Page 35 of Just My Puck
“Try mine and decide?”
She places her lips on my glass,and that small action does the weirdest thing to my body. A sparking current spreads across my chest, and I have to swallow hard to focus. At the same time, my heart speeds up for no good reason, and the air feels suddenly thicker between us.
She scrunches her nose, struggling to swallow her sip.
“Not a fan, huh?” I joke. I glance at Wally, who’s still stoic next to me.
“Ew, no. I don’t like that.” She wipes her mouth with the back of her forearm. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I blow out a chuckle. “That’s good to know. Let’s see if Deacon can pour a few samples for you to try.”
We head to the bar, and Deacon gives Aria samples of some popular cocktails and drinks. Once she finds out she likes iced tea the most, we join the rest of the group, who are all lounging on the couches, debating what game to play.
“Oh, you guys play games,” Aria whispers while sitting down next to me, a frown clouding her face. “I won’t know how to play.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say, not bothering to lower my voice since the guys are so vocal. “We usually don’t, and I think you can guess why,” I say, glancing at the guys, who are still arguing between Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit.
“Ugh! You guys are giving me aheadache,” Beth says. She stands up, but Adler catches her, sitting her on his lap. They start kissing, and he whispers sweet nothings in her ear.
“Get a room!” Miles calls out.
James comes up for air and says, “We will make out right here in front of everyone for the rest of the night if we don’t start playing Pictionary in the next five minutes.”
“Dude, seriously?” Beaumont groans. “You’re unbelievable. Hayley and I could do the same for Trivial Pursuit, you know.”
“Be my guest,” Adler says with a smirk. “Then we’ll all be making out in the same room. Not weird at all.”
“Um, captain’s veto on that one,” I interject. “You guys are unbelievable.”
“Well? Are we playing or what?” Adler asks.
Miles releases a breath. “Fine, let’s play Pictionary. But next time, we’ll play Trivial Pursuit.”
Adler kisses Beth one more time, then flashes a grin. “Let’s get this party started.”
The game is going surprisingly well. We split into two teams. Adler, Beth, Marissa, and Miles against Beaumont, Hayley, Aria, Wally, and me. We havea one-player advantage, but they were happy to split up the teams this way. Frankly, I’m more than happy to be on Wally’s team. They probably aren’t aware that he knows how to draw. Since he doesn’t talk much, he has to express himself in other ways.
Marissa grins, grabbing a card. “Watch and learn, boys.”
She starts drawing, and everyone goes quiet. It’s an odd shape. Honestly, I have no idea what she’s trying to do here.
“Oh, I think I know,” Aria whispers into my ear, sending goosebumps sweeping over my skin. She’s been an amazing teammate so far, bringing home three points for us.
I give her a questioning look.
“A lamp or a bulb, or maybe light?” she murmurs.
I glance at the drawing, and the strange shape makes sense now. “Right. I think that’s it.”
Marissa’s team shoots a bunch of nonsense answers at her—including “house” and “book,” and she’s clearly getting frustrated. I guess Miles isn’t the only sore loser in their couple. She focuses on the outline of her light bulb.
“Oh, it’s a lamp!” Beth exclaims.
“Ten seconds left,” Wally calls from beside me, his deep voice reverberating around the room.
Marissa draws some sparks around the light bulb.
“Light!” Adler yells.
