Page 105 of Love is a Game

“Do you know all the secrets?” Pen muses.

“He can’t know all the secrets!” Vivian assures her. “Like gosh, he definitely couldn’t know about Violet!”

“No fucking way,” Pen agrees.

“Nope. Did not see that coming,” Mom chimes in. “ButNora? I totally knew she was dating Harvey’s dorm-buddy first.”

“But the real shocker—” Vivian leans forward, lowering her voice. “Was about the screaming orgasms he was giving other women that made Nora curious enough to dump her ex for him.”

“Vivian!” Mom makes a dramatic zip-it motion from the front seat. “Please remember the NDA!” Then she thumbs at me as if I’m some great security risk.

“Oh yeah, sure,” Vivian backtracks, barely keeping a straight face. “I mean, that didn’t seem so bad. Neither did Jess crushing on her best friend’s brother.”

“Yeah,” Pen pipes up. “Jess was so stressed sharing that. But holy hell, not even Raquel could outdo Violet’s clanger. That’s some next level shit.”

“Shhh!” Mom instructs them again. As if I—her own son—can’t be trusted.

What the hell else did they spill?

And more importantly, what the hell did Pen say?

I get Vivian home after talking her out of going to the restaurant to ‘help out’. She drops her keys three times and nearly tries to unlock her house with her phone before finally giving me a thumbs-up from inside the doorway.

Pen, at least, manages to get in on the first attempt. Small victories.

I return from leaving Mom in Dad’s capable hands—who’s already rummaging for Tylenol—only to find Pen sprawled across the couch, one arm flung dramatically over her head.

“I do have thoughts,” she announces, pointing at me like she’s about to deliver a TED Talk.

I sigh, dropping into the chair opposite her.

“About you. Us. Me. You.” She circles a hand like she’s conjuring an invisible equation.

“Maybe tonight’s not the best time for deep thoughts,” I suggest carefully.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re drunk, Pen. And not mildly.”

“Druck. Smunk…” Her leg slowly slides off the edge of the couch.

“How about we get you to bed?”

She tilts her head, eyes flickering playfully. “Yeah. How about it?” She tries to wink, but it’s more of a slow, exaggerated blink.

“Shower first?”

She frowns, wiggling her fingers. “I have had so much water today my fingers went like…mush. Mushy potatoes. Skin.”

“Something tells me you didn’tdrinkmuch water, though.”

“You know what, Tuck?” She grins proudly. “You’re right! But Raquel says that’s okay. That sometimes you have to let off steam.”

“Sounds like Raquel had a lot of wisdom to share.”

“Oh, she did. She also said I have nice hair and that I’m a great designer, and…” She snaps her fingers, searching for the lost thought. “Oh yeah. That I’m going about the baby thing completely wrong.”

“Really?” I try to keep my tone neutral as I reach for Pen’s hands, pulling her upright.

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