Game On (12 page)

Cleo and Renee scooched over so close they were nearly sitting on Maya's and Travis's laps. Maya shot them a look.

“I don't mean to be Maya the moron but … isn't meeting the parents after one date kind of …?” She searched for the right word.

“Insane? That's just my dad,” Travis said. “You can say no.”

“No,” Maya said. “I mean, no to saying no. I'd love to hang out again.”

Travis beamed. “Cool. I'll text you where and when. See you tonight.” He took off.

Maya stood there smiling. Until he was a safe distance away, anyway. Then she turned back to Cleo and Renee with her eyes bugging out of her head.

“You would not believe what he just asked me—” Maya started to say.

“Yeah, yeah, we heard the whole thing,” Renee said.

Cleo shook her head. “I'm sorry I ever doubted you. Meeting the parents!”

“Parent,” Maya corrected, in a daze. “Mom's traveling around Europe.”

“She's already calling her Mom,” Renee said.

“That's not what I meant,” Maya said. “This is weird. This is weird, right? This is weird.” Maya thought of her meetings with Nails in the past.

“Relax,” Cleo said. “It's just dinner. So what if blowing it with Nails means you'll never go on another date with his son ever again?”

“Stop that!” Maya said.

“I'm sorry, bad joke,” Cleo said, smiling.

It was a bad joke. But for the rest of the afternoon, it haunted Maya. Because there was truth in it. As far as Travis was concerned, the sun rose and set on his father. If she didn't pass Nails's test, it would definitely affect the way Travis felt about her. It had to. Maya couldn't help but think that this was over before it began.

As she got ready for dinner (7 p.m. sharp!), Maya prepared herself. She looked amazing, she'd rehearsed several speeches about how important respecting the rules of the Academy was, and she'd Listerined. She would be ready for anything tonight.

Except, that is, the location of the dinner.

The off-campus address Travis had texted her was no restaurant. It was Nails Reed's home. Correction, Nails Reed's megamansion.

It took Maya a solid five minutes to make her way from the gate to the front door. And though she'd already announced her presence to security so they'd open the gate, she still contemplated running away the minute she rang the bell.

Before she could act on that all-so-familiar impulse to run, the door opened and she was greeted by a sturdy housekeeper.

“Come in,” the woman said, ushering her inside. “They're waiting for you in the study.”

Was she late? She tried to find a clock, to no avail. Apparently rich people didn't need to know the time.

The housekeeper escorted her through the house en route to the study. Maya felt like she was in line for an amusement-park ride and wondered if there was a Fastpass. Or at least a handy foldout map.

They arrived in the study, where Travis and Nails stood hunched over a desk.

“Hi,” Maya said as she stood at the entryway, needing to clear her throat before she was able to get the whole word out.

“Hey,” Travis said, lighting up. “Dad, you remember Maya.”

“Of course,” Nails said. “The sliding and entering girl.”

Oh God, Maya thought. Really? The second she got there?

Nails studied her. “You look a little different since you were in my office.”

“Actually, you never brought me in,” Maya said. “You sat me outside.”

“Well, I was afraid you'd steal something else of mine,” he said.

Everything Maya dreaded would happen throughout the course of the evening was apparently all happening within the first thirty seconds of her arrival.

“I'm kidding,” Nails said. “Come in, make yourself comfortable.”

As if that were even possible.

“My dad was just teaching me some plays,” Travis said. He stepped back from the desk, revealing dozens of Post-its marked with Xs and Os.

“Do you know anything about football, Maya?” Nails asked.

Crap! Maya prepared for every question under the sun but that one. The only Xs and Os Maya used were in texts with Cleo, and even those were sarcastic.

“Oh, well,” she said, “my dad's a big fan.” It wasn't an answer, but she'd hoped it would be enough for Nails.

“Who's your favorite player?” Nails asked.

“You?” Everyone was silent. Until Nails laughed.

“She's got good taste,” Nails told his son. Maya exhaled. And then she beamed when she saw Travis look at her with even more appreciative eyes. All this time she had been trying to impress Travis. Clearly it was Nails she should've been trying to win over.

“I hope you brought your appetite,” Nails said. “Pretty sure Butler slaughtered a pig for us.” Butler was the chef, which made no sense to Maya. But like her father always said, poor people were crazy, but rich people were eccentric. So it was okay.

Nails led them to the dining room. Between the crystal, the flowers, and the silverware, it looked like the table was made up for royalty. How was eating here even comfortable?

Travis helped Maya to her seat as the first course was brought out like clockwork. The dish was some weird scallop thing Maya again couldn't pronounce. One for her, one for Travis, and one for Nails. Two more were placed on the table.

“Are we waiting for someone?” Maya asked.

“Always,” Travis replied.

Just then, he made his way in. It was Jake, with a stripper.
Of course, his date was too young to be a stripper, but it was clearly her ambition to look like one. Teased hair, short skirt, more makeup than a rodeo clown.

Maya braced herself.

“Did I miss the snooty appetizer?” Jake asked. His date laughed. At least Maya thought it was a laugh. It could've been one of those high-pitched sneezes that went on for too long. “This is Mandy.”

“Mindy,” she corrected. But she didn't seem to mind.

Jake spotted Maya. “I remember you.”

Maya forced a smile but said nothing. The less interaction she had with him, the better.

Jake and his date sat. Maya was bugged that he was crashing their evening, but having Mindy there was another story. There was no way Maya could do anything but dazzle with this chick sitting at the table with them.

“Why weren't you at practice this morning?” Travis asked.

Nails looked at Jake sharply. “You skipped practice?”

“Food poisoning,” Jake said.

“Or alcohol, right?” Mindy laughed again (yeah, definitely a laugh).

“Mandy's joking,” Jake said.

“Mindy,” she corrected. She still didn't mind.

Mindy/Mandy had gone from useful to downright entertaining.

“How did you two meet?” Maya asked Jake, trying to keep a straight face. The entertainment value in needling Jake outweighed her desire to stay quiet. It also had the added benefit of showing Nails whose side she was on.

“We'd much rather hear how your date went last night,” Jake replied. “I hear Travis took you to a parking lot.”

“A drive-in movie, actually,” Maya shot back, trying to maintain her ladylike demeanor in front of her host. “You know, those things that don't exist anymore. Travis made it exist.”

“He's good at making something out of nothing.” Jake smiled.

Maya wondered how much damage her fork would do if she jammed it into Jake's hand.

“It's called effort,” Nails said to Jake pointedly. “You'd be amazed what a little of that can get you.” He turned to Maya. “One of my sons inherited my work ethic. The other … I don't know what he inherited of mine, frankly.” He looked to Travis, his facial expression becoming much kinder. “What movie did you watch?”

“It was a dance movie,” Travis said. “It comes out next month.”

“Are you a fan of dance?” Nails asked Maya.

“Yeah,” Maya said. “But I couldn't do any of those moves to save my life. It was all this salsa and samba, and … bolero …?” Maya asked Travis.

“Bolero,” Travis confirmed.

“It was like their hips were on hinges or something,” Maya continued. “I've always wanted to be that girl, you know? She walks in and just—bam—with the hips.” Maya did a little wiggle in her seat. And then she felt everyone's eyes on her. Including Jake, who had a dumb grin on his face.

“But, you know …,” Maya said sheepishly. “That's not
me.” She prayed for Mindy to do something horrifying to steal the spotlight.

“Dinner was great, Mr. Nails,” Mindy said. “I'm stuffed.”

Oh, thank you, Maya thought. She really should have Mindy on payroll.

Nails just looked at Jake. He didn't have to say anything to show what a complete and total idiot he thought this girl was. To make the point further, he shifted his entire focus to Maya.

“What do your parents do for a living, Maya?” Nails asked.

“Oh,” Maya blurted. “Um, my dad's a … small-business owner.” The last thing Maya wanted to talk about while sitting in this million-dollar banquet room was her used-pickup-truck-driving family.

“What kind of business?” Jake asked.

Maya shot him a look. “Landscape architecture.” It sounded a lot better than saying he mowed people's lawns for cash.

“What about your mom?” Jake asked. He wouldn't leave her alone.

“She's a domestic engineer,” Maya said.

“A housewife,” Jake clarified.

“Our mom's a housewife,” Travis said to Jake.

“Our mom's a professional tourist,” Jake shot back.

Their mother wasn't just a sore spot for Travis, she was a sore spot for both of them. But Maya couldn't figure out exactly what was being said there. She did know that when Butler the chef brought the main course, his timing couldn't have been any better. The tension was so thick it could've been cut with the giant steak knives that were placed by their sides.

“Pork chops,” Jake said. “My favorite.”

“I thought they were Travis's favorite?” Nails said. They were, Jake was making a point. So was Nails. What cracked-out family drama had Maya walked into?

Dinner continued this way, with Jake acting bratty and Nails putting him in his place. That place was usually located somewhere beneath Travis. Travis's focus, meanwhile, was on Maya and making sure she was comfortably out of the fray.

Dessert was amazing. Maya didn't know what it was called, but it was pear and it was on fire, so it worked for her. It obviously worked for Jake and Travis, who began to wolf down theirs at an alarming speed. The flames hadn't even gone out yet.

“What are you doing?” Maya asked them both.

“Ignore it,” Nails said. “They've done this all the time since they were little kids. Whoever finished their meals first won.”

“Won what?” Maya asked, but before Nails could answer, Travis slammed his fist on the table.

“Done!” Travis announced proudly.

Jake tossed his spoon down in disgust.

“Bragging rights,” Nails finally answered.

“If we weren't on the same team,” Travis said, “I'm pretty sure he'd tackle me to my death.”

“I'd let you live,” Jake said, smiling. “How else would you know I wrecked you?”

“The only sport I know how to play is rock, paper, scissors,” Mindy said. “I lose a lot.”

“That's not really a sport, Mandy,” Jake said. Mindy didn't even bother to correct him this time.

“It could be,” Travis said. It was a challenge. One Jake arched his eyebrow over. And then gladly accepted.

“You're on,” Jake said.

They threw out their hands and started.

“One, two, three, go!” Jake said. Travis won. “One, two, three, go!” Jake said again. Again Travis won.

“Okay, that was fun—” Maya started to say, but Travis and Jake just continued. “Guys, you can't be taking this this seriously. …” But they were. She looked to Nails to share an eyeroll at their expense, but he was totally into it, too. Especially every time Travis won. It was unsettling.

“One, two, three, go! One, two, three, go!” Jake got louder and louder, his eyes wilder and wilder. Travis was as steady and calm as they came. He was reading everything Jake was doing before he was doing it.

“See Travis thinking there?” Nails asked Maya. “That's a champion's mentality there. That one's going places.”

“This is rigged!” Jake said. “Okay, last one takes all.”

“Care to make it interesting?” Travis asked.

Maya didn't think that was possible.

“What did you have in mind?” Jake asked.

“I win, you can't miss practice for a month,” Travis said.

“And if I win?”

“You can have this whole house to yourself one night to throw a huge party.” It was Nails this time. He was not only rooting for Travis, he was for all intents and purposes betting against Jake.

“Deal,” Jake said.

“One, two, three, go!” Nails said, firmly a part of the action. Jake threw down rock. Travis threw down paper.

Jake let out a monster yell. A great big, make-everyone-uncomfortable roar.

“That's the difference,” Nails said, charged. “Travis is steady. Jake is ruled by his emotions. One gets you the win, the other makes you lose.”

Jake just pounded the table, then stormed out.

“See you at practice!” Travis called after him.

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” Jake's date said as she got up, adjusted her skirt, then ran after him.

Nails chuckled. “I guess that's the end of dinner.” He got up and made his way over to Maya. “Maya, it's been great to spend some time with you. I can see why Travis wanted me to invite you over so badly.”

“Travis wanted …?” Maya looked at Travis, confused.

“Thanks for not stealing anything,” Nails added before bidding them good night and leaving them alone.