She frowned and consulted her paper. “Um, I think it was Ethan and Delaney. But Anna and Wyatt were close behind, by a couple of points.”
He grinned at Delaney and winked.
Anna scowled. “You’re going down, Winters.”
Delaney narrowed her eyes. “You’ve never beaten me yet, Costado.”
“We’ll see.”
“Save the trash talk for the competition. Time’s ticking.” Ethan held up his wrist with his watch displayed.
“Exactly. Are you all ready?” Caroline asked.
Delaney glanced at the other girls, who nodded. “Not quite. We assumed your plans when we saw this thing. So, we have our own counter-challenge for you.” She pulled a folded sheet out of her pocket. “Here is your list, for you and Matthew.”
Matthew was already shaking his head, frowning. “I have work to do. I don’t have time for this.”
Brigid slid the legal pad across the table. “The motions are done, depositions complete. It’s your wedding week too, Matt. No excuses.”
Caroline scowled as she scanned the list. Delaney held her breath. They owed Caroline so much, the one woman who’d brought the group together, held them together, and supported all of them, no matter what. “We’re not letting you off the hook.”
Ethan snagged Matt and Caroline’s list from Delaney and scanned it. He arched an eyebrow at Matt. “Do you really want to lose?”
“If it means giving one of you that damn butt-ugly lamp, hell, yes.” But the competitive set of his jaw belied Matthew’s words. He didn’t become a lawyer to get along with the world.
“Fine. We’ll meet back here at ten with our booty.”
* * *
Delaney and Ethan walked out the front door. Ethan grabbed their list out of her hand and scanned it. “No sweat. We should be able to get this done in an hour or so.” He strode toward the small shed next to the garage.
“Really? With forty dollars? Dinner alone costs more than that.” Delaney hurried after him. “Where are you going?”
He opened the shed door. “Perfect. We beat everyone.” He wheeled a bike out. “Grab this and hide behind the shed.”
He bent down next to another bike wheel.
“What are you doing?” She leaned over him, hand on his back for balance.
He glanced up and scowled. “You’re in the light. Take the bike and the other one and hide it. I’ll be right out.”
“You’re letting air out of the tires! We can’t use the bikes.”
He sighed. “She said no cars. Bikes aren’t motorized, so don’t count. I would use the truck, because it’s not a car, but I think I might lose that argument. Matthew is a nasty lawyer and he can out-argue me.”
She laughed. “Sabotage? Brilliant!”
She pushed around him and rummaged in the back of the shed.
“What are you doing?”
“Hiding the pump.” She tucked the air pump in the rafters. “Now they’re really screwed.”
He shoved a bike in her hand. “We’re going to kick their asses! Let’s go before they catch on.”
She hopped onto the bike and pedaled down the driveway quickly until they were out of sight of the house. He pulled off the side of the road and Delaney stopped next to him, laughing and breathing heavy. “I can’t believe we just did that.”
“You want to win, right?”
“Damn straight. Now what?”
He pulled out the list and read it out loud. “Boardwalk. We can get most of these items there.”
She nodded, and they pedaled down the street toward town.