Page 64 of Gratification in Gluttony

Tramp Stamp

After Willow won Twister—muchto Liel’s dismay—everyone took a break from games to refuel with the snacks Toni had made. Then they spent far too long bickering over which game to play next.

At long last, Tad smacked her hand on the coffee table to get everyone’s attention. “We could play Hellahoola.”

Everyone’s reaction—exceptLiel, Oliver, and Jude, of course—was a visceral, “No!”

“That game is banned for life!” Toni swiped his hand through the air, cutting the idea at the knees. “You know what? Life isn’t long enough. It’s banned for the afterlife too.”

“Seriously, we cannot play that game again,” Gem agreed, eyes huge. “Not after what happened last time.”

“What happened last time?” Oliver asked.

“What’s Hellahoola?” Jude asked.

“It’s only the best game ever,” Tad said, bulbous eyes glimmering madly.

Toni shook his head. “It’s a terrible, awful, no-good, very bad game that we do not speak of.”

“Okay, but what happened last time?” Oliver asked again.

“I just want to know what the game is,” Jude said.

“It’s a drinking game,” Tad said.

“But also a trivia game,” Willow said.

“I thought it was a role-playing game,” Zef said.

Gem nodded at Zef. “It is pretty interactive.”

“With a pinch of Truth or Dare,” Glyma added.

“But it’s mostly a drinking game,” Quin said.

“That we swore we’d never play again,” Rusty said, voice vacant as his eyes stared off into the distance. “Never again.”

“But—” Tad said.

“Never again, Tad!” Rusty barked, and Gem placed a hand on his shoulder in cautionary comfort. “We signed a contract.”

Tad blew a raspberry. “Yeah, but a majority vote renders the contract null and void.”

“That is true,” Zef said. “It was in the fine print.”

“There was fine print?” Toni asked.

“Oh my god, guys, what happened last time?” Oliver demanded, growing flustered at being ignored.

“We’re not taking a vote,” Gem said.

“Technically, the fine print said that any of the undersigned can call for a vote a maximum of one time every calendar year,” Quin said.

“Yeah, and I’m one of the undersigned,” Tad said triumphantly.

“But we promised,” Rusty said, sounding genuinely afraid. “We made a fucking pact!”

Stepping into the middle of the circle, Oliver stamped his foot childishly and shouted, “Hey! What happened last time?”

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