Page 55 of When You Had Me Adapting

“We can’t name ourselves that,” Chris says.

“Why not?” Lacey asks. “It’s the name of their pickleball team.”

“It’s pretty inappropriate.”

“I think it’s funny. They have the cutest mascot. It’s a pickle and he’s got little pickleballs as balls,” she laughs.

“Suit yourselves,” he says, sounding like a pompous asshole.

“I’m cool with that,” I say. Chris’s eyes shoot in my direction and I stop myself from saying anything else.This fucking guy.Lacey offers me a small smile.

“It’s perfect,” Poppy adds, standing up and running towards the bar.

She returns with a pencil and an answer sheet. The music continues to play and the conversation around the table is a mix of updates about work and strategizing how we’re going to win the cabin. Chris stays mostly quiet and I can’t seem to figure out what he and Lacey have in common. Lacey brightens up the whole room and Chris somehow dims it.

“Where are Enzo and Donovan?” I ask.

“Out of town, but they fully expect us to win, so they can come to the cabin,” Lacey says.

“Of course they do.” I laugh.

“There are more of you?” Chris asks with a chuckle.

“Yep, Donovan and Enzo are getting married soon and Chloe was going to come, but her sitter canceled at the last minute,” Lacey explains.

“Have you all known each other for a long time?”

“Some of us have known each other longer than others,” I say, my eyes shifting to Lacey’s. Fuck, she looks beautiful tonight. I don’t know what I was thinking sitting directly across from her.

“What do you—” Chris begins, but he’s interrupted.

“Alright folks, it’s time to get tonight started.” The music fades as Leonard begins to talk. “Please take a moment to put your phones away. Cell phones will not be tolerated and your team will automatically forfeit if I see a phone being used at your table.” The restaurant fills with the sound of people putting away their phones and I place mine in my pocket.

“Okay, now that we’ve addressed the cell phone policy. There will be seven rounds of questions tonight. Each round will have three questions. I will ask a question and you will have until the end of the song to turn in your answers. You decide how many points you wager for each question. We’re going to start this off with a bang or should I say a POP! Your categories for round one are pop hits, poppin’ bodies, and popular sports.”

Poppy frantically jots down each category onto the slip of paper in front of her. Our waitress returns and drops off the first round of beer and grabs our pizza orders. “Okay, so when he asks the question, I’ll write our answer and run it up to him. We gotta be quick, so everyone be ready,” Poppy lectures.

“Yes ma’am,” Lacey quips, saluting Poppy with her hand.

Logan, Tanner, and I all stifle a laugh.

“Stop it. I really want to win this,” she says.

“We can tell,” Tanner chuckles. “Seems like Logan’s competitive nature is really rubbing off on you.”

“Is not,” Poppy argues.

“I beg to differ,” Lacey says, nudging Poppy with her elbow.

Poppy giggles, and Logan leans over and places a kiss on her forehead. “My girl knows what she wants, and she wants that cabin.”

“We got this,” I say, offering them a smile. I let my eyes explore the restaurant. There are at least ten other tables participating in trivia night, and each one looks more intense than the last. We definitely have our work cut out for us.

“Okay, your first category is pop hits. This song, originally released in 2019 and then re-released as a single in 2023, is now Taylor Swift’s most streamed song of all time.” Another eighties song starts to blare through the speakers.

Lacey and Poppy whisper-scream “Cruel Summer” at each other, and Poppy scribbles it down.

“Are we sure?” Chris asks.

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