Page 57 of No One Wants That (Blitzen Bay)

“I’ll play beer pong if Raine’s my partner,” Alex says.

“Hell, no,” Butch says. “She’s always my partner.”

“Then, pass. How about poker?” Alex says, looking at the poker chips on the table. “Millie, Raine told me you like to play.”

“I do like to play,” Millie says, taking an aggressive step toward Alex. He backs up quickly.

Butch grabs Millie and pushes her down onto Mason’s lap. “Alex has spent enough of his money. You’re not taking any more from him.”

“What? No, wait, I’m good at poker,” Alex says, looking from Butch to Millie. “Are you a good player, Millie?”

“Millie plays poker like a sniper shoots a gun,” Butch says, getting another beer out of the cooler. “Believe me, you don’t want to play with her. No one does.”

“Okay,” Alex says, taking another step back as Millie continues to stare at him. “How about another game?”

“We could play Never Have I Ever?” Elle says. “It’s a good way to get to know each other.”

“Isn’t that like a grade school game?” Alex says.

“Damn, what grade school did you go to, Alex?” I say. “It’s a drinking game.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Mason says, looking at Millie. “Do you know it?”

“Yeah, it’s like a truth-telling game, right? You say “never have I ever” followed by something you’ve never done and anyone who has done it has to drink. Is that right, Kit?”

“Yeah, but our family plays for money. It’s pretty cutthroat. Everyone starts with two poker chips—each one representing whatever denomination the group decides on. The person who has all of the chips at the end takes home the money.”

“How do we get other people’s chips?” Raine asks, rubbing her hands together.

“The trick is you want to find only one person around that table that has done the thing that you haven’t done,” I say. “If that happens you get all of their chips and they’re automatically out of the game. Like if I say—never have I ever jumped into a rock quarry and broken my foot. I’m guessing Elle’s the only one who’s done that, so I’d get all of her chips and force her out of the game.”

“What’s this?” Nash says, looking down at Elle. “You broke your foot?”

“I told you about that,” she says, kissing his cheek. “It was a dare.”

“What happens if more than one person has done it?” Butch says, sitting down next to me. He puts his arm around the back of my chair.

“If a few people have done the thing,” Elle says, “you get half the chips from each person who’s done it.”

“And if no one’s done it,” I say, scooting forward in my chair as Butch’s hand drops to my shoulder, “you have to give all of your chips to someone else at the table—your choice—and then you’re out of the game. But that shouldn’t happen because you need to be sure someone else has done it before you say it. Does everyone want to play?”

“Naw, man,” Butch says, putting his hand back on my shoulder. “I don’t want to play. That sounds stupid.”

“You don’t want to play because you hate to lose and you know you’ll lose immediately,” Millie says, kicking his leg. “You’ve done everything. I don’t even think you could come up with a never.”

Butch stretches his arms out and cracks his knuckles. “Challenge accepted. I’ll play if I get to go first.”

“Do we really want to play?” Mason says, looking from Butch to Millie. “You two get crazy competitive with each other.”

“Stay out of it, Mase. This is between me and your woman,” Butch says. “Mills, last chance to call it off before I take you down.”

“Come at me,” Millie says, leaning back against Mason’s chest. “You don’t scare me. There’s nothing I’ve done that you haven’t done at least a hundred times.”

“It’s on.” Butch grabs the poker chips. “Everyone grab two.”

Millie locks her eyes into Butch’s as she grabs her chips. “What do you think you know about me?”

“You getting scared, Mills?” Butch says, pulsing his eyebrows. He looks around at the group. “What denomination are we assigning to the chips?”

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