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“Eudora Welty,” Deacon answers.

Cam’s mouth drops open.

“You’re not the only smart person sitting at this table, Campbell.” Deacon says casually.

“Damn!” Pauly laughs and hits his hand on the table. “This just got interesting! You’ve been holding out on us, D. Who knew such a pretty boy was so smart, too?”

I interrupt Pauly’s chuckle, “Pauly, we all did. If you had an ounce of smarts yourself, you would've picked up on that little fact by now.”

This elicits a round of laughter from the group.

Tiny passes out a round of beer, and we watch intently as the game unfolds.

Cam and Deacon seem to be pretty evenly matched.

When they each only need one more piece to win, Cam gets an answer wrong, a year, by one number.

“No!” Victoria yells.

“Damn. So close.” I laugh.

“It’s not over yet,” Lexi reminds us. “Deacon has to answer the next question correctly.”

Cam grabs a card from the box and asks, “Okay, who donated the thirty-five-thousand-dollar wedding ring she won on an ill-fated Fox show to the Make-A-Wish Foundation?”

“Darva Conger,” Deacon answers without missing a beat.

Campbell’s mouth drops open, and her eyes open wide as she stares in disbelief at Deacon. The group cheers, excited for Deacon’s victory. None of us have a dog in this fight, but we’re definitely happy our boy won. We hardly need a reason to be competitive. It’s in our blood.

Deacon smiles. “When do you want to go on that date, Campbell?”

Lexi looks at me with a big smile. I love seeing her happy. This girl is still a mystery. She has this snarkiness that comes out at random times that makes me do a double take. It can be off-putting. But I’ve never been intimidated by a woman who knows how to speak her mind. Most of the time, I can’t get enough of her.

Like right now.

The way she looks at Cam, so proud, her smile carefree—she’s the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I can’t wait to take her home and show her exactly how I feel.

* * *

Lexi’sbare body lays atop mine. She props herself up on her elbows and looks into my eyes as I run lazy circles up and down her back with my fingertips.

“Should we leave the house today? Maybe go do something?” I ask.

“Why?” She quirks a brow.

“Except for Deacon’s barbecue, we’ve spent the past four days in this bed.” I shake my head with a grin. “You’re only in town a few more days. Is there anything you want to do?”

“You,” she quips.

“Besides me.” I smack her ass, and she yelps.

I took furlough the past two days and stayed home from work. I have a shit ton saved since I never use it. The desire to stay in bed with Lexi won out, and I called in—something I rarely do.

I have no regrets. The time off has been pretty great. We spend our days eating, sleeping, talking, and making love. The use oflovemight be a stretch, but she and I have gone past fucking that’s for sure. It’s something more now. It’s intense and full of so many emotions, I can’t properly name them. I just know that they’re there, and I like it. I like her—a lot.

If I’m being honest, I don’t want her to leave on Saturday. That sentiment alone seems a little dramatic given I met the girl less than a week ago. There’s just something fascinating about her, and if she’s in Florida, I won’t have the opportunity to figure it all out.

“Seriously, though. I must go back to work tomorrow—”

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