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“But at the last update from my mom, they’re all still awake.” Alannah and Roy shared a grimace. “But that won’t be our problem tomorrow morning. We’re not heading over until lunch, so”—she lifted her wineglass and clinked it with Justine’s—“we will be enjoying ourselves tonight.”

Roy set an ancient-looking Monopoly board in the center of the table, and Bentley, evidently the resident banker, began doling out colorful cash. Justine handed out the player pieces, sending a tiny cannon in Molly’s direction.

“I play as a cannon?”

“It’s a retired piece,” Justine said. She gestured at the game board. “You thought this antique was fascinating and we think your fascination is precious. This is my family’s original game from the dawn of time. And yes, it might be valuable. But I’ve never bothered to check. And no, you won’t convince me to get it appraised.” Justine tilted her head at Molly.

“And yes, she did practice that speech before you arrived,” Alannah snickered.

Justine huffed and snatched a colorful bill from in front of Alannah. “Disloyalty tax,” she said, adding the money to her own piles.

Amusement settled across Molly’s shoulders, a comfortable kind of weight, like a soft blanket. She held up the relatively new looking play money. “And this?”

Bentley answered, “New addition after we stopped playing with real cash.”

“Playing with real . . . You all have too much money.”

“Don’t scare her off,” Eli said. “I’ve been waiting ages to resume my classics lessons. I’m dying to hear if the pride or the prejudice won.”

Justine groaned. “You make it sound like a boxing match, Eli. I know you’ve heard of Pride and Prejudice. Everyone has.”

Bentley added, “And some of us have even read it.”

“I read the cover,” Eli said with a shrug.

“I’m teaching you about Jane Austen?” Molly asked.

Eli rolled his eyes. “Yes. Because apparently it’s a crime I’ve never finished any of her books. Which, in my defense, I also don’t think I’ve ever started any. I skipped more English classes than I attended.”

“My dad loved that, by the way,” from Alannah.

Eli’s head tilted in consideration before he said, “I’m going to be honest, I completely forgot he was one of our teachers.”

Justine rolled her eyes. “It’s a miracle you passed ninth-grade English. It was required reading.”

“Even I managed to read it, and I was a jock,” Roy said, sipping his old-fashioned.

Molly laughed. “Don’t lie. You read the summary I sent you and then watched the movie.”

Roy only shrugged. Eli did too. A long-dormant memory of stumbling upon Eli with Pride and Prejudice playing in the library surged to the surface.

In a flashing moment, Roy and Eli were the same person. All casual nonchalance, hazel eyes, an unlucky habit of walking in on Molly and Aster, and through all that, steadfast friendship.

She turned to Aster, nearly gasping. “There’s two of them.”

His head tilted, blond hair flopping adorably. “I know you haven’t had that much to drink already.”

“No, no.” She swatted his shoulder. “We basically have the same best friend!”

Aster’s mouth turned down in contemplation, attention shifting to where Roy and Eli were comparing their best essay bullshitting techniques. “Eli doesn’t have an athletic bone in his body but . . . I think I see your point.”

Aster’s hand found her knee, squeezing with affection.

As the game began in earnest, Molly couldn’t help but study Aster’s profile. Even partially obscured by the glass he held near his mouth, Molly watched him relax, truly unwinding. It was undeniable how much younger he looked in this setting, sneaking glances at Molly so unabashedly loaded with desire that she had to intentionally look elsewhere.

Sometime between Roy declaring bankruptcy and Alannah engaging Justine in a nearly fifteen-minute-long negotiation for Park Place, Eli finally circled back to Jane Austen.

“So, Molly, what’s the verdict? Which one of them did the groveling?” He reached over and pushed Bentley’s heel off the tabletop.