Phei smiled. "Expect is a strong word. I'm hoping you'll help me put them to their places so thoroughly they'd never recovers. But I understand if you need proof first."
Brian's eyes narrowed. "Proof."
"That I can actually play? That you didn't just sign up to be embarrassed alongside me?" Phei shrugged. "The court's empty right now. School's out. Staff and cleaners only. We could settle this question pretty quickly."
Landon and Brian exchanged looks.
Something passed between them—doubt, curiosity, the desperate hope that maybe this wasn't a complete disaster.
"Stole words from my mouth," Brian said. "Yes. That is what I want. Show us what you've got."
The school court was empty.
Quiet.
Everyone'd gone home and only the echoes remain.
Phei picked up a ball. Felt the familiar weight of it in his hands. The texture against his palms.
Alright, he thought.
"Two on one," he said. "First to 21. You two versus me."
Brian raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"
"Positive."
