“Let the man breathe,” Mark grumbled, wiping down glasses with unnecessary force. “He just got back from Gainesville a few hours ago.”
“That’s why I need details now, while they’re fresh,” Benji protested. “Memory fades. Trauma gets repressed. If I don’t get the full story immediately, I’ll never get the unfiltered version.”
“The unfiltered version is that Dean Shaw is a fucking terror,” I said through a sizable grin. “My own brother turned meeting my boyfriend into a competitive sport.”
“How?” Finn asked.
“The first thing he did—before I could even introduce Jacks—was challenge him to ping-pong.” I shook my head, still amazed by Dean’s audacity. “We were standing on the front porch with my parents waiting inside to meet him, and Dean appears with two paddles like he’d been planning the ambush for weeks.”
“Table tennis?” Mark looked skeptical. “That was his big intimidation move?”
“You haven’t seen Dean play ping-pong,” Jacks grumbled. “The guy treats it like it’s an Olympic sport. It’s not meant to be fun. It’s very serious, very intense. Oh, and there’s lots of trash talk about paddle technique and spin control after pretty muchevery point.”
“Did Jacks win?” Benji asked, bouncing in his seat.
“Tell them what you told me afterward,” I said, nudging Jacks with my elbow.
Jacks looked mortified. “I thought there might be Olympic medals involved.”
The entire bar erupted in laughter.
“What?” Benji wheezed. “What does that even mean?”
“I mean,” Jacks said, clearly embarrassed but smiling despite himself, “Dean came out there with this whole setup—professional paddles with the squishy foam, an unopened carton of regulation balls, and a very official-looking net they keep in the garage for ping-pong challenges. While we were warming up, he gave me this speech about the Shaw family ping-pong tradition and how it’s a sacred rite of passage. All I was thinking was,Ookay, this is a big deal. I need to bring my A-game.”
“So you took it seriously?” Finn asked.
“Like I was back in college on game day. I stretched, asked about the altitude adjustments for ball trajectory and even inquired whether we were playing by international or recreational rules.”
“Oh my God,” I said, still laughing at the memory. “You should have seen Dean’s face. He went froma cocky little brother to ‘what the holy fuck have I gotten myself into’ in about five seconds.”
“Did you crush him?” Mark asked.
“He didn’t just crush him. Jacks destroyed him,” I said proudly. “It was almost embarrassing. Dean managed to score maybe three points total across two games.”
“I may have gotten a little competitive,” Jacks admitted. “In my defense, he started it with the trash talk about my ‘obvious lack of paddle control’ during warmups.”
A customer at the far end of the bar raised his empty glass, and Mark moved down to help him. The interruption was brief, and he was back within a minute.
“What happened after the ping-pong massacre?” Benji asked the moment Mark returned.
“Dean tried to recover some of his lost dignity by challenging him to pool,” I continued. “With the same result. Then he declared himself the king of darts. By that point, my parents were applauding and cheering from the kitchen window like it was the world’s most entertaining sporting event.”
“Your brother sounds like a nightmare,” Finn observed.
“My brother is the best,” I corrected. “He’s also incredibly competitive and has zero chill when itcomes to people I care about. He was testing Jacks.”
“Did he pass?” Finn asked.
I glanced at Jacks, who was trying very hard to look like he wasn’t embarrassed by the entire conversation.
“Dean pulled me aside while Jacks was helping my mom in the kitchen,” I said. “He told me, and I quote, ‘I like him. He’s good for you. Also, holy shit, where did you find someone who takes ping-pong that seriously? I’m scared of the guy. He could put an eye out with that forehand.’”
“He said that?” Jacks asked, eyes wide.
“Oh yeah. He also said that anyone who could trash-talk back at him while destroying him at every game imaginable was perfect for the Shaw family.”
“Wise words,” Benji said solemnly. “The Buddha has spoken.”
