“Mocktails it is,” Fraser says.
Hendrix rolls his eyes. “Boring, but okay. You two make mocktails. Quinn can call Rubin, and I’ll convince the others that they need to play.” He swans out of the lounge before either of us can say a word.
“Well, that told us,” Fraser says.
“I’ve never made a mocktail.”
Fraser grins at me. “Me neither, but how hard can it be? All we have to do is throw things together into a drink. Unless you’d rather do Hendrix’s strip version of the game?” He winks.
“No thanks. Especially not if Rubin does come. That would be weird.”
“I can see that. Let’s go.”
I text Rubin as I follow Fraser into the kitchen.
Quinn:Hey. Want to come over? Hendrix wants to play Never Have I Ever. We’re making mocktails.
Rubin:Sounds fun. On my way. Don’t start without me.
Quinn:As if.
“Would you really play a strip version?” I ask Fraser.
He starts to pull things out of the fridge and cupboards. “It could be fun.” He opens the freezer and checks every compartment. “No ice. That could be a problem. We’re also short on ingredients. These mocktails are going to be pretty bland.” He turns and smiles at me. “I think the chances of any of us actually ending up naked are pretty slim.”
“But wouldn’t that be the point—to carry on playing until one of us is naked?”
Fraser shrugs. “Or until we get bored, or Beau and Stefan get home, whichever comes first.” He looks past me and grins. “Rory! You must know how to make mocktails.”
“I do.” Rory nods at the things Fraser has got out. “But we’ll need more than that.”
“Make a list,” Fraser says.
Rory gets a notepad and pen from one of the drawers. Fraser stands by his shoulder, staring at the ever-growing list.
He whistles. “That’s a lot of stuff. At this point, I think strip Never Have I Ever would be easier.”
“No thanks.”
“I’m with Rory on this one,” I say.
Fraser laughs and shakes his head. “You could both just lie. Unless it’s something we all know you’ve done, who would know? That way you’d both keep your clothes on, and no one would be any the wiser.”
I clench my jaw. I don’t like lying to anyone for any reason.
“You’d know,” Rory points out.
“I might suspect, but I wouldn’t know for sure. Don’t worry. I won’t rat either of you out. For all you know, I’d be lying too.”
“There doesn’t seem to be any point in playing a strip version if we cheat,” I say.
“He’s right.” Rory nods at me. “I’ll go buy everything we need to make mocktails.”
“I’ll help,” Fraser says.
With that, I’m left alone. I check my phone in case there’s a message from Stefan. There isn’t. He and Beau had to travel to Oxford on the train to meet their mum. They won’t even be there yet. I hope their meeting goes well. I hope they get all the answers they want and deserve. More than anything, I hope their mum doesn’t break their heart.
“You look like you need a hug,” Theo says, cutting into my thoughts.
