Page 47 of Ice Block

“I just want to thank everyone so much for coming.” Olivia wobbles and toasts to our small group, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Not only for tonight, but for coming here this week to celebrate me and Hayes. I still can’t believe this isn’t a dream! And just as much as I love Hayes, I am so happy to have all of you in my life. Maggie, you’ve been the best friend a girl could ask for for somany years, and I love you so much. Thank you for this party. Though,” she bites her lip, looking around the dick garden I created just for her, “I could have done without some of the decor. Kara and Shelly, I’m so grateful to have you both as well. Thank you for making this such a special week and a special night.”

I stand next to her, putting my head on hers. “We love you too, Liv, and we are so happy for you. Let’s get this place cleaned up and get you back to that knight of yours.”

“Wait, wait, wait, I’m not tired yet!” Kara whines. “Let’s stay a little longer. Oh! We haven’t played a game yet! This party can’t be over until we play a game!”

I look at Kara, scrambling to think of a delicate way to say this. “I’m sorry, Kara, but Liv and Ihateplaying party games. I promised her none and didn’t plan any.”

“Well, lucky for you,Ihappen to know a game we can play with no preparation.”

We all laugh, and I look to Olivia, silently asking if she’s okay with this. We both smile and shrug at one another.

“Hell…I’m in,” Shelly pipes up. “I know we just met, Kara, but as your new self-appointed bestie, I’m down for a game! What did you have in mind?”

“How about a little game of Never Have I Ever?”

Liv and I take our seats again, settling in for whatever Kara has in store. I force a smile, but my body is already longing for my bed, my buzz fading after a long-ass day.

“Everyone knows how the game works? We each go around and say something we’ve never done, and if you have done it, you take a drink.”

We all nod, understanding the rules.

“Yay! How about we let the bride go first? Then Maggie, then Shelly, and I’ll go last.”

We all nod again, and Olivia picks up her drink, looking up at the ceiling, trying to think of something.

“Okay, I got one. Never have I ever hiked Mt. Everest.”

The entire group lets out a collective groan.

Olivia blinks, her eyes darting between all of us. “What’s wrong with my thing?”

“Olivia,” I tilt my head, giving her my best side-eye, “the point is to ask something raunchy. Dirty.Spicy.Like…it has to be something done in the bedroom.”

Her eyes widen comically large, a shocked gasp leaving her lips. “That wasnotexplained in the rules just now.” She leans closer, cupping her hand around her mouth. “Besides, we’re inpublic.”

Kara intervenes, a sneaky smirk lifting her lips. “Too bad, Liv. You’re getting married and wearing a penis around your neck. It has to be sex related.”

Olivia slumps back in her seat with a sigh. “Fine, fine. Okay, let me think of something else.” We all wait in silence, all of us staring at her in anticipation. She groans, scrunching her face while she thinks. “Maggie, you go first; it’ll give me time to think.”

“Only because you’re the bride. Never have I ever…hooked up with a co-worker.”

I look around and see only Olivia take a drink. “Oh my God, Liv; what?! WHO?!”

“Hayes, you dummy! He’s my co-worker…him as a player, me as the team anthem singer? We’re co-workers…sort of!”

I let out a deep sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God. Can you imagine hooking up with Sausage Fingers?”

Olivia cringes, her nose scrunching in disgust. “Oh God, Maggie! Don’t make me puke.”

“Okay, Shelly, you’re up!” Kara says, desperate to continue our game.

“Sweet. I have a good one,” she says with an evil grin on her face. “Never have I ever…fucked a goalie.”

I look around at my friends, all of them smirking at me, all of them holding their drinks still.

“You are evil, you know that? This is supposed to be about embarrassingOlivia,not calling me out,” I grumble, narrowing my brows as I take a drink.

“Hey, it fits the rules of the game! And I figured maybesomeonein this group has done that.”

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