Placing my hands on her hips I pulled her closer. “You look beautiful.” Okay, so maybe that wasn’t acting, because I really did think she was beautiful, but sticking to the truth would only help my acting skills.
Moving her hair over her shoulder I leaned down and kissed her on the neck. It seemed both of us were trying to avoid the lips.
“I was worried you might not show up,” I said in a low voice so only she could hear.
“Why wouldn’t I come?” she whispered back.
“Didn’t know if you were feeling up to pretending tonight.”
She shrugged. “It’s just game night. We can handle it.”
Relief spread through me. If she was good with everything how it was between us right now, then so was I. Her calm attitude had me reassured that our friendship was no longer in danger.
“Hi, Slate,” a voice said from behind Isla.
Glancing past Isla, I found that her roommate, Harper, was standing there, smiling at me and batting her eyelashes.
Really? Was she actually trying to flirt with me in front of Isla, who everyone knew was my girlfriend? She was some roommate.
I already knew that she and Isla weren’t really friends and that Harper had only started talking to her once she had started dating me, but still, have some dignity.
“Oh, hey, Harper. I didn’t know you’d be joining us tonight.” I could barely hide the disappointment in my voice.
“Once I found out Isla was coming over here for a game night, and she found out that I was going to be at home all alone,” she paused, giving a dramatic pout. “She was nice enough to invite me.” She looked around the room, taking in the people and the food.
Isla took advantage of her distraction, leaning into me to whisper, “If by inviting her she means inviting herself, then yeah.”
I had to work to keep from laughing. “Well, I hope you have fun.” I started to turn away from her, hoping to flee to the couch with Isla.
“I’m so excited to spend time with you,” she said, but hurried to add. “I mean, all of you.” She gestured to the other people who were already here.
An uncomfortable vibe filled the air. Thankfully, Olivia stood up in front of everyone, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “Welcome, everyone to game night. We have a fun game planned, and I hope you all will participate. Whether you have a significant other doesn’t matter. It’s all for fun, so you can pair up with anyone.”
Okay, so we were playing a couples game. Is that why Olivia and Wilder had been worried about me and Isla? We’d been faking it for a month and a half now. I was sure we could handle whatever game she had planned.
Taking Isla’s hand, I pulled her with me toward one of the couches, sitting down but keeping her hand in mine.
“So, grab your partner,” Olivia said in a voice that reminded me of a game show host. “And get ready to play The Newlywed Game!”
Come again? The Newlywed Game? Why on earth would she think it would be a good idea to play a married couple game with college students? Most of the people here were single.
“This should be fun,” Isla said, as she glanced around the room at people trying to figure out how to partner up. “Look,” she said with laughter in her voice, pointing over to where Brayden and Ryan sat. “They’re the only two left without partners. Brayden is pissed.”
I laughed, knowing Brayden’s ego had taken a hit since none of the single women here had chosen him as a partner. Maybe this would be pretty funny after all.
Olivia and Wilder had set up three pairs of chairs at one end of the living room while everyone was choosing partners. “We’ll do three couples at a time, so we’ll have to do…” She counted how many people were there. “Three rounds to let everyone have a turn. Whoever has the most points wins.”
Three random couples went up and sat down for the first round. The girls left the room first to fill in their answers, and once they came back, the boys went out.
Soon the game started, and I had to admit that Olivia had done a great job writing the questions. Some of the answers were hilarious, and I found myself having a great time.
“Okay, time for our last round of couples,” Olivia said, motioning to me and Isla, Rush and Scarlet, and Brayden and Ryan.
Isla and I sat in the middle set of chairs, and I noticed Isla rubbing her palms on her thighs, taking a deep breath.
I leaned over to whisper in her ear, grabbing her hand in mine. “Don’t be nervous. We’ve got this. It’s just a game, anyways.”
She nodded at me, but I could still see the anxiousness in her eyes. “What if we don’t know something about each other that we would know if we were a real couple?” she whispered.
