“Okay, you love birds!” Brenda clapped her hands together when everyone was finished with their dessert. “When I found out Lina and Heather were coming, I ran and bought The Newlywed Game!” She stood and drew a brand new game box out of the hutch next to the table.
Dillon stiffened. Lina patted his leg and smiled at him, reminding him not to panic. They could do this. Yes, the things they didn’t know about each other could fill a huge cavern, but really, how hard would it be to guess? Dillon wasn’t exactly the most mysterious person she’d ever met. And she had a feeling his family expected him to be bad at this. Men always got a pass in this game for being clueless about the women in their life.
“I don’t know, Mom.” Kip glanced at Heather. “Maybe we’ll just watch.”
Heather touched his arm. “No, it’s fine. I’ll play.” She seemed to have warmed up to the family. Hopefully, she’d never know it was Dillon who made that possible. Lina could only imagine the attention Heather on her own would have received as the sole guest.
“Okay, great. Kip and Dillon, go outside. We’ll bring you in when we’re ready.” Brenda shooed them away.
Kip rubbed his hands together. “Fine by me. I need to walk off all the pie I ate.”
Dillon threw Lina one last worried look before following his brother outside.
Heather scooted closer to Lina. “He doesn’t like to be far from you, does he?” She smiled. “Kip’s like that too.”
Lina bit back a laugh. “Yeah, he’s very protective.”Because he’s afraid everyone will find out I’m only pretending to be his girlfriend.
Brenda and Josie dropped their heads together over the questions. Great, they were cherry picking to find the best ones. Although, to be fair, they’d need to weed out any that applied to actual married couples, like who had cold feet in bed, who left a mess on the bathroom counter, and hopefully all the innuendo questions. Dillon would die.
“Okay, we’re ready.” Brenda and Josie looked up with twin expressions of glee.
Lina drew a flower in the corner of the little dry erase board they’d supplied her with. “Heather and I reserve the right to make you pick a new question.”
Heather nodded vigorously. “I second the motion.”
“Oh, come on,” Trent complained. “That’s not any fun.”
Alec, sitting next to him, leaned in, resting his elbows on his knees. “Why, are you really wanting to hear secret fantasies about Kip or Dillon?”
Trent made a face. “Good point. Alec and I would also like the power of veto.”
“Not happening,” Josie said. “We’re gonna keep it PG rated, but if we can’t ask anything embarrassing there’s no point to the game.”
“Let’s just start.” Brenda picked up a card. “Fill in the blank. I wish Kip paid as much attention to me as he does his...”
Heather bit her lip as she stared back at Brenda. “Um…”
His mother.That was the obvious answer that could never, ever be said aloud. From the way Alec and Trent were fidgeting, they must have mentally filled in the blank the same way.
“Oh, I know,” Heather finally said. “As he does his driving. Kip is a very safe driver, and he barely talks to me if there’s a lot of traffic.”
“That’s right, he’s a mini Dillon,” Alec said with a laugh. He and Trent fist bumped each other.
“Okay, Lina. What about you?” Josie asked. “What do you wish Dillon paid less attention to than you?”
“His weight-lifting reps. He’s super focused when he works out.” That was an easy one, and thanks to Heather’s hesitance, Lina had time to think about it.
Josie pointed down at another question. “This will make a good follow up then. I’m most attracted to Dillon’s ....”
It worried Lina a little how many words popped in her head at that one: his eyes, his full lips, his rare smile, his quiet confidence, his tight… “Biceps,” Lina blurted out.
“I’ll say Kip’s smile,” Heather said with a shrug.
Brenda giggled. “Aww, that’s so sweet. Kip gets his smile from me, you know.” She smiled bigger, as if to demonstrate.
So awkward. Even Josie ducked her head and searched in desperation for the next question.
***
