The Wild Zone Read Free Page B

Well, he’d been chosen all right.
    “What are you laughing about?” Jeff snapped. “You just lost a hundred bucks, you moron.”
    “So did you. Besides, it’s not your wallet that’s wounded. It’s your ego.” Tom laughed again. “Don’t worry. It happens to the best of us.” It would do Jeff good to get a taste of the rejection he’d been dealing with for most of his life, Tom was thinking. A little humility never hurt anyone.
    Jeff said nothing, letting his scowl speak for him.
    “Anyway,” Tom continued, finishing off his beer, “we haven’t lost a cent until he seals the deal.”
    Jeff’s shoulders instantly relaxed, shaking off his rejection as if it were an unwanted coat. His smile returned. “That’s right, little brother,” he said, patting Will’s shoulder with perhaps a touch too much vigor. “The night is young. A lot remains to be done. Your test is just beginning.”
    Will felt his mouth go dry and his palms grow moist. He’d always hated tests. And this time it wasn’t some stuffy old professor judging his worth. It was his beloved older brother. A brother he’d spent years trying—and failing—to impress. “What am I supposed to do?” he whispered, not sure whether it would be better to pass this particular test or to fail.
    “Can’t help you there, little brother. You’re on your own.”
    “You could fuck her on the table right in front of us,” Tom offered with a smirk.
    “Why don’t you just take her this,” Kristin said, a freshly mixed pomegranate martini materializing in her hand.
    Will took the drink from her fingers, sheer willpower steadying his hand. It was bad enough that Jeff and Tom would be watching his every move. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing his hands tremble. He took a deep breath, forced a smile onto his face, then swiveled around on his heels, pushing one foot in front of the other, like a toddler learning to walk.
    “Be gentle,” Tom called after him.
    What’s the matter with you? Will was thinking, feeling every eye in the place trailing after him as he crossed the room. It wasn’t as if he’d never done this before. He’d dated lots of girls, was hardly a virgin, although truthfully, there hadn’t been that many girls, he was forced to admit. And none at all since Amy. Shit, why was he thinking of her now? He pushed her out of his head, his right hand shooting forward involuntarily, pink fluid spilling out over the top of the glass and trickling down his fingers.
    Suzy watched his approach from her seat at the table, her eyes sparkling playfully as he drew nearer. Even now Will was convinced there’d been a mistake. It was Jeff she’d meant for Kristin to send over. “What are you doing here?” he could almost hear her say.
    “Smile, sucker,” she said instead. “Pull up a chair.”
    Will hesitated, although only for an instant, before doing as he’d been told—pulling up the nearest chair and grinning like an idiot as he sank into it. He deposited her drink on the table, pushed it toward her. “For you.”
    “Thank you. You’re not having anything?”
    Will realized he’d left his beer at the bar. No way he was going back there to get it. “I’m Will Rydell,” he said. Not exactly clever, he knew. No doubt Jeff would have come up with something more provocative. Hell, even Tom would have managed something snappier than his name.
    “Suzy Bigelow.” She leaned forward, as if she had something important to impart, and so he did the same. “Shall we cut right to the chase?”
    “Okay,” Will said, but inside he was thinking, What chase? What is she talking about? He was beginning to feel as if he’d walked into a movie ten minutes after it started, and already he was missing a vital piece of information.
    “What’s the wager?” she asked.
    “What?”
    “I understand you guys have some kind of bet going on,” she said, luminous blue eyes widening, waiting for him to confirm what she obviously already