Page 45 of Knot a Good Idea

“Do you have any board games?”

“Holy shit!” Hunter yells, leaping from the couch. “Are you serious? Fuck yes, we do!”

Donovan groans and mutters under his breath.

Their backyard isspectacular.

There’s no other word for it.

A small greenhouse is near the back, past the manicured lawn that seems to sprawl forever, surrounded by the view of the hills.

To the right is a fire pit with cushioned seats, and past that is a white gazebo.

The four of us sit at a glass table illuminated by heat lamps. The winter air is chilly, and I sit in an oversized wicker chair draped in Liam’s sweatshirt, which he kindly handed to me when he saw me shivering. His scent is concentrated as the material drapes over my body, and my inner Omega purrs in secret delight as Hunter explains the rules of the game to us.

I smell like Liam and don’t want to give him his sweatshirt back.

I want to hide it under my pillow and inhale it as I burrow under blankets, drowning in his delicious scent of refreshing eucalyptus.

It turns out both Hunter and Liamloveboard games. So much so that they’ve become friends with the founder of an independent game company and ended up investing in a portion of it.

Donovan rarely plays with them, but tonight, he sits with us at the table scowling.

As we play the game, he feeds me information that I’ll need to know for Sunday.

“You can’t play a rune unless you’ve got enough materials to do it,” Hunter interrupts Donovan when he tries to place a card down. “And you don’t.”

Donovan closes his eyes and sighs, and I fight a smile. “Thenwhencan I play this card?”

“When you have over five fire symbols,” Liam answers patiently. “Actually, you can’t do anything, so it’s Hunter’s turn.”

Donovan shakes his head. “Fine.” Then he looks at me, sitting opposite from him at the table. “Question. Who is hosting the gala?”

“The Academy of Future Artists.”

He nods. “And what are they raising money for?”

“Scholarships for tuition to private colleges.”

“What’s the minimum donation for the night?”

“A hundred thousand.” I grimace at the amount.

Donovan nods. “Good.”

We spend the rest of the evening like that, playing board games while the guys occasionally add pieces of information I need to know for tomorrow night.

I’m still nervous about the gala, but laughing with Hunter and Liam as they gang up on Donovan helps.

I genuinely like these men so far.

Simply playing board games without them walking on eggshells around me makes me feel normal again.

Maybe there’s a chance I’m not completely broken.

Maybe I can be a functioning human again, complete with having a social life.

Armed with knowledge for the gala, I yawn one too many times and fatigue washes over me.

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