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“Father, bride.” She clapped her hands together. “Father of the bride!”
“Yes!” Ephraim cried.
Merritt looked over at Gus, who was smiling at her. She stood to take her turn. The clue was honeymoon, and she took a deep breath until she was told to go. The first thing she drew was a bride and groom, which was Ephraim's first guess. She quickly scribbled a car with the bride and groom’s heads in the back window and cans tied to the bumper.
“Limo?” he asked.
“Uber!” Skylar cried, causing everyone to laugh.
“You’re not even on their team,” Gus said.
Merritt groaned. How was she supposed to draw this? She drew a squiggly line to show water and two figures wearing sunglasses, lying on rectangles, which were supposed to be towels, but she wasn’t very artistic. Ephraim was stuck on beach wedding. She drew the couple again, this time with their hands held and their heads together in a kiss.
“You may kiss the bride!”
“Time!” Harriet cried.
Merritt stuck her bottom lip out. “It was honeymoon.”
Everyone groaned and laughed, some saying they figured it out with the people on the beach. But Merritt wasn’t paying attention to any of that, because she saw Rhonda lean in to say something to Gus, who laughed loudly at whatever it was.
The next team readied for their turn, but Merritt didn’t sit down to watch. She headed out of the room for the kitchen and got herself a glass of water.
“Hey, that was fun, right?” Gus was suddenly standing a few steps behind her.
“Mhmm.” She took a sip of water as she turned to face him.
He eyed her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
His mouth twisted to one side in disapproval. “Come on now. You have the same look in your eye you had the day we met.”
“What look is that?”
“The one that says you can’t stand me.”
She shrugged.
He took a step closer, and she stepped back. “Seriously. Talk to me.”
Merritt nodded toward the great room. “Rhonda’s very pretty.”
“I guess.”
She gave him the same twisted mouth disapproval he had given her. “You two seemed pretty close in there.”
“Not really.”
“What did she say about my drawing?”
“Oh.” He laughed. “She said you should’ve drawn a couple in bed because that’s pretty much the first thing people think about when you say honeymoon.”
“Right.” She pressed her lips together.
His expression suddenly changed, and one side of his mouth lifted as he sauntered closer. “Are you jealous?”
“No.” She shifted away again, taking one step back for every one he took toward her until she was backed into the corner of the countertop.