Page 115 of Dead Heat

“Because you know something I don’t?”

“Because I’m not that lucky.” She poured my drink and handed it to me before returning to the cluster of players.

Kane approached me with a smile. “She’s beginning to warm to you.”

“Hardy har.”

“I’m serious. If she didn’t like you at all, she wouldn’t have shown up.”

“Pretty sure she showed up solely to give me a hard time. It’s her own form of entertainment.”

“You’re not wrong,” Gun chimed in. “I once saw her show up at a country music bar just to heckle the line dancers.”

“Rightfully so,” Cam said. “What even is line dancing?”

I looked at Gun. “What were you doing there?”

He plucked popcorn from the bowl and tossed a couple kernels into his mouth. “I wanted to see if the cowboy known as Big Bob lived up to his name.”

I rotated between games, trying to spend as much time with each guest as possible. Nana Pratt was the biggest winner of the night, as the undefeated champion of Hungry Hungry Hippos. If only they could’ve heard the ghost talk smack during the games. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my cheeks.

Ray kept his distance. “I don’t even know you anymore, Ingrid.”

There was a minor hiccup when Josie accused Phaedra of cheating, but the missing Scrabble tile was subsequently found under the sofa. Crisis averted.

“This was surprisingly fun,” Otto said. He seemed to enjoychatting with his opponents while battling for the tiny white marbles.

“Yeah, it was all right,” Josie grumbled.

Kane nudged her. “Admit it. You enjoyed yourself.”

“I like to win. Those hippos were pure gold.”

“You should come by and play against Nana Pratt again,” I said. “She was happy to have a genuine competitor.”

Josie grew quiet. “Must be hard for her. Hanging around for eternity.”

“It seems to me you’d know something about that, too.”

“I still get to live a life,” Josie countered. “That poor woman’s stuck in your orbit. I can’t think of a less exciting world to inhabit.”

“I appreciate the kind words.”

She looked at me. “Be careful tomorrow. Maybe don’t die. Kane would be sad, and then I’d have to comfort him.” She heaved a sigh. “It’d be a whole thing.”

“I’ll do my best. Have a good night, Josie.”

The vampire exited the house and disappeared into the night.

West shook my hand. “Nice job, Clay. You should come by the trailer park for the pack’s next game night. I’m sure there’d only be a couple objections.” His grin suggested he was only kidding. I hoped.

Otto was next to depart, then Phaedra, followed by Gun and Cam. Each one tried to hug me, but I waved them off. “Save it for the next time you see me,” I told them.

Cam pressed a small box of Nerds into my hand. “Take this with you for luck … and in case you get hungry.”

Gun gave me a lingering look. “If you don’t come back, I’ll lead a search party, but that would mean missing my massage on Wednesday, and they’re booked months in advance.” He exhaled. “So just come back.”

“That’s the plan.”

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