“You’re on.” I didn’t have to think twice.
Next to me, Arthur groaned. “Can’t you both play for enjoyment?”
“No fun in that.” Calder grinned, his usual good-spiritedness replacing our tension from the parking lot. There was no activity that he wasn’t willing to make more fun with a friendly bet, and having been stuck doing monotonous tasks with him more than once, I had to say it wasn’t the worst quality to have.
“And do try to avoid injury this time, Arthur.” Oliver jogged over, volleyball under one arm.
“Oh, they’re going down,” I muttered as Arthur and I headed to join our team.
“You’re cute all competitive on my behalf.” Arthur sounded somewhere between amused and exasperated. I didn’t entirely get his irritation.
“Why play unless you’re in it to win it?” I motioned the rest of our team over.
“Why indeed.” Arthur rolled his eyes at me, but he didn’t say anything else as the kids and assorted other players surrounded us. Somehow I ended up the default captain, organizing who stood where and working out a rotation for those who wanted a turn serving.
“Once a chief, always a chief,” Arthur teased, voice lighter now. The game got underway with Calder’s team scoring a fast point off a strong serve that cut right between Seth and Taylor.
“Come on, gang! Heads up!” I encouraged before passing the ball to Taylor, who promptly served it straight into the net. Family rules said kids got a second chance, but that try also bounced off the top edge of the net.
“Sorry.” His chin drooped as he passed me, and I patted his head.
“It’s okay. We’ll get the next one.”
But we didn’t. Max got another fast point on us for Calder’s side. At least Seth got the ball over the net with his turn, but Calder stuffed the return in short order. Then Ingrid served for the other side, and Taylor showed some serious gumption diving to prevent another fast point.
“Great job! Nice dig!” I called to him right before Max set up Calder to slam the return right past Arthur.
“You sure you don’t want to renegotiate that bet?” Calder yelled, all jacked on adrenaline. He was fun when he was winning, but I wasn’t on his team.
“No way.”
“Excellent.” He gave me a thumbs-up. “Can’t wait for sparkling clothes.”
I took the next serve myself and drove the ball between Calder and the baseline for our first call. “Finally.”
“You and Calder are taking this way too seriously.” Arthur shook his head.
“You don’t want to beat him?” I was surprised. I would have thought he’d be all fired up by my point and ready to crush Calder’s team, but Arthur simply rolled his shoulders and stretched.
“I so rarely win against any of them. Honestly, I stopped caring years ago.”
“Well, I still think we’ve got a good shot.” Somehow his statement made me want this for him more, want to provide him that satisfaction against his brothers. I drew my shoulder blades together, posture tensing, like my will alone could lead us to victory.
“Good job, Ethan!” Taylor yelled as one of the older cousins managed to angle the ball past Oliver for another point for our side. We were coming back. Stoked, I doubled down on coaching.
“Get it!” I directed to Taylor. “Come on, Seth, pop it high!”
“Wahoo!” The boys celebrated as the game continued to heat up.
“You can do it. A little higher this time.” Arthur tossed the ball to Taylor when it was his turn to serve. I stifled a groan because we didn’t need to eat more net. But this time Taylor got it over, and our whole team cheered. However, the closer we came to winning, the more detached Arthur seemed, talking less to me, and more to the kids, and I wasn’t sure what I’d done wrong.
“We’ve got this!” I tried to embody team spirit as we rallied to tie Calder’s team. But Arthur barely cracked a smile even as I managed to coach Seth through setting up a floater for a cousin to poke down for an easy point. “Way to go!”
“Yes! We win!” Seth and Taylor broke out a victory dance as we squeaked out a two-point victory.
“Lucky break,” Calder scoffed. He wasn’t terribly put out, though. It had been a great battle, and he bounced on his feet. “Bet you can’t do it twice. Best two out of three?”
“You’re on,” I agreed before I glanced over at Arthur. That had been a rush. But apparently he didn’t feel the same way because he shook his head.
“You guys play but I’m out. Gonna try to get some practice in before dinner with the kids who didn’t want to do volleyball.” He headed away from the sand court, carefully stepping over two kids digging at the edge of it.
“Hey!” I jogged after him. “Are you okay? Not injured or sore from your fall?”