I knew Dolly would write ‘compliments’. Her ego loves to be flattered, after all.
‘And what did you write, Patrick?’ Lucas asks, waggling his eyebrows. ‘What is Carys’s biggest turn-on?’
I see Dolly wear a small smug smile which issoobvious. I clench my teeth together, knowing my smile is turning grimacey.
I wish she would get out of my head, and also my life while she’s at it.
My oblivious fiancé goes bright red. ‘Aha, well… Wehaven’t explored that side of things yet, but I know she likes to have her hair stroked as she falls asleep, so I put that.’
‘If it makes her fall asleep, maybe it’s technically a turn-off,’ jokes Dolly.
Everyone laughs and I feel under a spotlight. Why did she have to bring more attention to this? Why did she have to open her mouth?
‘At least my thing is not about myego,’ I say, trying to keep my voice light and teasing, but I think everyone hears the bite in it.
God, I knew I wouldn’t get the tone right. I try to be really careful about banter. There’s been a few too many times when I was younger that I went too far, without realising.
Not that I care about Dolly’s feelings, but I do care about how it comes across to the public. I feel like she’s rubbing off on me… which is a horrible choice of words.
Still, there’s a chorus ofooosfrom the other couples. Bridget flashes me an impressed smile.
‘Guess Carys really wants to win that venue. Better catch up then, girlie,’ Dolly jeers. ‘Wait, do you need me to shout? You’re so far behind me after all.’
God, she’s right. One more correct answer, and she wins. I need to get two in a rowandher to get them both wrong for me to beat her.
‘Cat fight!’ hollers Zack, which is met with dead silence.
I can’t help the growl that escapes my lips. ‘Be a good sport, Dolly. Lina’s even further behind, so you’re whacking her too.’
Dolly cackles. ‘You’re the one who is pointing it out, you weapon!’
Lina waves her board that has the wordmassagesmeared all over it. ‘Oh, please don’t bring me into this,’ she begs.
‘But she’s disrespecting you, babe,’ says Zack.
‘Stop joining in,’ she hisses at him. I’m pretty sure I catch her add, ‘You’re embarrassing me.’
That’s when I finally turn back to face Patrick, who looks at me like I’m a stranger. And that feels much worse than everything else so far.
‘Well! What a spirited game,’ says Karina, trying to get us all back on track.
Mean-spirited, more like.
‘We have one last question for the ladies about their men,’ Lucas says. ‘Whit and Dolly, if either of you get this right, you and your partner win. If there’s a tie, we’ll go to a bonus round. The rest of you, this is your last chance to catch up, so ya’ll better hope they don’t know this one.’
Karina looks down at her cards and clears her throat. ‘Okay, this might be a tricky one. Ladies, what does your man say is his biggest fear?’
God, I have no idea. Patrick is so steady that I can’t imagine him saying anything. I pick mice and hope for the best.
Apparently it’s heights.
‘I’m a vet.’ He seems upset I might accuse him of being scared of a patient, like it’s a professional slight.
As awful as it is, I can only focus on the fact that I got it wrong and so haven’t moved forward.
Somehow, Whit is the only person who correctly guesses that Malachi’s greatest fear is ‘falling down a well and no one hearing me and getting stuck there for so long I have to eat my toes’ which is weirdly, verbatim, what he has written on his board.
Together, they step forward to the blue line, and seal their win with a kiss. I guess they really do know each other well, or have a psychic connection because that was highly specific.
