The Bet (The Bet 1)

“Travis Titus!”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, feeling ancient and immature all at once. “It’s not a big deal, she means nothing to me, you know that. We’re just having fun.”

A dish dropped behind him. He whipped around to see Kacey standing in the kitchen. “Sorry.” Her smile was forced as she kneeled down and picked up the dropped dish. “I don’t know what happened. It just slipped. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything. I found this dish in the living room and wanted to make sure it got washed with the rest of them.” Kacey only rambled when she was really angry or nervous.

Bets quickly helped her clean up the mess. “You’re still planning on playing the game later, right?”

“Of course. “Kacey smiled sweetly then glared at Travis. “I have a partner to carry, after all.”

Angry. She was definitely angry.

Chapter Twenty-one

By the time everyone had gathered into the living room, Kacey was fuming.

She took a seat at the large card table and sighed. Travis was an idiot, so she refused to look at him. And Jake was staring at his reflection in his spoon. Seriously?

Things had changed between Travis and her, or so she thought.

But her world had shifted tremendously all within the span of five minutes. She had been cleaning up the living room area, literally picking up after Jake’s snacking session, when she’d heard Travis and his mom talking in hushed tones.

Not thinking anything of it, she’d walked in the room, and then had heard the topic of the conversation. It was her.

And Travis was denying having any sort of affection for her at all. If anything he’d basically told his mother that he hated Kacey.

She means nothing to me. Why had that simple sentence made her heart clench? It wasn’t as if she liked Travis.

She gulped.

It was a minor attraction, an inconvenient little pain in her heart. Maybe it was just because he was giving her attention and he was gorgeous. Either way, it was ending. Now.

And she knew exactly how to get revenge.

Rubbing her hands together, she smirked.

“I know that look,” Jake said, sitting across from her. “And I’m man enough to admit that I’m a little afraid right now.”

“Please,” Kacey snorted. “When have I ever done anything remotely cruel to you?”

“You mean other than breaking my heart in the ninth grade when

I saw you kissing Tom Williams behind the gym?”

The others at the table ignored them, all but Travis, who was now shifting restlessly by her side.

“I didn’t even like him. I was merely experimenting,” Kacey argued. “Besides, we all know who the best kisser I’ve ever had is.”

Travis cleared his throat.

“Oh yeah, and who is that?” Jake leaned forward.

“I’m not telling.” She bit her lip as she examined each game piece trying to decide what she wanted to be.

“I bet I know.” Jake folded his hands behind his head. “I mean other than myself.” He winked. “Was it John Davis?”

“John Davis?” Kacey wrinkled her nose. “No, not John.”

“Kevin Tate?”