Page 52 of The Golden Goalie

Bri’s got tears in her eyes, and Aiden smiles at me. And then I turn to Rico. He gives me that soft smile he always does. “It’s a girl.” He sounds a little in awe; I know the feeling.

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad.” He doesn’t say anything else, and I’m wrapped up in hugs and congratulations. We move on to games next. To nobody’s surprise, the guys are absolutely ridiculous. After a few individual games, Bri grabs another box. “Okay, we have to split into couples for this one. Rico and Amber, you’re together for this one.”

“Sounds good,” Rico says easily, and I turn to look at him.

“You don’t mind being stuck with me?”

“Never.” His voice is serious, but then he winks. “Besides, we’re going to dominate.”

“You don’t even know what game we’re playing,” I argue.

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll still win,” he says with total confidence.

“All right. This one is every couple against the other couples. It’s a trivia game,” Bri says.

Sebastian claps his hand. “Good thing I got the teacher slash writer.”

“I married a teacher too, Idiot,” Aiden says.

“Yeah, well my teacher is paired with me,” Seb returns.

Aiden snorts. “Like that’ll do her any good.”

“Bring it on, Old Man,” Seb taunts.

“Your both going to lose,” Rico says, settling into the couch next to me. “I’m paired with the librarian; everybody knows they know something about everything.”

I grin at him. “Thanks.”

He elbows me gently. “We got this.”

“Yeah we do.” I roll up my sleeves, ready to get going.

“Uh oh, I know that look,” Bri says settling in next to Aiden. “Amber’s getting serious.”

“You bet I am,” I retort.

Brielle explains the rules to the game and draws the first card. “Here we go.”

Rico and I don’t just win the game; we decimate the other two teams. After a particularly hard question that stumps everybody else but I figure out, Rico turns to me and gives me a high five. I grin as I slap his hand. When I turn back, the other two couples are staring at us. “What? I can’t help it if we’re smart.”

I can’t stop laughing by the end of the game because Aiden’s irritated and Seb just continually looks confused like he can’t figure out what’s happening. Rico stands when the game is doneand puts out his hand to me. I take it and let him pull me to my feet. “And that, my people, is how it’s done.”

“Nobody likes a gloater,” Seb says as he throws an empty can at him. Rico grabs it and returns it harder.

I laugh. “I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”

Chapter 21

Amber

When I come back from the bathroom, I start helping with the cleanup. In the kitchen, I grab a towel and start drying the dishes Bri is washing. “He makes you happy,” she says so softly I almost don’t hear her.

“What?”

“Rico. He makes you happy.”

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