“If I wanted Shay, I’d have her,” I stated nonchalantly. The douchebag was making my alpha douchebag side come out.
Greyson snickered under his breath but didn’t add to the conversation. He had a way of staying out of drama of any kind. He had enough shit going on at home, and I understood him not wanting to be involved in anything that wasn’t basketball.
“That’s wild that you think that, because the way Tracey made it sound, Shay would never give you the time of day,” Reggie pushed. I swore he was really trying to get under my skin.
“I could without question. I could even get her to fall in love with me if I wanted to,” I declared, and it sounded a lot more asshole-like than I wanted it to, but there I was, sounding like a jerk because I couldn’t stand Reggie challenging me.
“Uh, hey, you guys...” Greyson tried to cut in, but I wasn’t interested in being interrupted. This guy really thought he could come into my town, into my house, intomybedroom, and sit onmyItalian sheets, and tell me what I was and wasn’t capable of doing.
“OK, so let’s get a nice, friendly bet going,” Reggie said, standing taller. “I bet you can’t get Shay to fall in love with you.”
“You guys,” Greyson said, clearing his throat. We ignored him some more.
“Bet,” I said, holding my hand out to him.
We shook hands.
“Really, boys, if you want to bet on me falling in love with someone, maybe you should include me in the bet,” Shay said, snapping my stare away from Reggie and to the doorway. Her arms were crossed, and she was sporting her normal level of sass. Her left hip was popped out, and she had an annoyed smirk on her lips.
“Geez, guys, a little warning wouldn’t have hurt,” I barked at my friends.
Greyson tossed his hands up in the air. “Whatever, I quit.”
“It was nothing,” I argued to Shay, shrugging it all off. “Just stupid guy talk.”
“Oh, please, don’t go limp so quickly because you got caught, Satan. If you think you could make me fall in love with you, then by all means, do it—but do understand that I want to play now, too.”
“Play? What do you mean?” Reggie asked.
“I mean exactly that. I bet I can make Landon fall in love with me first.”
Everyone cracked up laughing because they knew how ridiculous the concept of me falling in love was. I didn’t love. I hardly liked.
The idea that I’d fall in love with my biggest annoyance was beyond absurd.
“Listen, again, it was just stupid guy talk. Drop it, Chick,” I said.
“What’s the matter, Satan?” she asked, walking up to me, standing nose to nose. “You afraid you might catch feelings for someone you hate?”
That was one thing about Shay that I couldn’t argue with—she had bark to her. I would have bet behind the bark was a nice bite, too.
“Never, but I’m not going to waste my time focusing my energy on you.”
“Well, who’s the chicken now? Cluck, cluck, cluck.” She smirked as the guys all snickered under their breaths.
Traitors.
“You really want to play with this fire, Shay?”
“I’d love to see you try to burn me,” she replied, still smiling. I’d be lying if I said her alpha side wasn’t a tad bit attractive.
Hank rubbed his hands together. “Now that’s a challenge I can get behind. Two sworn enemies in a battle of love, and the winner—”
“Has bragging rights for the rest of our lives.” Shay kept her brown eyes locked with mine, not backing down. I wasn’t going to back down either.
“What if no one falls in love?” Hank asked.
“Then at the end of this year, the bet is off. We have until Christmas to make it happen,” Shay explained.