Page 51 of Huge Games

"See you at Luizos?"

Dornan tears his attention away from his dad and waves. "See you there."

Marie is home, and Lonie is asleep in the car seat. I help my sister lift Lonie out and take the bag into the house. "How was your day?"

She nods with an expression of serenity that hadn't been present this morning. The miracles of a spa day. "The game?"

"They won."

"That's great."

"I'm going out for celebration pizza," I say.

"Followed by celebration group sex?"

"What?" Aiden sticks his head around the living room door into the hallway.

"Nothing." Marie waves him off, then presses her fingers over her lips. "Shit. Sorry."

"It's okay." I kiss Lonie's sweet forehead, but she nuzzles into her momma's neck, no longer interested in menow that her best buddy has returned.

I say my goodbyes and drive to the pizza place Dornan suggested, finding Dornan, Elias, and Travis waiting at a table. They must have gotten hungry because the table is already dominated by three tire-sized pizzas, already missing a few slices.

"Hey, Celine. Dig in."

Sliding next to Travis, I don't waste any time. The first bite is a slice of heaven and pepperoni. "Oh my god," I moan around my mouthful. "This is like the best kind of sex."

"I like pizza, but I could never compare it to sex." Travis shakes his head. "Especially not the kind of sex we've had."

"Ahh…" I rest my hand on his arm, flattered, even though it's a strange compliment.

"Eddie wasn't happy." Elias wipes his mouth on a serviette and tosses it onto the table.

"I don't give a fuck about Eddie."

His eyebrows rise with disbelief. "Really. Then what are we all still doing here?"

"It's called hanging out for a beer. You know, socializing with friends."

"Friends?"

Elias doesn't say, 'you're not my friends', but his comment comes out that way. I don't rise to it, though, because the truth is that he wouldn't be here if he didn't want to be. He likes this as much as the rest of us.

"You did good today, Elias. That play was insane."

He studies me, and I see the flicker of uncertainty in his expression. He was expecting me to bite back, but instead, I gave him a compliment. He's trying to work out if it's genuine. I get the feeling he isn't used to positive affirmations.

"I did what any other player would do."

"She's right." Dornan drops his half-chewed crust and picks up another loaded slice. "The drills you've been working on with Coach paid off."

"I wish I'd been able to watch," Travis says. "Sounds like a great game."

"It really was," I tell him. "It really was."

For the rest of the evening, we eat and talk, and Elias goes from being a grumpy bear to sharing our laughter. Travis tells us funny stories about his time at college and even funnier ones about his antics with his neighbor's best friends—Gabriella's boyfriends—and their mission to tease Gabriella mercilessly.

Dornan shares many embarrassing tales from high school when he was a geeky, skinny dude who had to struggle to grow into his Adam's apple. I can't imagine it, but there you go.

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