"And what makes you think what I said wasn't a joke?" His tone was light and somewhat teasing, so it's obvious that he wasn't being serious about it. If he was, there would have definitely been a moment of continuing the discussion and being far more heated about it than he was. "Something like that. A prize for getting to know me better, let's say."

He automatically shrugged despite knowing that Shannon couldn't see and let out a soft laugh of amusement. "I live with a Pulitzer winner, so it's not like I'm not used to tough competition, even if this isn't it. I'll take this as a compliment though."