“I’m going to win the next one.”

“I’m sure you will,” he said.

I glared playfully at him while scrambling the tiles again.

The next game was played in complete silence. I won, but justbarely—Aiden was about three seconds away from ending the game himself.

“That was impressive to behold,” he admitted. “But I’m still winning two games to one.”

“Savor it while you can,” I teased.

Our hands were a flurry of activity as we started the fourth game. This time I decided to try to throw him off by chatting as we played.

“You like the Phillies more than the Eagles?”

“Damn right I do. Bryce Harper is a hero who deserves a statue alongside Rocky Balboa. And you can’t distract me with questions. I can multi-task.”

“I’m just trying to be friendly.”

“Sure you are. Do you have any teams you follow? You grew up in Colorado?”

I nodded. “But the Rockies were never any good, so I became a Red Sox fan when I was in college.”

Aiden played a long word that made me wince. “Boston has the most insufferable sports fans in the world.”

“Take that back!” I demanded.

“They’re spoiled! The Patriots and Red Sox have more rings in the past two decades than most cities have in their entire history. And that’s not even talking about how good the Celtics and Bruins have been.”

“It’s not my fault Boston is a city of champions.”

“No, but you have tosufferto be a real fan. You have to earn your championships by enduring losing seasons.”

“Is that what makes a good fan?” I asked. “Suffering?”

“Absolutely. Philadelphia fans know years of suffering. It hardens us. Makes us tough.”

“That’s one way to describe it,” I said, playing another word. I only had half my tiles remaining to play, but so did Aiden.

He wasted a second glancing up at me. “How would you describe it?”

“Come on. Philadelphia is famous for having the worst fans in the world.”

“We’repassionate. That’s all.”

“Don’t get me wrong: I love living here,” I said, playing another word. “But the most famous athlete in your city isn’t even real! Rocky Balboa is afictional character!”

His dark eyes sparkled. “You’re dangerously close to dropping down to the B-tier.”

“So I’m currently in the A-tier? Hell yes.” I slammed down my final word and threw my hands up. “BANANAS!”

Aiden groaned. “You distracted me with slander against a Philadelphia hero. That wasn’t fair.”

I gave him the most smug smile I could manage. “I thought you said you couldn’t be distracted.”

“You’re uniquely good at getting under my skin. Two to two,” he said, shuffling the tiles together. “One more game to break the tie?”

I stuck out my chin. “Do your worst.”