not Curly.” She let the ball fly. It flew in a perfect arc through the air, honing in on the goal like a missile hones in on its target.
Please miss it. Please miss it, Kyle thought. He didn’t know if he could handle another round.
Callie let the ball fly.Please make it. Please make it, she thought. She would never admit it to Kyle, but she was starting to get tired. With school and dance practice, she hadn’t shot a ball in a good while. Luckily, like her dad said, when you had the shooter’s touch, it was like riding a bike. It didn’t matter how long you were away. Once you were back, it was like second nature. But she really needed to get home and study rather than flirting with Kyle Kelly.
The ball flew through the air in a perfect arc. She just knew it was going in. Instead of a clean swoosh like she thought it would be, however, the ball hit the back of the iron, bounced in the air, hit the front of the rim and bounced up again, before bouncing on the side of the rim and finally bouncing to the ground.
“Damn it!” she yelled, slamming her hands on the ground.
“Yes!” Kyle ran up to her, his arms raised in a sign of victory. ”Come on, Curly! Give me some love!”
“I’m not giving you anything! You beat me!”
“Yeah, but that was the best game of Horse I’ve played in forever! I don’t even think Jenkins has played me that close in a long time. You’re a killer, kid.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not killer enough, apparently.”
“Well, I get the next three days off—from games, anyway. We do have practice, but after practice those three days? I’m collecting on my five dates.”
Callie felt herself blanch. She had to find some way of getting out of this deal she made with Kelly. There was no way she could keep it. She didn’t date professional athletes. She didn’t even want to socialize with professional athletes.
“About that,” she said “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. See, I’m in college and I have a huge test on Friday I have to study for. In fact, I probably won’t get to sleep until then because I’ve put off studying for it, and then had to do this stupid hob-nobbing thing tonight. And I have to go eat at my daddy’s house that evening. So, yeah. You. Me. This hanging out? Not really a good idea. But thanks for asking.”
Callie started to walk off, but much to her chagrin, Kyle grabbed her arm before she could get very far. “Well, now, Curly, seeing as I won the bet, I’m going to hold you to it. Especially since I know you would have held me to whatever evil plot you had for me had you won.”
“Nope. Didn’t have anything.”
“I call B.S. on that,” he said, looking right into Callie’s eyes. Her heart started pounding. All of a sudden, her mouth, usually so quick with snarky comebacks, failed her. She could not think of a single thing to say. All she seemed to be able to do was focus on those beautiful lips. Lips she wanted desperately to kiss her.
What in the hell? Where did that thought come from? Callie forced herself to break away from Kyle, even though his hand on her arm was doing crazy things to her blood pressure. Her fatigue was doing crazy things to her body. She had to get away from Kelly before she did something crazy. Like agree to go along with this five date plan. Five hang out plan. Not dating plan. Because going on any date with Kyle Kelly, much less five, was a recipe for disaster.
Kyle grabbed her hand when she pulled her arm away from him. “I just decided what I want my first two hang outs to be. One, I want to help you study. Two, I want to meet your dad. Simple. Two down. Three to go.”
Callie’s mouth dropped open. She was sure if it were physically possible, her jaw would be lying on the floor. Kyle Kelly wanted to help her study. And meet her dad. It was settled. The universe hated her. It had decided to play a mean trick on her by making Kyle Kelly her pseudo-stalker.
