Nope. He would have bought me dinner, anyway.

I rolled my eyes. Boring. Typical.

“You must not be very confident if that’s all you’re offering. Not interested,” I said.

Josh replied quickly. I guess he must have realized his error. I was up for a wager, but only if it was interesting.

“You want to raise the stakes?” he asked.

“It’s more fun if you have something on the line. Make it something worth playing for. You would have bought me dinner, anyways," I said.

I realize in hindsight that sounded a bit conceited, but it was also true. Initially, I wasn’t planning on actually following through and meeting up with him, but he had gotten my competitive itch going. I wanted to crush him, and maybe get something better than dinner when I won.

“That’s presumptuous. How about this? If you win, I’ll buy you dinner every Friday for a month from whatever place you fancy, as long as the price is reasonable,” he replied.

“Well, that sounds a lot better. But it seems like you’re still winning, getting four dates from me. How about one dinner and $100?” I replied curtly.

“Wow, you’re asking for a lot. Fine, but if I win, I want something equally worth the risk,” Josh said.

“Look, I’m confident I’m going to win, so ask for whatever you want. As long as it’s not unreasonable,” I said.

I knew how good I was at Smash. And he was putting a lot on the table, so I was willing to take on a risky bet. $100 is a lot of money for beating down a nerd in Smash.

It took a while for Josh to reply. I guess he was thinking about what he could get away with asking. Or what I meant by unreasonable. I had already made up my mind that whatever he wanted was fine, provided it didn’t get me into any serious trouble.

“If I win, I want you tied to my bed. No sex, I promise. I just want to tie you up. I know I’m asking for a lot, but you did say you wanted higher stakes, and I’m putting a lot on the line myself,” he said.