Page 72 of Romancing the Grump
But now I’m determined to prolong this as long as possible. Fortunately for me, I have a lot of practicenot smiling.
“Okay! Time for Catan,” Eli says, clapping his hands as he moves toward the coffee table where he and Bailey have set up the game.
I follow Summer to the couch, and she sits down beside me, close enough that our thighs are fully pressed together, and I’m immediately enveloped in the subtle scent of her perfume. I have no idea what it is. It could be flowers or fruit or some combination of both, but I’ve already decided it’s my new favorite scent.
She reaches over and squeezes my knee. “Just ask me if you have questions—or if you can’t remember the rules.”
What I didn’t tell Summer before is that my college freshman roommate, Jordan, played Settlers of Catan at a competitive level, a game I didn’t even know existed until I walked into my dorm on move-in day and saw eight different boxes on his bed. Every version of the game, every expansion pack, every extra anything possible to make the game longer and more complicated. I’d never even heard of it then, and when he offered to teach me how to play one night after hockey practice, I immediately declined.
But he kept asking, and eventually, I caved.
It ended up being an unexpected way to destress after a hard practice or a difficult loss or a long string of away games that sapped my energy and left me behind in all my classes.
Eventually, I got good enough at the game that Jordan started teaching me his strategies so I could play them back on him and help him discover ways to improve them. I never did beat him, not in nine months of sharing a dorm, but I’m betting on my experience level being slightly higher than anyone else who’s here.
“Who needs the rules?” Eli asks. “Does everyone know how to play?”
Gracie has never played before, but Felix has, Bailey has been playing since she was in high school and recently taught Eli, and Logan has never played but Parker learned while she was in college, so there’s at least one person on every team who knows enough that we can just start. I don’t volunteer my history one way or the other, but Summer is vocal about knowing how to play, so I assume they take my silence to mean Idon’t.
Which is all the better. I have every intention of delivering the win Summer wants, and it’ll be easier if they underestimate me.
After a quick roll of the dice, it’s determined that Logan and Parker will place their settlement first, which means Summer and I will go last. This was always Jordan’s preference. When you’re last, you get to place two settlements at once which means you can be slightly more strategic.
Looking at the board, I immediately see where our first settlement should go. Summer must see it too, because she places it exactly where I would. But the second one—she’s looking in an entirely different spot. Seconds before her hand touches the board, I snake an arm around her waist and squeeze. She freezes in midair, her eyes shifting to mine. Igive her the tiniest head shake and she immediately understands, playing off the moment like she’s just debating on her own.
Slowly, I inch my hand upward and loosely grab her elbow, tugging her arm toward the best spot.
She drops our game piece onto the board, then leans back, settling into the curve of my arm. She looks up, blue eyes flashing. “You have some explaining to do,” she whispers.
My lips twitch. “Just follow my lead,” I whisper back.
It takes about four more rounds before the rest of the group starts to pick up on my not-so-beginner status. Bailey is clearly my fiercest competitor, and after an hour, we’re so far ahead of the other two teams, they’re only serving as obstacles to the game we’re playing against each other.
Summer has long since stopped making suggestions, but I’m still hyperaware of her. Every time she puts a hand on my shoulder as she leans over the board or grabs my arm to cheer when something goes our way, I feel her touch like a hot brand against my skin. I’m focused on the game, but in the back of my mind, all I can think of is her. How much I wanted to kiss her when her finger brushed over my lip. How good it felt to hold her against me.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it. How I’m supposed to reconcile what I know about myself with what Iwant.
Finally, I upgrade a settlement to a city and get the final game-winning point.
Bailey groans and drops back into her chair. “Okay. Spill it. How did you become such a Catan ninja?”
“That’s actually the first time I’ve ever won,” I say, because it’s the truth. Not thewholetruth, but I’ve had these skills in my back pocket for years, and I’ve never had thechance to use them. I’m not going to spoil the fun by spilling my secrets now.
“Liar,” Eli says. “You played like a freaking scientist. Like you were planning each turn five turns ahead.”
Iwasplanning each turn five turns ahead, but I wave a dismissive hand. “Nah. Just got lucky.”
Summer eyes me curiously while Eli grumbles, leaning down to help Bailey clean up the game.
“You just gotlucky,” Summer repeats, her expression dubious.
I meet her sparkling blue gaze and lift a finger to my lips in a shushing motion.
The rest of the group heads to the kitchen for dessert, and we follow, but halfway there, Summer stops, pulling her vibrating phone out of her pocket.
She gasps and holds up the screen. “Nathan. It’s Franklin. He’s finally calling us back.”
CHAPTER 17
