Page 154 of The Games We Play
And I’d smirk.
Because no one knew.
Our secret. Ours alone.
A theme for us.
Yeah, I’d cleaned the hell out of that bar afterward. But some things don’t wash away. And honestly? I didn’t want them to.
I was ready to stop holding back.
I loved this woman.
Probably too much for my own good.
“What are you two doing here?” I asked, eyeing Ellie and Logan suspiciously as they settled near the bar.
“We’re here as the friend representatives,” Ellie said matter-of-factly. “The others couldn’t make it, so we’re gathering intel and reporting back.”
“What intel?” I asked, leaning my forearms on the bar, my eyes narrowing slightly.
“This is going to be a group effort,” Aspen announced, not even glancing up as she typed furiously into her laptop.
I shot Logan and Ellie a look. They both shrugged likedon’t ask us.
“I thought I was the one confessing my love to Penny,” I said, pointing dramatically at myself. “Not you guys.”
Finally, Aspen looked up. She placed a hand over her heart and sighed dreamily.
“Hearing you say you love my best friend makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”
“With what you’ve got planned,” Logan chimed in, his tone unusually stern, “you’re gonna need all the help you can get. So quit whining.”
I raised my hands in mock surrender, lips twitching into a grin.
Fair enough.
“So,” I said, glancing around at the small but determined group of co-conspirators. “Where do we want to start?”
“I’m going to order the things we need. Hopefully, I can get them delivered before the weekend,” Aspen said, typing away on her laptop.
Ellie leaned over the polished surface, eyes curious. “Did you have any inspiration? Any visuals we can see to get the full picture of what you’re planning?”
I hummed and pulled out my phone. Aspen had introduced me to Pinterest—more like, demanded I download it and start building what she called amood board. It was a good tool to help us visualize everything we wanted for this grand plan.
Navigating to the shared board we’d been building, I turned the screen toward Ellie. Logan slid in beside her to get a look, though judging by the blank expression on his face, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.
Aspen tapped Ellie’s shoulder and took the phone, then passed it to Logan as she continued typing. He held the phone awkwardly, squinting at the images like they were a puzzle he didn’t have the pieces for.
Then my phone dinged.
Once.
Twice.
A third time.
Logan handed it back quickly, as if sensing something was up. One glance at the screen, and I nearly groaned.
