Page 2 of Playing Flirty

“Hobbit,” he said, his voice gruff and rarely used except to antagonize me.

I trudged toward him and scowled in his direction even though he wasn’t looking at me. I was sure he could feel it, based on the smirk threatening at the corner of his mouth.

While I was proud of my hobbit height, and even cosplayed as a hobbit not once but twice—despite having never seen a brown-skinned hobbit on-screen—I still didn’t like the way he said it, which was every single time since Shaun first introduced us.

“William.” I gave him a sickeningly sweet smile before stepping in front of him and blocking his view. “Could you please remove yourself and change into your formal pajama pants?”

Teasing William was one of the games I liked to play.

“My formal pajamas?” He hit pause and met my gaze. A familiar mask settled over his almost-black eyes, making him impossible to read. “What’s the occasion? Is Gandalf coming for tea?”

Teasing me was one ofhis.

I crossed my arms and made a dramatic show of rolling my eyes. “Oh, stop being so bitter because I beat you last week.”

“One time.” One of his dark eyebrows cocked upward. “What of the three weeks before that? Need I remind you of that time you—”

A whoosh of air escaped me before he could retell my most embarrassing loss. “Don’t start with that. You’re picking a fight.”

“Ah, babe, I’m a lover not a fighter.” He winked at me and then returned his focus to his game despite me standing right in front of the TV.

Everything William said was measured to get the biggest reaction out of me.

And it always worked.

I stomped over to my backpack and grabbed the bunting before climbing onto the other couch. “Don’t call mebabe,” I snapped, irritation still burning through my veins. William had a way of getting under my skin when he wanted to. Which was often.

My foot sank in between the cushions, and I wiggled it loose.

“Where is our Perfect Patrick this evening?” William’s tone dripped sarcasm from directly behind me.

He leaned close and took the end of the bunting from my outstretched fingers before sticking it against the wall. I hadn’t even heard him get up.

“He’ll be here,” I said, hoping my boyfriend would see my text and arrive in time.

I hopped off the couch and met Shaun in the kitchen, where he was messily—and frantically—icing cupcakes.

“Could you maybe make a pot of coffee? Or tea? She prefers coffee, right?”

It was clear Shaun needed reassurance.

“You know what she likes. Stop panicking.” I pushed him aside and handed him a broom. “I’ll take over here. Go be useful somewhere far away from the kitchen. Sweep the balcony.”

His smile reappeared, and he bounced away, resembling an eager golden retriever. There was no one more cheerful and good-natured than him.

While he was out of sight, I climbed the counter and retrieved my phone from atop the refrigerator. Glancing at it, I sighed. No reply from Patrick. I dialed his number, and it rang a few times. No answer. He couldn’t miss game night tonight—he couldn’t miss my best friends’ engagement.

“All this setting up would go much faster if we didn’t have guests standing around playing on their phones.” William’s deep voice reached across the living room as he packed away his controllers. “Shaun should have placed it higher.”

In the time I’d looked away, he’d also managed to hang the other banner.

I shoved my phone into my pocket. “I can climb anything.”

William straightened, and his mouth kicked up on one side to reveal the mischievous smirk he wore far too easily. “Good to know.”

Wicked man.

I grumbled and slid off the counter, landing on the floor at the same time William stepped into the kitchen carrying an empty glass. He stopped inches away from slamming into me. I craned my neck and looked up at him. His height always took me by surprise.

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