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“You want to lose again?” his friend asks. A stark contrast. Dark hair, dark eyes, and an intensity that scares me.

It’s a bit unnerving, if I’m being honest.

“No one asked you, Connor.” She waves him off. “So you’re up or not?”

“Sure.” The taller one points at himself. “I’m Brandon, by the way.” He gestures towards his friend. “This here is my cousin, Connor. Hope you can handle your alcohol, swee—What’s your name?”

I bite my lip, trying to quell the nervousness fluttering in my stomach. “Lil.” I offer my hand.

Brandon shakes it. “Didn’t know I’m making a contract here.”

“Leave her alone. She’s not used to this,” Ju says.

“My apologies. Well, then.” Brandon dips his head and is about to place a kiss on the top of my hand when Ju hauls me to the side.

“I told you to leave her alone. Plus, she’s taken,” Ju says.

Am I? Does she mean Mike?

“I bet she is,” Brandon says.

I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol or his brazen confidence, but I feel off-balance.

“Let’s start,” Connor says gruffly.

Ju places an arm around my shoulders. “Be ready to lose. We’ll win, right, Lil?”

God, this is so not me. I don’t do parties, I don’t do drinking games, and I definitely don’t do flirting with random guys. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. I can do this. It’s just a game, right?

We line up on opposite sides of the table, red cups filled with beer arranged in a pyramid formation.

Connor sinks his first shot with ease, the ping-pong ball landing in one of our cups. “Drink up.”

Ju hands the beer to me with an apologetic shrug. Fantastic. I grimace as I lift the beer to my lips. It’s warm and tastes disgusting, but I force myself to swallow it. How do people drink this stuff for fun?

“Don’t worry, it’ll get better.” She pats my shoulder.

Brandon chuckles. “You sure you got the right partner there?”

“Oh, it’s on now, pretty boy.” She hands me the ball.

“What? No.” I try to give it back to her. “You do it.”

“No. We need beginner’s luck.” Ju pushes my hand back.

My hands shake as I stare at the ping-pong ball in my palm. This is not going to work. I glance at Brandon, his cocky grin making my stomach flip. Or it’s the beer. I can’t tell.

“You got this,” Ju says. “Just throw it.”

“Throw it?” I imitate the movement.

“Yes, you’re good at math, right? Angles and stuff?”

Geometry and physics. Simple trajectories and velocity.

“Yo, Bash.” Brandon waves at someone behind us. “Where you been, man? We got freshmen at the table tonight. Cute ones.” He winks at Ju.

“Ew, Bran, leave that for Naomi.”

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