Page 98 of Sparks Flying

I had to cash in all my hotels just to stay afloat.

Bailey immediately bought them and stacked the next few properties I had to cross.

She was thriving, and I was quickly on a path to crash and burn, though I wasn’t about to admit it.

“She’s got him. No way is he surviving that,” Gracie insisted.

“I don’t know. Dean does have a golden horseshoe up his ass,” Andrew countered.

I rolled the dice and counted up the space.

“I told you! Look at that.”

I took safely landed between her properties.

She played through with ease and it was back to my turn.

I counted up the spots I needed to hit a Community Card. Then, I rolled the dice.

“Yes!”

“Wow. Look at that,” Gia praised.

“That’s my boy,” Mom cheered.

“What did I tell you?” Andrew praised.

I drew the card: Go back two spaces.

I checked the board, and my jaw dropped.

“Dammit!” I threw down the card, accidentally knocking into the table as I stood, which sent the pieces flying into Bailey’s lap.

“Hey!” she griped.

Everyone started talking and arguing at once.

“You see? You see why this game is banned at my house?” Mom said.

In the center of all the chaos, my mate sat there grinning. I knew it wasn’t because she’d won. She wouldn’t care about something like that. What she did treasure above all else was our family. It may not be the one she was born into—thank God—but it was the one she’d chosen to mate into and I knew it was everything she wanted in life.

As she hugged each of my sisters, high-fived my brothers, talked shit with Andrew and Clarence, and wrapped an arm around each of my parents as they congratulated her, I made a vow to never skip family game night again—unless it meant an uninterrupted late night in the office.

Bailey

Bonus Epilogue

My phone rang and I expected it to be Dean. I didn’t even look at the screen.

“Hi babe. I’m on my way home now.”

“Um, Bailey?”

I pulled back and looked at the screen.

“Oscar?”

“Yeah. It’s been a while.”

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