“And two, what makes you think I don’t brag about how amazing you are in bedall the time?” Harlow asks, pressing against Jefferson and beaming up at him.
His hands go to her ass, and he squeezes. “Does that mean you want to be onmyteam too?”
She laughs and wiggles out of his embrace. “No way. I’m with Ginny, as always!”
“So it’s not Bennett siblings against Hansen siblings against Riley siblings?” I ask, partly to prove I remember everyone’s name and connections, and partly because I can’t help but be pulled into how this group of friends—and now lovers in some cases—interacts.
“Holy shit,” Harlow says. “None of us are stupid enough to make the Riley siblings one team. Who wants to go up againsta team ofgeniusesintrivia?” Then she grins up at Jefferson. “Well, three geniuses and one really cute football player.”
Jefferson finds a ticklish spot along Harlow’s side, and she shrieks.
“You wanna wrestle, Lily?” Jefferson asks his girlfriend. “My team would win that one for sure.”
She studies him. “You sure? Wrestling could be fun. And distracting.”
Jefferson leans in. “Now that you mention it…”
“God, get a room,” a voice says.
“You don’t even need a room. Go out to the truck. It’s not like you haven’t donethatbefore.”
Everyone laughs as two more men join us.
Ginny introduces us. “Everett, this are Jack and Charlie, David’s brothers.”
“Hey, Everett, want to join themen’steam?” Charlie asks.
“Uh…” I look at Ginny.
“No way. He’s with us,” she says, looping her arm through mine.
“He’s Graham’s business partner,” David says.
“No way do you get to add a genius to your team just because he’s a guest,” Charlie argues. “Guysagainst thegirls.”
“Maybe Everett is an evolved human who doesn’t make decisions based on restrictive societal definitions of gender roles,” Ginny says.
David looks at Mia. “You’re gonna have to explain all of those big words to me later.”
She laughs and lifts on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. “You’re so cute.”
“Who says Everett is a genius anyway?” Harlow asks. She gives me a wink. “It’s not like that’s contagious or something. Look at Jefferson.”
“That’s it.” Jefferson bends, lifts Harlow over his shoulder, and says, “We’ll be back in a minute.” Then he turns and carries his giggling girlfriend out of the bar.
No one even blinks.
Graham and Margot step aside as Jefferson and Harlow pass, then Graham says, “Hey, if Everett gets to be on the girls' team, I do too.”
“No way are we losing our main brainiac to the girls' team,” David says.
“Plus, we have way better snacks!” Charlie says. “The girls don’t order all the stuff.”
“That’s true,” Graham says, rethinking his statement.
“You just had dinner,” I remind him.
“Oh, I saved room,” he assures me. “I knew we were coming down here, and you can’t play Christmas trivia without an order of reindeer balls and snowman snot.”
