Page 54 of Game Changer
We order bottles of wine, then appetizers to share.There’s lots of noisy chatter and laughter, food being passed around and glasses filled.Molly talks animatedly with Taylor and Lacey, laughing at the story about the fight that broke out at Lacey and Théo’s wedding, and telling them about her job teaching third grade.
“I work with kids too,” Taylor says.“They’re so much fun.”
“They can be.One of my kids had been away for a few days because his grandfather passed away.When he came back, he said that he’d been away because his grandpa died and he had to be a polar bear.”
They gaze blankly back at her.
“He was a pall bearer,” she finishes smiling, cracking everyone up.“It was so cute.”
At one point, JP returns from the men’s room, shaking his head.“Well, that was awkward.”
“What?”Wyatt asks, picking up a potato skin.
“Some dude in the bathroom came and stood at the urinal right beside me.Every other one was empty.”
All the guys make appropriate sounds of consternation.
The women exchange looks.
“At least he didn’t try to make conversation,” I say.
“Oh, he did,” JP says.
We all groan even louder.
“That’s not allowed?”Molly asks with a grin.
“It’s an unwritten guy rule,” I reply.“There’s nothing than can’t wait to be said until you’re both finished.”
Everyone cracks up.
“Are there other unwritten guy rules?”Everly asks.
“Oh yeah,” I say.“We have to kill all the spiders.”
“Not me,” JP says.“I’m not going near those fuckers.”
Taylor grins.“I’m the spider killer.”
“Also, when you’re in the bathroom in a stall and someone else comes in, you have to cough or make some kind of noise so they know they’re not alone,” Wyatt puts in.
The rest of us guys nod solemnly in agreement.
“And never leave a bro hanging when he tries to high five you,” I add.“That’s just wrong.”
The women are falling over in laughter.
Molly and I convince the others to sign up for the trivia event.As things get started, she and I do our secret handshake—two fingers, a couple of backhanded slaps and a fist bump.
“What was that?”Théo asks, ginning widely.
“Lucky handshake,” I reply.“We do it every trivia contest.”
I catch Everly giving me a strange look.
“What?”I ask.
“Nothing.”She shakes her head, lips tipped up.“It’s cute.”
