She chuckled but then turned serious. "I guess I just never know what I'm going to get with you."
Her comment had me turning serious too. She was right. We were so hot and cold with each other that it was always a mystery as to how things would go between us. I wished it didn't have to be, that things could be different, but I had to think about my family and what my future football career could mean for them.
"Now it's time for round two," Olivia said, causing Scarlet and me to finally look away from each other. "This game is called The Cheese Puff Passing Game. Each partnership will get one plate full of cheese puffs and one empty plate. The object of the game is to get as many cheese puffs onto the empty plate before the timer goes off. No hands can be used, only mouths. One partner will pick up the cheese puff with their mouth, give it to their partner, who will use their mouth to grab it and put it on the empty plate. Any questions?"
Uh, yeah, I had a lot of questions. She wanted me to pass a cheese puff mouth to mouth with Scarlet? Was she trying to kill me? Or totally embarrass me when I couldn't think straight enough to know what to do with the cheese puff with Scarlet's lips so close to mine?
I rubbed a hand down my face. This was going to be interesting.
No one asked any questions, so we moved into the kitchen, where there were paper plates and a huge tub of orange cheese puffs.
Sitting down, I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans.
Keep it cool, Rush. This is just a game.
"Do you want to pick up the puffs, or do you want me to?" Scarlet asked, interrupting my attempt to calm down.
"I can pick them up," I said, in what I hoped was a normal voice.
She moved the plate full of cheese puffs in front of me and I waited until someone shouted go.
I bent my head down, picking up the cheese puff with my mouth, and turned to lean in to give it to Scarlet. She leaned in too, her face so close to mine as she opened her mouth to take the puff from me, her lips grazing mine.
I tried to not let her faint touch get to me, but my body wasn't getting the memo. It was actually embarrassing how much that little bit of contact affected me, and I hoped nobody would notice.
She didn't even seem phased by it and was quick to drop it onto the empty plate. I guess it was just me who thought this game was a cruel sort of torture.
"Wilder!" Olivia exclaimed, with laughter in her voice. I glanced over to see that Wilder had blown out his cheese puff and started kissing her instead.
"What?" he asked cheekily. "I'd rather kiss you than pass cheese puffs with you."
He kissed her again and she didn't interrupt him this time.
I also noticed that Slate and his partner were already making out too. And the way Brayden and his partner were exchanging puffs, it wouldn't be long until they were joining the make out club.
"We could win this," Scarlet said, motioning for me to keep going.
And so I did, even though I really wanted to be a part of the kissing club.
We won by a landslide. Who knew that young college students couldn't handle passing cheese puffs to each other by their mouths?
"Scarlet and Rush are now in first place, going into our third and final round," Olivia said.
"We so got this," Scarlet said to me.
I was glad she was enjoying herself and that we'd moved past the awkwardness of being forced to be partners.
"Our last game is called The Couples Game," Olivia continued. "Don't let the name fool you, it has nothing to do with being a real couple. Each partnership will be asked three questions, and for each answer you both get the same, you'll receive a point."
Scarlet's shoulders dropped, and the excitement she'd had seemed to leave her.
Wilder handed out papers and pens to everyone, and we got ready to hear the questions Olivia was going to ask us.
"First question," Olivia announced. "If you two threw a themed party, what would the theme be? You have thirty seconds to answer."
I picked up my pen and thought about what kind of themed party Scarlet and I would throw. The first thing that came to my mind was a sports party. We both loved sports and it would be easy to put together. I scribbled down 'sports' and waited for everyone else to finish.
When it was our turn to show our answers I turned my piece of paper around and a huge smile filled my face when I saw in her feminine loopy handwriting the word 'sports'.
