Page 61 of Fighting For You

The table groaned. Travis threw his hands up. Wyatt leaned back in his chair, shaking his head.

"What's going on here?" I said.

Carl turned around. "Selena added chicken tenders to the menu. They ordered the spiciest ones. You have to sign a waiver." He nodded at the stack of papers on the table. "Whoever eats a whole tender without tapping out is exempt from bathroom cleaning duty for a month."

"Sullivan." Travis pointed at me. "You're late. Wyatt's out. Greene's out. Carl never started. You're up."

"No."

"Come on."

"I don't mind bathroom cleaning duty."

Nora sat down next to Andy. "What do I win if I eat a whole one?"

Travis looked at her. Then at me. Then back at her.

"Sullivan," he said.

"I already have him. That's not much of a prize."

I looked at her. She laughed.

Travis grinned. "Your girl's got bigger balls than you, Sullivan." He rubbed his hands together. "All right, Nora. Let's make this interesting. You and me. Whoever finishes more tenders wins. You beat me, Sullivan's exempt from bathroom duty for a month." He pointed at me. "I beat you, Sullivan takes my bathroom rotation for a month."

"Why am I in this?" I said.

"Because it's funnier," Travis said.

Nora smiled at me, then turned back to Travis. "Deal."

Travis turned in his chair. "Selena! Can we have two more orders of the Five-Alarms, please?"

Selena looked at him from behind the bar. "Two?"

"Two."

I looked at Nora. What are you doing?

She mouthed back. I got this.

Andy slid one of the waivers across the table to Nora. "You have to sign this first."

Nora read it, laughed, and signed her name.

Selena came back with two plates and set one in front of Nora and the other in front of Travis. She put two glasses of milk down between them without being asked.

"First one to tap out loses," Carl said.

Travis cracked his knuckles. "Let's do this."

"On my count," Carl said. He held up three fingers. "Three. Two. One. Go."

Nora bit into the first tender. Her eyes watered. She chewed, swallowed, and reached for the next one.

Travis grabbed a tender and matched her. He made it through the first one talking. He made it through the second one quieter. Halfway through the third, he stopped talking entirely.

Nora finished her third and picked up her fourth.