Chapter 80: Three Against One

Gwen picked up the second gun.

“Stop teaching them.” Emily looked toward her with a small smile.

“Scared?” Gwen immediately answered, “No,” before starting another round with them.

The next game became much closer.

Gwen still won, but not by nearly as much.

Sara stared at the scoreboard before pointing toward Gwen.

“Again.” Gwen smiled.

“Now you understand how I felt.”

For the next hour, we moved between different machines.

Sara challenged almost everyone at everything.

Emily usually acted like she didn’t care until she started losing, and then she became much more focused.

Gwen kept accidentally taking advantage of her faster reactions, although after a while she started controlling herself more.

Eventually, we reached the air-hockey table.

Sara looked at Gwen before picking up one of the paddles.

“One match.” Gwen smiled and took the other one.

“You’re going to lose.” Sara narrowed her eyes.

“You’ve been saying that a lot today.”

Their match started, and Gwen won without too much trouble.

Sara managed to score a few times, but once Gwen started paying attention, her reactions were simply too fast.

Emily took Sara’s place next and did slightly better because she was more patient, but Gwen still won.

Sara looked toward me.

“Your turn.” I shook my head.

“No.” She frowned and asked, “Why?” I looked toward Gwen and said, “Because I’ll win.” Gwen immediately picked up the paddle Sara had put down.

“You said that about racing too.” I smiled.

“And what happened?”

Gwen went quiet for a second before saying, “That was racing.” Sara laughed and stepped aside.

“Do it. I want to see this.” Emily nodded as well, so I finally took the other paddle.

The match started normally.

Gwen moved much faster than she had against Sara or Emily, probably because she knew she didn’t need to hold back as much against me.

I still kept my own movements slow enough to look normal, but I didn’t let her score easily.

The puck moved across the table faster and faster.

Gwen sent it toward one side, and I caught it before returning it.

She blocked the shot and immediately sent it back.

For several seconds neither of us scored.

Then Gwen moved her paddle too far forward.

I hit the puck against the side of the table.

It changed direction, passed behind her paddle, and entered the goal.

Sara laughed immediately.

“One.” Gwen looked toward her and asked, “Whose side are you on?” Sara smiled.

“Mine.”

The match continued, and Gwen adapted quickly.

She stopped moving her paddle as far forward, but that made it harder for her to attack.

I scored again before she finally got her first point.

By the end, I won by two.

Gwen stared at the score before putting her paddle down.

“I don’t like playing against you.” Sara laughed.

“Now you know how we feel playing against you.” Emily looked toward me before picking up one of the paddles.

“Teach us.” Sara immediately moved closer.

“Yeah. How did you keep stopping her?”

I took the paddle from Emily and stood beside the table.

“You’re both chasing the puck too much.

You don’t need to follow it everywhere.” I showed them where to keep the paddle before adding, “Stay closer to the center of your side.

If you move too far forward, one angled hit gets behind you.”

Emily watched carefully while Sara asked, “What about attacking?” I moved the puck toward one side.

“Don’t hit it as hard as possible every time. Make them move first. Once they leave an opening, use it.” Sara tried a few times before managing to send the puck off the side and toward the goal.

She smiled.

“Okay. That’s useful.” Gwen crossed her arms.

“Why are you teaching everyone how to beat me?” I looked toward her.

“You’re the one who keeps winning.”

For the next few rounds, Sara and Emily practiced while Gwen played against them.

They still lost, but the matches became much closer.

Sara celebrated every point she scored against Gwen, while Emily became quieter whenever the score was close.

Eventually Gwen stopped and looked toward me.

“This isn’t fair anymore.” Sara immediately replied, “You were winning everything earlier.

This is completely fair.” Emily nodded before adding, “Actually, I think we need one more match.”

I looked at her.

“You want another turn?” Emily shook her head and looked toward Sara.

Sara seemed to understand immediately because a smile appeared on her face.

Gwen looked between them before smiling too.

That was probably not a good sign.

Sara picked up one paddle and said, “You keep saying none of us can beat you.” I looked at her.

“None of you have.” Emily picked up another paddle before moving beside her.

“Individually.”

I looked toward Gwen and found her already holding the third paddle.

She moved beside them while I asked, “You’re serious?” Sara smiled.

“Very.” Emily nodded.

“You against all three of us.” Gwen rested her paddle against the table.

“One match.”

For a few seconds, I stared at the three of them standing together on the other side.

Then all three asked almost at the same time, “Scared?” I picked up my paddle.

“Fine. Three against one.”

Their plan became obvious almost immediately.

Sara and Emily stayed near the goal while Gwen handled the attacking.

Whenever I got the puck around Gwen, one of the other two stopped it.

Sara covered one side while Emily watched the other, leaving almost no opening without me moving faster than I should.

Gwen scored first.

Sara immediately pointed toward the scoreboard and said, “One.” I only put the puck back down.

I could easily increase my speed enough to beat all three of them, but there was no reason to.

They had finally found a way to win after spending most of the day losing whenever I actually tried.

The next point went to them too.

I managed to get the puck past Gwen, but Emily blocked it.

Sara pushed it forward, Gwen took over, and a few seconds later my side still showed zero.

It continued like that for the rest of the match.

Sara and Emily defended while Gwen attacked, and I kept myself slow enough that they could actually play against me.

By the time the match ended, their side had all the points while mine still showed a very clear zero.

Sara looked at the scoreboard and smiled.

“You didn’t score once.” I nodded.

“I noticed.” Gwen looked even happier than Sara.

“You lost.” I reminded her, “There are three of you,” but Emily only smiled and said, “Still counts.”

They were enjoying it, so I didn’t argue.

I put the paddle down and said, “Fine. You won.” That was enough to make all three of them start talking at once about how they’d finally beaten me.

I let them have it.

They had earned this one, even if it had taken three people.

After a while, Gwen and Emily went back to the basketball machines.

Sara stayed with me and sat on one of the couches nearby.

I sat down as well, and after a few minutes I noticed her moving one foot slightly before changing position again.

I looked down at the emerald heels she was still wearing.

“Do you want me to get your other shoes from the car?” Sara shook her head.

“No, it’s okay.

This isn’t that bad.” I watched her adjust her foot again before saying, “Show me your ankles.” She frowned.

“Why?” I looked at her.

“Because that doesn’t look like ‘not that bad.'”

Sara hesitated before lifting the edge of her dress enough to show one ankle.

The skin where the straps rested was already red.

When I looked toward the other foot, she sighed and showed me that one too.

“Take them off,” I said.

Sara looked down and replied, “We’re probably leaving soon anyway.” I shook my head.

“Then you can put them back on when we leave.” She finally removed the heels and placed them beside the couch.

The moment she did, she stretched her feet slightly and looked much more comfortable.

I moved a little closer before saying, “Put your feet here.” Sara followed my gaze toward my lap and looked back at me.

“Why?” I answered, “I’ll massage them.” She stared at me for a moment before asking, “You actually know how?” I nodded.

“I’ve done it before.”