Page 41 of Fight For Us
“What? You really don’t believe me?” Oliva asked.
“Card games? Like Go Fish?” Alex asked, turning his head in our direction.
“Yeah, like Go Fish.”
“I don’t think so. Not with me, and Mom doesn’t really have any friends to play with but I don’t know.” He went back to playingMario Kartwith Lilly.
“See?” Olivia said. “I’m too pathetically friendless to play card games according to my ten year old.”
“Not anymore. Prepare to be texted nonstop. It’ll be your punishment for winning the bet.”
“Better than getting seven consecutive voicemails asking where you put your wallet.”
“True.” I flipped the phone open and closed a few times in my palm. “I’ll miss you, Old Betty.”
“Now it has a name? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I just gave her a name. She deserves one. It’ll go on her headstone.”
“And I thought our ten year olds were dramatic.” She laughed. “That thing belongs in a museum.”
“Don’t listen to her, Betty. She’s jealous of our love.”
“There has to be a reason why you’re so against a smartphone. Come on, Wesley, give it up.”
“Wesley? You’re hitting me with the full name?” She narrowed her eyes until I relented. “I don’t want to become one of those zombies who stare at their tiny screen nonstop. Life is too short, you know. Plus, me and phones… We have beef. But that’s a story for the next time you kick my ass in Spades.”
“Fair enough.” She stretched her arms over her head with a groan that sounded more than a bit suggestive. “How about we give Betty one last assignment before she retires in her old age?”
“I’m listening.”
“Order a few pizzas. All that winning made me hungry.” She smiled and her dark eyes gleamed.
“As you wish, Queen of Spades.”
“Oh, and don’t forget the pineapple.”
As if I could forget anything about her.
Chapter 17
Olivia
“Thank you again foroffering to cook.” I dropped the homemade apple pie I’d brought onto Shawn’s kitchen island and took in his spacious great room. We were celebrating Christmas early since they’d be out of town.
“No problem. I enjoy cooking and it’s nice to have more people to cook for. I thought I was going to have to eat an entire turkey on my own.”
“He really did,” Mia said. “We were looking at teeny frozen turkeys the other day at Publix, which weirded me out because they looked like babies. But then I was like, wait, Livvy and Alex live here now! I can’t believe it, sissy. Our first holiday together in forever.”
“It’s been too long.” I thought about Christmas last year and how the entire meal was cooked by caterers while we all stayedin our separate areas of the house until it was time to eat. I tried to make it fun for Alex by putting together a craft project in his playroom, but he declared he wasn’t a baby anymore and didn’t like finger painting. I ended up scrapping it, and cleaning the rest of the playroom while I was at it.
“Appetizers are set up in the living room,” Shawn said. “Just keep an eye on Remy. He likes to table surf.”
On cue, Shawn’s adorable golden retriever sniffed my leg, tail wagging. “I think Alex already snuck him some cheese.”
“Tell Alex to prepare to have a new best friend. Remy loves cheese almost as much as Mia.”
Mia poured us a few glasses of wine and announced that she’d be back to help once Shawn was done making love to the turkey. I laughed, but she wasn’t too far off, the man was massaging that thing with herbed butter like he was in love.
