He nods.
I’m not sure if anyone else sees the smallest hint of a smirk, or if it’s only because I know the truth.
“Think you can do it?”
The smirk tugs up further, making itself known for everyone to see. “Bet I could do better than Liam.”
“Bullshit,” Liam spits, finally standing back up. “Fifty bucks says you can’t.”
“Do you ever learn?” Hailey asks. “You remember the last twenty you lost to me when it came to Wyatt?”
“You fuckers cheated,” Liam accuses, pointing a finger back and forth between her and me. “You set me up.”
“They spelled it out right in front of you,” Quinn says, patting him on the shoulder. “We were all there.”
Liam eyes us all. “Whatever. There’s no way Brody does this better than me.”
“What constitutes better?” Brody asks.
“Get through the whole thing.”
Brody eyes me. I give a shrug. This is up to him. We’ve practiced this whole orchestrated dance trend. An exercise ball between us while we use it to move around each other in a simple, but complex looking set of moves. I’m certain we can do it, but we were also a few beers in at my place, so doing this sober might be a whole new challenge for him.
He gives me a subtle nod, then looks directly at Liam. “Make it a hundred and we’re on.”
“For a hundred, you need to do it on the first attempt,” Liam counters.
Brody glances at the ball slung under Nate’s arm, gives it a moment of contemplation, then nods. “No problem.”
I can’t tell if he’s nervous or just making an act ofit. It solidifies the fact that I would not want to play this man in poker. He’d bluff his way through a seven-two off suit and come out with the entire pot.
“Hailey, you recording?” I ask, catching the ball that Nate throws me.
“Yes.”
Brody pushes off the wall and comes to stand in front of me. We’re between the station and Hailey, who is closer to the street, with Nate, Quinn, and Liam dropping down onto the bumper of the firetruck to watch. They’re in view of the camera so that it catches their reactions, and I know it’ll be a hit on socials when I post it.
“Ready?”
He nods, and I put the ball between us, the two of us using our chests to keep it in the air. Then, both our arms are up and we’re spinning in opposite directions, the ball staying stationary. Once we’re facing each other again, me holding back laughter, Brody looking like he’s trying not to shit himself, we squat down to the ground at the same time, the ball moving with us. If it weren’t for the ball, we’d look like we were going to kiss each other, and it has me laughing as we stand back up.
Each of us grabs the ball with the opposite hand, step backward from each other, twist the ball around so the back of our hands is holding it, then walk towards each other, back to back, the ball sliding along our shoulder blades and down the opposite arm as we face each other with me in his original place, and him in mine.
“This is where they’re gonna fuck up!” Liam calls out, because this is where he fucked the whole thing up.
While Brody stays upright with his hands up and out to the sides, I kneel, keeping the ball between us by moving my face alongit, then my head. Which in turn makes the ball slide down Brody’s body, over his junk—the spot Liam got squeamish about—and through his legs as I crawl between them, rolling the ball along with me as it moves over the back of my head and down my shoulder blades until I get back to my feet so Brody and I are facing away from each other.
“You’re about to lose a bill, Liam.” Quinn’s glee is tangible throughout as everyone laughs.
With both of our arms in the air, we spin back toward each other and high five with both hands.
I let out a whoop of victory, taking the ball from between us, and I’m half surprised when Brody follows suit with a holler of his own, holding his hand out to Liam.
“Pay up.”
Liam shakes his head. “How the fuck did you, of all people, do that?”
Brody shrugs, taking a few steps towards him. “I paid attention.”