Page 451 of Flirting with Darkness

“The more the merrier!” I said.

“Can I bring good pizza?” Dan asked.

“No,” Rhys, Nico, Fox, Deryn, and I said simultaneously.

Katar laughed and shook his head. “We’ve got to follow their rules, Dan. I’m sure the pizza won’t be terrible.”

“You’ll love it,” I promised. “Though, you should bring your own beers because I’m not sure we have the kind you like.”

“I know what they like,” Rhys said. “We can get it from the store when we pick up the pizzas.”

“You want us to bring anything?” Katar asked.

“A good attitude,” I said.

“Hard pass,” Emrys said with a serious expression.

I laughed so hard I had to clutch my stomach. These men were amazing and I was so lucky to have them in my life.

Once we finished our meals, we stopped at the store, and picked up snacks, frozen pizzas, and beer. The kings beat us to the house and were huddled around the game shelf, looking at the various games we had to play.

“Party games would be the best, so we can play split screen,” I said.

“Agreed,” Fox said with a nod.

“We can take turns swapping out the last place,” Deryn said.

“But then you’ll never get to play,” Dan teased with a challenging smirk.

“Bring it on, old man!” Deryn challenged back.

After explaining how the game and controls worked, we took turns sitting out to allow everyone a turn to play.

However, we discovered it was more entertaining watching Dan, Emrys, and Katar battle each other than to battle against him.

“You pushed me off!” Dan yelled as Katar forced Dan’s kart off the road and into lava.

“It’s called strategy, Dan,” Katar replied with a wide smile as he took first place.

Emrys got a blue turtle shell that automatically aimed for the first-place person. I expected him to use it right away, but he held it until they were all close to the finish line, him in second place, and then he sent it. Katar’s kart spun in a circle as Emrys and Dan both whizzed by.

“No!” Katar yelled and huffed as he set the controller down. “BS!”

“Not, BS. Strategy,” Emrys retorted and received a high-five from Dan.

“Lunch time!” Rhys announced as he and Deryn carried in the cooked pizzas.

Nico brought in a case of beers that had been in the fridge and set them on the floor beside the pizza.

“Alright,” Dan said reluctantly.

“You’ve got to accept it’s not a freshly made pizza first,” I said, trying and failing to hide a smile. “Plus, Rhys added some stuff to it to make it better.” Rhys was notorious for trying to improve on recipes, it had become an obsession after he’d watched a few “food hack” videos online.

Rhys handed each of the kings a paper plate with a slice of pizza.

We all watched, waiting to see their reactions.

Emrys was the first to take a bite, putting half the slice of pizza in his mouth for a single bite. He chewed and closed his eyes. “Delicious.”

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