Page 18 of Pyre

Above them, the neon sign buzzed and flickered, throwing their shadows long and thin across the cracked pavement.

“You’re welcome,” Ruby muttered to no one in particular, rolling her shoulders with a wince as she limped toward the truck.

CHAPTER SIX

“WHAT DO YOUmean it reverses the plus four back to Kavya?” Ruby crushed the card in her hand and flung it onto the dining room table as Kavya groaned.

Lucas, his brown hair clipped short and neatly combed, reached out with practiced patience. His dark glasses caught the overhead light as he smoothed the card against the table, his large nose wrinkling slightly at Ruby's outburst. “It has both the plus four sign and the reverse sign,” he said calmly, but with a playful edge. “Just like it did the last two times you tried to play it on Jonah.”

Jonah, sitting across from her, sipped his beer, the corners of his mouth twitching as he failed to hide his delight in her confusion. Empty beer cans and soda bottles crowded the edges of the table, and a half-empty bowl of popcorn sat precariously close to the card deck. The faint smell of butter and salt mingled with the cheap lager Lucas swore was "an acquired taste."

“Bull. Shit. That is not a real card.” Ruby threw her hands up, glaring at the offending piece of cardboard. “It’s fake. This is fake Uno, you cheaters.”

Lucas leaned back in his chair, adjusting his glasses. “It’s real, and you’re mad because you didn’t pay attention when I explained the rules.” His expression was as serene as ever, but the faintest smirk betrayed his amusement.

“No, no, no. I play Uno. On this thing.” She gestured toward her phone. “I’ve played with strangers for months now. There’s no way I missed an entire card.”

Jonah snorted. “You play Uno online? That’s kinda sad.”

“Sorry, some of us have hobbies outside of drinking piss beer and posing for a camera,” she bit out, scratching her nose with her middle finger, “this version is almost as stupid as the twister game you made us play.”

Her last words were pointed at Lucas, who had insisted the team needed a “bonding experience” and invited (threatened) them to his apartment for a game night. Lucas's apartment was a mix of nerdy charm and practicality—Lego sets lined the bookshelves next to well-thumbed cookbooks and Marvel anthologies. A throw blanket featuring a galaxy print hung over the back of his wheelchair, and a stack of board games teetered precariously in the corner.

“You won that game,” Lucas reminded.

Beer sloshed gently over the edge of Jonah’s mug as he set it back on the table. “Only because she cheated.”

“Proof?” Ruby asked, passing him a napkin, knowing full well he was telling the truth. When Lucas had spun the color picker, she had karate chopped the back of his knee. Kavya hadn’t ratted her out, snickering as Jonah collapsed to the floor.

Lucas threw the rest of his beer, half the can, back and nodded at Kavya. “Want another?”

She shook her head. “Picking up the wife from book club after this.”

“I’ll take one,” Ruby quipped and Jonah rolled his eyes.

“That wasn’t funny the first time, much less the sixth one.”

Ruby threw a card, ninja-star style, as his head. He ducked and it fluttered harmlessly against a bookshelf. “Kill joy.”

Lucas chuckled, unlocking his wheelchair and heading to the fridge. Ruby counted her cards as she waited—only fiveremained, four of the same color and one plus six, another addition she was convinced was concocted for masochists. Everyone else had at least seven cards, maybe more, if her calculations were correct.

When Lucas returned, he played a plus four. Jonah also played a plus four, grinned directly at Ruby, and called out “Uno.”

“Bullshit!” Ruby stood, thrusting her finger in his face. “You had like five cards.”

He leaned back, pushing the front two legs of his chair into the air. “Yeah, like four turns ago. Your turn, honey.”

She sat, thinking, plotting, planning his demise. Glancing at Kavya, she willed her new co conspirator to understand her look. Kavya caught on, nodding slightly. Next she turned to Lucas, who winked. With a wide grin, she placed down her plus six. Kavya also played a plus six, followed by Lucas’s plus ten.

“Your turn,” she mocked, leaning toward Jonah, “honey.”

Jonah sighed and she mentally prepared her victory speech. “Oh no, however will I win?” His sarcastic tone whipped through her confidence and her eyebrows furrowed. “Read it and weep losers.” He tossed his final card, a plus ten, onto the deck.

“Bull sh—”

“Cop out!”

“Lame.”

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