“Since when do you like Jack Daniels?”
“Since when do you wear sweaters?”
Silence. My comeback is a little weak, but he gives it to me.
“What are Kelly and Patrick doing here?”
“My mom invited them. For us.”
“For what? Extra competition?”
“She thinks Kelly will woo you.”
He laughs and my heart grows three sizes in my chest. With the added blood flow it provides, I work up the courage to look up at him. His brown hair is ridiculously adorable and wavy. His cheekbones seem sharper than ever. He brings my cup to his lips and takes a sip before handing it back to me. I want to throw it in his face but I also want to kiss him. Luckily I see Kelly eyeing us from the doorway to the kitchen and do neither. I know she wants to come over and chat with Lucas, wants to swoop in and bat her big brown eyes. The image of her smiling up at him churns my stomach.
“So that means Patrick is here for you?” he asks, bringing my attention back to him.
I toy with my cup. “Presumably. I think my mom is hoping he’ll adopt me like a stray.”
“You’re too wild. You’d eat him alive.”
I don’t deny it.
My mom claps and announces the start of game night. As I walk back into the living room with Lucas trailing behind me, I realize she’s rearranged things in the time it took Madeleine and me to get ready upstairs. So much for feng shui.
“Lucas, you’ll sit there, and Daisy, you’re here.”
She’s put us on opposite sides of the room and everyone laughs except for Lucas and me.
“You’ve hidden all the sharp objects, right?” Patrick laughs.
“Do you have a barrier we can put between them?” Mr. Thatcher asks.
“Maybe a fence would be best,” Kelly adds, looking around the room to confirm we find her funny. I want to tell her she killed it. The joke is over.
“All right, c’mon,” Lucas says with an easy smile. “We’ve both agreed to keep things civil, right Daisy?”
That’s what he says, but my brain twists his words into foreplay: We’ve agreed to keep things sexual, right Daisy?
I clear my throat and nod weakly.
He’s sitting across the living room from me, smiling with his perfect mouth and perfect dimple, wearing that awful cobalt blue sweater. It’s beautiful. I want to maul him.
“Yup. Yeah. Agreed. Let’s get this show on the road.”
The next hour is spent in hell. I’m positioned between Patrick and Mrs. Thatcher, and though I love Mrs. Thatcher, I can’t get a word in edgewise with her because Patrick is doing his best to monopolize my time. Kelly meanwhile, has sandwiched herself between Lucas and our dusty bookshelf. There was no chair there, but she dragged one over. It’s uncomfortable, but she doesn’t mind. She stays close to Lucas and I didn’t notice it before, but her dress is really low cut. Every time she leans in close to talk to him, her boobs graze his arm. I want to announce an open casting call for the church’s Christmas play so she will be compelled to leave.
No one lets up on me or Lucas, and they watch us like hawks. It’s as if we’re a reboot season of a long-canceled TV show, and they’re watching to see if it’s still just as good. I spite them by staying on my best behavior. Standing, I take my turn in charades. Patrick is my partner and he’s supposed to guess what movie title I’m miming, but his guesses make no sense.
“Um…uhh…The Godfather?! No…Finding Nemo!”
I look back at Lucas and he mouths, “Star Wars.”
I drop my imaginary lightsaber and stand frozen. I’m back in that exam room on my knees with the taste of him in my mouth. Lucas knows it. He tilts his head and smiles. The buzzer chimes and we lose another round.
“We’ll get them next time, Daisy!” Patrick says, chipper.
“You guys are down by ten points,” Madeleine points out, then sees my frown and adds, “But I guess anything’s possible.”
Kelly and Lucas are in the lead and Dr. McCormick says they make a great team. I’m sick of playing and maybe I grumble a little too loudly as I go back to my seat.
“Don’t be a sore loser, Daisy,” my mom says in front of everyone.
My cheeks burn.
“Reminds me of the time Lucas beat her out for preschool line leader,” Mrs. Thatcher says with a laugh. “She was so furious.”
Dr. McCormick and my mom are up next and I eye the stairs, wondering how awkward it would be if I left in the middle of game night. I nearly do it, but then it’s Lucas and Kelly’s turn again and I watch them because this twisting sensation in my stomach is new. It’s new and it hurts. I focus on it as Kelly mimes Alice in Wonderland and Lucas guesses it in record time. Kelly squeals and throws herself into his arms. I leap up from my chair like I’ve been personally violated and everyone whips around to watch me, waiting for me to react.