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“Very good. And how much did you wager?”

“All of it.”

Pete let out a long whistle. “Nice. That brings the Knit Wits total to one hundred and sixteen, a new record for trivia night. Andi, what about you, did you get the right answer?”

The tiny wrinkles around her eyes told me she didn’t, before she shook her head no. “I had Bloody Bill Anderson.”

“And how much did you bet?”

“Only one point.”

I did the quick math in my head. Her bet put her down to fifty-seven. A comeback would be impossible unless I flubbed the last question. I held my breath, waiting for Pete to announce the category.

“Okay, folks. Last question: this is about Excel formulas.” I barely held back my groan. I used computers at work, but not a lot of spreadsheets. By comparison, with her business degree, Andi was probably a whiz. “In Excel, name a popular formula used to cross-reference data between datasets.”

My mind raced. Cross-reference? I had no clue. I could sum and average, but Pete was looking for something entirely different.

Pete’s rules meant I had to wager something, and I needed an answer. I racked my memories, hoping something would come. Nada. I glanced at Andi to see her staring back at me, a smug smile lighting up her features.

She knew the answer.

Dammit.

I scribbled down my best guess right as the other teams drew silent on the theme song.

Pete intoned deeply, “Okay, players. Let’s start with the lovely Andi first. What did you answer?”

“VLOOKUP,” she responded calmly, a tiny smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

I held my breath. Knowing Andi, she’d wagered it all. We were both competitive that way.

“And what did you wager?” Pete asked, hamming it up in his best game show host impression.

Andi beamed. “All of it, of course.”

“Excellent. Your bet brings your total to one hundred and fourteen.”

“Now …” Pete paused dramatically, turning to me. “Tyler. Did you also get VLOOKUP?”

Reluctantly, I shook my head.

“And the question everyone wants to know … How much did you bet?”

I flipped my board, where I’d written ‘1’ large.

Trivia Pete’s grin threatened to overtake his mustache as he crowed. “Knit Wits only bet one, bringing their total score to one hundred and fifteen. It’s Knit Wits one hundred and fifteen, Trebek’s Rejects one hundred and fourteen.”

The bar erupted into cheers, but my own smile was weak, faltering around the edges.

It’d been close. And I could have just as easily lost if the question order had been reversed. At the end of the day, I couldn’t get cocky. Knit Wits hadn’t answered any more questions correctly than Andi’s team.

“Good game,” I said, reaching out a hand to shake hers.

She stared at my extended hand as if it were a rattlesnake.

“Good game,” she said softly, keeping her hands to herself.

Why did I think those words meant something differently when she said them? Like she was referring to our time in the hall, not answering questions in front of the crowd.