Bolt grinned at me. “Exactly, son.”
“I wonder which idiots they picked for this?” I pondered.
“Funny thing, that,” Bolt chuckled. He waved at Ziggy, who brought him the microphone. Bolt stood to address the packed audience. “We’re lucky to have two young couples in the midst of pledging forever to each other. And we thought it would be fun to do a PRE-newlywed game! What do you say? Would y’all like to see if Kendra and Rowan know each other better than Jesse and Truette?”
“Wait, what?” Kendra turned to Bolt as the blood drained from her face.
“Isn’t this fun?” True leaned in toward Jesse, who looked as thrilled for this game as I felt.
The crowd was clapping and murmuring as Bolt snagged Jesse and me to follow him to another room in the building. I glanced behind us to find Chloe dragging Kendra and Truette in the opposite direction.
Bolt led us into a small meeting room and handed us giant cards and a permanent marker. “Okay, here’s the drill. I will ask you questions about the ladies in your lives. You’ll write down the answer on these cards. Then, I will ask you questions about your life and the same thing. The couple that gets the most answers right gets a weekend getaway to a friend’s Bed and Breakfast in Key West.”
“I love Key West,” Jesse said. “We’re totally winning this, Papa Bolt.”
I rolled my eyes—this kiss arse.
Bolt grinned at Jesse. “Well, then you better get writing.”
Jesse held up his marker over the first card. “Hit me.”
Be happy to, you fuckwit.
Bolt pulled up his phone and tapped the screen until he found what he was searching for. “First question. What is your lady’s dream job?”
“That’s easy,” Jesse said, scribbling furiously.
I narrowed my eyes at him but wrote down my answer. He leaned over to look at my writing, but I flipped the card over before he could.
“Next question,” Bolt said. “What is your lady’s favorite pastime?”
“I thought these questions would be hard!” Jesse exclaimed, scribbling down his second answer.
“Final question about your ladies,” Bolt said, glancing up from the screen. “If your lady won a million dollars, what would she do with it?”
I had to think about that answer. I knew what she’d do with it, but I wasn’t sure she’d admit it in front of her family, neighbors, andthe wanker. I decided to go with my gut.
Bolt then asked us questions about ourselves, and we wrote down our answers. After putting our cards in order, we marched back to the multipurpose room, where Kendra and Truette were already sitting on stage with their cards. Cheesy game show music blared from the speakers. I swear I saw money change hands at a table down front, but they shoved it into pockets so quickly when I stared that I could have been mistaken.
Bolt led us to the steps to the stage. I tucked the cards under my arm and grabbed the railing to take the steps. Jesse shoved past me on the stairs and bounded onto the stage. Thankfully, I had a good grip on the railing; otherwise, I would’ve landed on my arse in front of a hundred people.
Jesse flopped into the seat next to Truette, splaying his legs out in front of him and throwing his arm across the back of her chair. I gingerly stepped around his long legs and eased into the seat next to Kendra. She cleared her throat a few times, thenrubbed her hands on her pant legs before chewing on a hangnail on her thumb.
I took her hand out of her mouth. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. Fine. So so so fine.” Her voice was so high that dogs on the mainland could probably hear her.
“Take a breath, Goldilocks. That’s an order.” I stared into her eyes.
She glanced at the floor, then back at me. “Aye, Aye, Boss.”
“Stop calling me that,” I chastised.
Bolt tapped the microphone at the podium and announced the beginning of the round. “The first question is for the ladies. What is your dream job? Kendra, you go first.”
Kendra held up a sign that said, “Boat Captain.”
I smiled.
