Page 111 of Claim to Fame

Their lips met in a heated kiss, her mouth parting for him. He twisted to pull her closer and his elbow collided with the steering wheel, the loud honk startling them both. She laughed and kissed him again, softer this time.

“Screw trivia,” he purred. “Let’s go home.”

A loud banging on the side of the truck pulled them apart and Ethan turned to see Gavin through the driver’s side window. “You’re back!” Gavin exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

“Go away. We’re busy,” Ethan shouted through the closed window.

Hannah laughed. “Come on. It’s time for me to defend my win.”

“Hannah, good to see you again,” Gavin said with a grin when they climbed out of the truck.

Tessa slammed into Hannah’s side, nearly knocking her over as she wrapped her in a hug. “I knew it! I knew you two would work things out!”

Ethan caught Hannah’s eye over Tessa’s shoulder as the two women hugged. His whole body felt warm, his blood fizzy.

“You’re back!” Kyla leapt at the tangle of limbs, joining in on the group hug. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

“That depends,” Hannah said with a laugh. “What do you think it means?”

“That we get to keep you,” Kyla said.

“Excuse me, I’m the one who gets to keep her,” Ethan said.

“Nope. Sorry. She belongs to all of us now, just like we all belong to her,” Kyla said.

“Lost your girl already? I thought you just got her back,” Baz said, coming up behind Ethan, his arm wrapped around Sabrina’s waist.

Tessa hooked her arm through Hannah’s and the women began making their way towards the front door, Ethan and his friends following behind. “This is great. I’m so tired of losing every week to the grandma gang,” Tessa said.

Inside the bar, they ordered their drinks and grabbed their usual table, crowding chairs around it so they could all fit. Sabrina settled on Baz’s lap and reached for the specials menu. “I hope they have something deep fried and cheesy on special this week. I’m starving.”

“Queso dip,” Tessa said, stabbing the menu with her index finger.

“Don’t eat that crap. They don’t use real cheese,” Jamie said. “I’ll make you real queso dip.”

“Sometimes you need the artificial stuff,” Tessa said, giving him a peck on the cheek as he rolled his eyes.

“What do you think, Hannah?” Sabrina asked. “Queso or avocado eggrolls?”

Hannah snuggled closer to Ethan as he draped an arm over her shoulder and laced their fingers together. “I say we get both.”

Jamie sighed. “Heathens.”

“I’ve got a good feeling about tonight,” Gavin said. “I think we’re going to win this time.”

“Correction,we’regoing to win,” Tessa said, gesturing to the other women.

“Where’s Caleb?” Jamie asked.

“He’s been recruited to the dark side,” Baz said, tilting his chin towards the table at the front of the room where the priest sat flanked by the grandma gang.

“Traitor,” Gavin sputtered.

A woman in her early twenties approached their table, fishing a notepad out of the apron she wore tied around her waist. “What’ll you have tonight, folks?”

“Queso,” Tessa said.

“And avocado eggrolls,” Hannah added.

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