Page 83 of Wings of Destiny

The remainder of the night, we all sat around the coffee table. Erin had grabbed a box of cards from the hall closet and set about dealing them out, declaring a giant game of War. How in the hell that was going to work between five people, I had no idea. But dammit, she made it happen.

Erin and Libby took turns kicking everyone’s asses, Josh got close once. Derik and I, our asses were handed to us each round. I threw my cards on the table. “I give up. This is freaking rigged.”

The girls swapped looks as they giggled. Across the table Josh smirked. Derik gave up and took up polishing off the last bit of alcohol in the fridge. “Gotta learn when to quit, man.” He laughed.

“Poor Seth, getting beat by a couple of girls,” Erin teased. “This is payback for when you wiped the floor with me during training these last couple of weeks.” She high-fived Libby, triumphant.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. At least I don’t cheat.”

Erin scoffed, grinning ear to ear. “Oh, don’t be a sore loser. You lost. Fair and square. Not my fault you suck at cards.”

“I’m still saying it was rigged,” I grumbled.

Erin stuck her tongue out at me and swiped our cards, reforming them into a full deck and slipped them back into their case.

A bag of chips thumped in the middle of the table. “I don’t know about you guys, but my ass is starving.” Derik said as he flopped back onto the couch.

“Yeah, losing really works up an appetite, huh?” Erin quipped.

Derik shoved a handful of chips in his mouth. “Hell yeah it does. It took real effort letting you two win.”

“It truly does. You ladies put up quite the formidable front in the game of War,” Josh chimed in, winking at Erin.

“Wow. Did you actually just use sarcasm? Who knew Snooty-Booty had a sense of humor.” She deadpanned.

I choked. “What?” Libby was clutching her stomach laughing. Josh actually looked shocked.

Erin shrugged her shoulders as she reached for the bag of chips. “What? He’s snooty and kind of an ass about it. Fits him perfectly.”

“Snow’s got a point.” Derik nodded, hiding a grin as he sipped from his empty beer bottle.

Josh leaned into the couch; arm slung along the back. “I do take pride in my appearance and how I conduct myself and business,” the corner of his mouth twitched. “And I believe the portion about my rear, is more pertained to the way my pants fit in that area, wouldn’t you agree, Miss Snow?” He winked at her. Again.

Erin stuttered, her skin flushed pink. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Josh chuckled, a gruffness infiltrated his tone. “I’m sure, Miss Snow.”

Erin averted her eyes, looking anywhere but at Josh. Her flustered gaze landed on me. Guilt flashed across her face as jealousy gripped my throat.

Does she have a thing for Josh?

“I dunno, Josh. Your pants might be too tight, seems like you might be cutting off circulation to your brain if you think anyone’s looking,” I snipped.

Amusement flashed in the furthest edge of his narrowed pupils. I forced a neutral expression.

Libby stopped laughing long enough to throw in an, “Oooh buurrnn.” Which provided a brief moment for Erin to recover.

She slapped her hands on her thighs and clicked her tongue. “Alrighty well, I’m going to hit the hay,” she turned to Libby. “You want to bunk in the guest room with me?”

“Yeah, we can let the stinky men have a little slumber party out here.” Libby giggled.

Derik let out a laugh. “Nah, I’m good. I’m not down for sharing a bed with dudes. Nothing wrong with it, but I don’t wanna wake up with hardware against my back.”

I scoffed. “Here I thought we were bros, man,” he threw a pillow at my head. Catching it, I blew Derik a kiss and flipped him off. “Josh, what about you? You’re more than welcome to crash here. There’s an inflatable mattress around here somewhere.”

Derik’s mouth hung open. “You have a freaking air mattress? Since when?”

“A while, actually. I just don’t remember where the hell I put it.”

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