Page 112 of Triple Play
“I’ll give you Park Place for one dollar,” he offers.
“That’s a terrible deal.”
“I know. Take it anyway.”
“Why?”
He grins. “Because you’re pretty.”
Grant coughs. It sounds suspiciously like a laugh.
Two hours later I own half the board and everyone else is broke. Mrs. Dickson declares me the winner with a fondness that feels unearned, and we’re finally released to our rooms.
Except there’s a problem.
“Separate rooms,” Mrs. Dickson says firmly. “Elise, you’re in the guest room. Boys, you’re all in Jordan’s room. There are sleeping bags.”
Which means I’m sleeping alone for the first time in weeks.
Grant catches my eye and mouths “later.”
I nod.
An hour after the house goes quiet, my door opens.
Jordie slips in, carrying a plate of cookies.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
“Bringing you cookies. Obviously.” But he’s holding the plate at a weird angle. In front of his crotch.
“Why are you—” Then I notice. “Are you seriously—”
“I’ve been hard for three hours,” he hisses. “Do you know how difficult it is to play Monopoly with a raging—”
“Don’t finish that sentence.”
“I’m just saying. Watching you be all competent and smart and destroy everyone at board games was—” He shifts the plate. “Extremely hot.”
I’m trying not to laugh and failing.
“This is the most fun I’ve had dating in—ever, actually.” The words come out before I can stop them.
His expression softens. “Yeah?”
“You guys make everything better. School stress, family drama, all of it. You just—” I gesture vaguely. “Make life lighter.”
He sets the plate down—finally—and crosses the room. Pulls me into a hug that smells like sugar cookies and expensive cologne.
“You make my life better too,” he says against my hair. “All of ours.”
“Even when I’m bankrupting you at Monopoly?”
“Especially then.”
There’s a soft knock on the door. We both freeze.
“It’s me,” Mrs. Dickson’s voice. “I’m coming in.”
