Page 17 of I'd Never Date my Brother's Best Friend

Jamie answers their question correctly, and with their full pie they begin their journey to the center of the board. They need to only answer one more question correctly, and they’ll win. As for my team, only half our pie is filled, and there’s no one to blame but Sean. The dice finally reach us, and I graciously hand it to Sean.

“Your turn.”

He tentatively takes it from me and throws it, coming up with a two. I move the wedge two spaces ahead, and my dad asks us a question. I answer it correctly. Then I get two more questions right before missing the third. Jamie and Evelyn’s turn finally comes, and luckily for them, they answer correctly.

“Yes!” Evelyn throws her arm around Jamie. “We did it!”

Jamie freezes to the spot, his eyes wide. Evelyn notices what she’s done and quickly pulls away from him, her cheeks rosy. I narrow my eyes at them, forgetting I should be upset about losing. Something is definitely up with those two, and now I’m interested in finding out what.

“Let’s go another round,” Evelyn says. “This was fun.”

“I’m not doing another round.” I fold my arms across my stomach while frowning at my best friend. “This was awful.”

“Oh, you’re such a sore loser,” Evelyn counters.

“I didn’t lose,” I argue. “It’s all Sean’s fault.”

“Hey.” Sean narrows his eyes at me. “I'm better at this game than you.”

“What?” I cackle. “In what world is that true? I’m sorry, but no one at this table plays this game better than me. I only lost because I’m paired with you.”

“Wow.” Sean’s eyes narrow. “Now we are definitely playing a second round. We’ll remain on the same team. This time, any of us who answers a question incorrectly is the loser. Agreed?”

I contemplate Sean’s words, taken aback by his confidence. He sucks at this game. Why does he think he can beat me?

“Okay, then. Let’s go again.”

Evelyn rearranges the board, repeats the instructions, and we start. This time, my parents' team throw the highest dice, so they start the game. No one answers a correct question until it gets to our turn. I throw the dice and move the wedge. Jamie rats out a question, and before I can even think, Sean responds with the correct answer. I gape at him, and he winks at me before turning away.

The competition in this round is a little tougher than the last, mainly because Sean and I put up a formidable front. We’ve had four turns and have gotten more correct answers than any other team.

“When did Sean become this good at this game?” Jamie groans after getting a question wrong.

Sean bursts into laughter, and to my shock, I find myself laughing with him.

“If I knew you were this good, I never would’ve agreed for the two of you to be on the same team,” Evelyn says, frowning.

“Who is the sore loser now?” I tease, throwing the dice and moving our pie to the center of the board.

My dad asks my team a question, and this time, I panic. It’s a difficult question, and I have no idea what the answer is. Yet, when I look at Sean, he’s smiling. He arches his brows as if to ask my permission to answer, and when I nod, he turns his attention to my dad.

“The answer is 1759.”

I hold my breath, hoping he gets it right so we win. My father stares at the question card for a few seconds before saying. “Correct.”

“Yes.” I throw my arms around Sean. “We did it!”

“I told you I was good at trivia.”

“Wow. Jessica and Sean are hugging?” Evelyn’s question cuts through my consciousness, and I immediately withdraw from Sean, my face flaming in embarrassment.

“If I knew it’d take winning at trivial pursuit for this to happen,” Jamie says. “I’d have let your team win the first time.”

“Shut up, Jamie,” I growl at my idiot brother. “Big mouth.”

“Upset that you lost, Jamie?” Sean adds.

“They’re right.” My mom points a finger at Jamie. “Don’t ruin this win for them. Especially Jessica. It’s been so long since I've seen her happy and excited about something.”

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