Going for Gold by Ivy Smoak

said.
    "Right." I coughed awkwardly. "Soccer? I mean,
not soccer. There's balls in that. I mean one ball."
    Bryce laughed behind me. His laugh was electric. It was like
I could feel it radiating through me. His right hand had slipped down when he
laughed and now his thumb was dangerously close to my ass.
    "You two have one more guess," Alex said.
"Make it a good one."
    "What happens if we get it wrong?" Kristen asked.
    Alex shrugged. "What do you guys think we should make
them do?"
    "So many options," Tim said.
    Bryce's hands were making it hard to concentrate, but I
didn't want to lose any more bets. I was still worried Kristen was going to
force me to have sex in public. There was no way I'd have another punishment
hanging over my head. As if the last couple days weren't punishment enough for
awhile. I thought about how fast Bryce had run during Operation Red Rip. All
the athletes in the ITA were in incredibly good shape. But they weren't all
that fast. "Track," I said, before they could even come up with a punishment.
    "Bingo," Tim said.
    Kristen almost looked disappointed that she wouldn't owe Tim
anything. She was totally crushing on him.
    The car came to a stop outside of the restaurant and Bryce's
fingertips dug into my hips one last time. "Thanks for being my
seatbelt," I said and lightly touched his hand. I immediately removed my
hand from his, opened up the car door, and stepped down onto the curb.
    Bryce smiled as he climbed out of the car. "No
problem."
    "He liked you being on top of him," Alex said and slapped
Bryce on the back.
    Oh my God.
    "So, Alina, you and Kristen both play volleyball,
right?"
    I turned my attention to Alex as we walked toward the
restaurant. "Yes."
    "So why are you so much shorter than Kristen?"
    I laughed. "I play in the back row so I don't need to be
tall."
    "Interesting."
    A hand on my lower back almost made me jump. I looked up at
Bryce smiling at me. He removed his hand as he opened the door for everyone. I
had my doubts about what Bryce wanted before tonight. But it was becoming pretty
clear and I wasn't sure if I was ready. I knew that I was a mess right now.
When I looked into his eyes, though, I wasn't thinking about what I had just
lost. I wanted to hold onto that feeling.
    Even if this wasn't a date, I was going to enjoy myself tonight.
I wasn't going to think about Chris. At all. Because he damn sure wasn't
thinking about me.
    Tim said something to the hostess and we followed her.
    I felt Bryce's hand fall to my lower back again, guiding me
toward our table. I was almost disappointed when we reached our table, a
crescent shaped booth in the corner of the restaurant, because Bryce's hand
dropped from my back.
    Alex scooted into the booth first. "Girls," he said
and tapped the booth on both sides of him.
    Kristen laughed and scooted in on one side of him. As long as
Bryce was planning on sitting next to me, I didn't care who was on the other
side of me. I slid in beside Alex.
    Bryce sat down beside me and put his arm behind me on the
booth, without touching me. "Alright, let's play a game while we wait for
the waiter," he suggested.
    "What game?" I asked.
    "It's called ask a friend. We go around the table and
take turns asking anyone at the table any question we want, but instead of them
answering, someone else at the table has to answer for them. Alina, do you want
to start?"
    "Sure. What's Bryce's favorite food?"
    "Really? That's a super lame question," said Alex. "But
if you must know, his favorite food is a nice juicy rib-eye."
    "Oh. Well what kind of question should I have
asked?"
    "Let me give you an example. What's Alina's
number?"
    "Why is that question any better?" I asked.
"Half the people here already have my number."
    "No. I meant how many people have you had sex
with?"
    "Oh..." My face started to blush.
    "One," said Kristen. "Her boyfriend. Er...her
ex boyfriend. Or whatever they are."
    "Okay, next question," I said quickly.
"Kristen, I think it's your turn." I could