Alex doesn’t acknowledge me. “Memory Mayhem?” he suggests to his and Trevor’s relatives, holding a red box aloft. Then he lifts another box, balancing them like the scales of justice. “Fact Carnivore?”
“Fuck you,” three different people reply.
“There’s no guarantee I’ll win.” He can’t keep a straight face as he says this. “Fine, you bunch of babies. Here’s one I don’t have an advantage in: The Newlywed Game.”
I squint. “I don’t have that game.”
The expression he turns on me is unreasonably snobbish. “I printed it off. Downloadable questions.”
I’m immediately suspicious. Alex never brings a game to the table unless he believes he’ll win and is a sore loser on the rare occasion that he fails. Such a sore loser, in fact, that he’ll nurse a grudge forever.
“Not all of us are newlyweds,” Allison deadpans. “Or dating anyone.”
“I think these questions can apply to all relationships,” Alex says. “Pair up with whoever you feel you’re closest to.”
“Bet you’ve already memorized the questions,” I tell him. “Not fair.”
“I’m not playing. I’m hosting.” He takes an unnecessarily out-of-the-way route to a particular table, just so he can skirt by me and whisper in my ear. “Thought I’d give others a chance to show what they know.”
“Whoever we’re closest to,” Kristin repeats. Points at herself, then at her husband-to-be, who’s standing along a wall and hiding behind his newspaper. “Okay, so Allison and Teyonna. Me and Daniel. Trevor and Romina. Or maybe Romina and Luna?”
My sister is talking on her phone, too far away to hear us.
I clutch my purse. “Afraid I can’t join you. I should go back to work.”
“Sit,” Alex replies cheerfully, prodding me into a chair. He pushes it in, looping my purse handle around the back.
“I don’t have the time.” I shoot Trevor frantic glances that he is totally oblivious to, clicking and unclicking the pen Alex passed him.
“Trevor, don’t you think you and Romina deserve a break from working?” Alex says to him.
“What? Yeah.” Trevor laughs at my alarm. “We work too much. Got to get that R & R, baby.” He taps my nose.
Alex drops a card in front of me, littered with questions and spaces left blank for filling in answers. Winks.Winks!“Have fun.”
Chapter Sixteen
ELDER:
My efforts will remain unremitting.
That asshole.
“Phones here.” Alex thumps the center of the table. “I don’t trust any of you not to cheat. Then I want Daniel, Allison, and Trevor to head onto the patio to work on yours, where I can monitor you.”
“Bossypants,” I mutter, refusing to surrender my phone. Alex has never wormed his way into a debate club or Model UN he didn’t eventually seize captainship of, so he’s in his natural habitat here.
“Stop thinking about my pants and do your homework.” He confiscates Trevor’s phone, which renders mine useless, now that we can’t compare notes.
ROUND 1
How many kids do you want?
Do you have allergies?
When’s your birthday?
What did you wear on your first date with your significant other?
