“She is,” Cass said. “She’ll make you dance in her book until you dance no more.”
“Dangerousandpolite,” Lorenzo mused. “My favorite kind of woman.”
Tosh tapped the table. “We need a game.” His grin held way too much anticipation. He liked trouble. “Never Have I Ever.”
Lorenzo’s brows arched. “Confession hour? Excellent. I’ll pour honesty.”
He poured shots with the loose rhythm of a man who was measuring moods, not liquor.
The room settled. The island leaned in.
“Never have I ever,” Candy started, raising her glass, “lied about who I’ve wanted.”
She drank.
Tosh drank too—slow, unashamed.
Torie didn’t. Her jaw worked as she stared at Candy.
Harmony watched the tension catch like flint. A tiny spark ran along her ribs, the kind her writer’s brain tagged asimportant.
“Never have I ever,” Torie shot back, “pretended someone was special when they were simply convenient.”
“Poetry,” Lorenzo murmured, sliding two more shots down the bar. “The kind that ruins people.”
Zach lifted his beer but didn’t drink. Harmony caught the flicker in his eyes—something withheld, something carefully measured. The air around the table went warm and wire-tight.
Tosh smirked. “Never have I ever stolen someone else’s story.” His gaze cut to Harmony.
She lifted her water. “Hydration.”
“Boring,” Candy teased.
“Alive,” Harmony corrected. Inside, a slight tremor pressed against the edges of her calm—part dread, part thrill. The island loved moments like this.
Lorenzo pushed a lime toward Torie. “Sour for the truth.”
Torie plucked it up like a challenge. “Never have I ever read someone’s phone while they were in the shower.”
Candy drank without shame.
Tosh didn’t.
Zach’s voice came low. “Never have I ever stayed when I should’ve walked away.”
Unexpectedly, Lorenzo poured himself a drink and took a slow, deliberate sip.
“Too philosophical,” Tosh said, though a shadow slid behind his grin.
“Too true,” Mary said.
She approached their table with a glass of white wine, sliding in like a ghost taking a seat. Her grief followed her like a second body.
She lifted her glass. “Never have I ever watched justice and called it a coincidence.”
Lorenzo’s brows rose, but he said nothing. He didn’t have to.
“What?” Mary asked sweetly. “It’s just a game.”
