Page 129 of Only With Me

When I open the closet, his eyes widen in surprise. “Wow, you have a lot of options.”

“Yep, and I can probably whip your ass in most of ‘em.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were one of those.”

“One of what?”

“A competitive game freak.”

“Excuse you?” I push him with my hip. “It was all I could do being in a half-body cast.”

“Alright, fair enough. So what do ya wanna play?”

“You’re the guest, so you choose.”

He steps closer, looking through all the games. “I’ve not played this in years, but I remember Noah always tried to cheat.”

I grin when he grabs the Clue box. “That’s one of my favorites. I’m gonnacrushyou.”

“You sound awfully confident.” His taunting voice makes me giggle.

“Well, let’s play and see.”

“You’re cheating!” I exclaim when Waylon reveals the final card from the envelope.

This is the fourth game in a row he’s won. Or rather,cheated.

His eyes crinkle as he bellows out a laugh. “How can I cheat when you’re right there?”

“Forgive her, we let her win so much as a child, she thinks we cheat if she loses,” my dad says, sitting next to me and suddenly on Waylon’s side.

“You did notletme win!” I argue. “I had good intuition!”

“Sweetie, you always guessed the same person,” Mom interjects. “So we made sure that card was always in the envelope so you had a better chance at guessin’ right.”

My jaw falls to the floor. “You’re tellin’ me for seven years y’all let me think I was winnin’ on my own?”

“You were the baby of the family, and we felt bad. You could barely walk,” Mom explains.

“Oh my gosh! A pity win? Unbelievable.”

“If it makes ya feel better, I’ll never let you win on purpose.” Waylon beams.

“You know what”—I point my finger at him—“You’re banned from game night.”

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Dad says. “You just need more practice.”

I glare at him for being part of the reason I apparently suck at this game.

“Fine.” I force a smile. “How about Uno? Did y’all let me win at Uno?”

The room goes silent.

“Oh my God!” I throw up my arms in disbelief and then smack my forehead against the table. “I’m a fraud.”

“We can play Monopoly. You rarely wanted to play that because of how long it lasted, so most times, we never even finished a game,” Mom says.

I lift my head and burst out laughing at this whole situation with my parents letting me win and the fact that Waylon is here on a Saturday night playing games with me and my parents. And he looks like he’s genuinely having a good time.