“I can think of something I’d like to pin down,” Adrian said with a wink, nearly making me choke on my wine.
Emma took three confident steps toward the wall, swung her arm, and stuck the paper nose directly onto the reindeer’s eyeball.
Ethan nodded, impressed. “Strong start.”
The kids laughed as Emma sulked off to the side, demanding a rematch.
“Maren, you should play,” Miles called out.
I shook my head immediately. “Absolutely not.”
“Have my turn,” Will said, shoving me toward the wall.
“Oh my god,” I muttered. “Fine. Give me the blindfold.”
Ethan’s eyes lit in a way that didn’t match the innocent tone he tried for. “I’ll tie it for you.”
He stepped in close. Close enough that I caught the faint scent of his cologne. Close enough that his breath warmed the side of my neck while he looped the fabric behind my head. My hands hovered in midair, unsure of themselves, until he said quietly, “Relax. I’ve got you.”
And then the blindfold slipped into place.
Everything shifted. The room muffled, like someone had thrown a blanket over the world. I could hear the kids whispering. Miles humming intentionally off-key. Adrian mumbling to himself about symmetry. But the closest sound — the one that found me even in the dark — was Ethan exhaling.
“Alright,” he said behind me, voice steady. “Straight ahead.”
I lifted my hands, trying to orient myself. The floor felt different under my feet when I couldn’t see it. Everything was too loud, too exposed, too everything. When I took a hesitant step forward, something brushed my elbow.
“Sorry,” Ethan whispered. “Didn’t mean to guide you.”
He absolutely meant to.
“Three more steps,” he said.
I walked, aware of every breath. Every shift of air. Every brush of sound. My fingers found the cool paper on the wall and I reached out in the direction of my best guess.
“Left,” Ethan murmured. “A little more.”
I heard Miles stage-whisper, “He so wants her to win,” followed by Adrian saying, “They’re not even pretending anymore.”
I pressed the nose to the paper. The room cheered, and I tugged the blindfold off to find the nose stuck triumphantly between the reindeer’s antlers.
“Hey, no fair.”
Ethan’s laugh sparkled in his eyes. “Good effort.”
“That’s what you get for cheating,” Will said, and took the blindfold from me.
He sauntered up and tied it himself like he’d done it a hundred times. Two steps. One turn. A confident jab of his hand. The nose landed perfectly in just the right spot.
The room erupted and Adrian yelled, “We have a champion!”
Will just smirked at me. “Told you.”
The game dissolved into laughter and sugar-fueled bragging, and the party took over again. People drifted toward the music, the food, each other. I moved with them, weaving through conversations and half-empty glasses. I’d been nervous about the party, but the men made sure they included me as someone other than ‘the help’.
Miles was in his element, spinning a coworker across the rug. He dipped her dramatically, and something prickled in my gut. I didn’t like seeing him like that with another woman. She yelped and hit him on the shoulder, and he grinned with that too-bright, too-easy warmth that acted like its own gravitational pull. I bit the inside of my cheek as she looped her arm around his neck and they continued dancing.
“Are we throwing shade from afar, or do you want me to kick her out?” Adrian sidled up next to me, a plate of appetizers in one hand.
