“Dude.” I nudged his side as we all headed back into the lobby. The elves had cleaned everything up, probably preparing for the next round. Irritation danced along my neck. I leaned closer to Garrett, away from Penny and Christian, who stood off to the side with their arms crossed. “Why are you drunk? I need you focused to help us win.”
“Because I’m at a bachelor party? Because I can?” He hiccuped and rolled his eyes at himself. “Penny kept passing me her shots ’cause she hates vodka.”
Penny didn’t hate vodka, but that didn’t matter.
“Okay, but you could have said no. We have to win this for them.” I tried not to let worry show in my voice, but Garrett wasn’t getting the message.
“Nah, it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine!” I whisper-shouted. I felt more than saw the stares of the group, and I straightened my posture, clearing my throat. Being dramatic wouldn’t help the cause. “Where the hell is the next competition?”
“The ballroom.” Hayden approached us, his gray gaze focused on me. He put his hand on both our shoulders and gently squeezed mine. “I don’t know how I’m saying this with a straight face, but this next competition is even weirder than the others.”
“Weirder?” I asked, mouth gaping.
He nodded. “Prepare yourselves and follow me.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
HAYDEN
Good evening, participants. Welcome to round four of the Lost Days of Christmas. You’ll note that we are almost through our games and things are heated. I placed the scoreboard on the screen for you to look at.”
Jingle My Balls43 points
Wrap It Up!42 points
Sleigh My Name39 points
Ho Ho Homies37 points
Yule Be Sorry35 points
Sleigh What?!30 points
I scanned the ballroom, noting the excessive decorations as I eyed our competition. Now that teams weren’t broken into two, I could study them more. Jingle My Balls and Sleigh My Name were our biggest competition at this point.
“I’m pissed we aren’t in first, but those are some damn good team names.” Charlotte stood next to me, her face set in fierce lines. “Don’t tell him, but Bernie is starting to piss me off.”
“Not into the elf anymore?”
She growled. “We might want different things in life. Plus, it’d be hard to date someone who lives at the North Pole.”
I snorted, more pleased than I should be that she didn’t want to date him.
“Now, round six is simple. We took two lines from a popular holiday song, put it through Google Translate twice, and displayed the lyrics. You have to guess the title of the song. You have one minute to write down your answer on the sheet at your tables.” Brendon paced near the podium, looking way too smug. This man clearly enjoyed the power. “Once my team of elves collects your paper, we’ll show the answers. Each answer is worth two points.”
“Let’s go!” someone fromSleigh What?!shouted.
Charlotte scoffed. “They are in last. They don’t have a chance.”
My lips quirked. I loved a shit talker, and Charlotte was one of the best. She leaned toward Penny and whispered something, causing Penny to laugh. They bent their heads together and snickered for a bit, and the image of them smiling warmed me. Penny laughing made me feel better.
“Y’all were worried. I am the king of lyrics. I know everything, and when I drink, my mind expands, and I’meven smarter.” Garrett pointed to his chest, grinning. “You wait and see. I’m gonna be the hero.”
“Not sure that’s how it works, bro, but I’m glad you’re here.” Christian pulled him into a hug on one side, Charlotte on the other. “Both of you. Hayden, you join this hug too.”
“No hugging, idiots. It’s about to start!” Penny hushed us. “Pay attention.”
