“It’s a lifestyle,” Bennett says with a grin, and he somehow manages to coast through a few more rounds before hitting his first roadblock: a face-down three that he plays blind on top of a king.

“Oof,” Celeste says, shaking her head. “That’s a penalty, my guy. Pick up the pile.”

Bennett groans, scooping up the stack of cards with exaggerated misery. “I hate this game.”

“No, you hate losing,” I say sweetly, playing my last hand card and moving on to my face-up ones. “Big difference.”

The game devolves into exactly what it always does—Orion getting way too competitive but paying more attention to Morgan than his cards. Morgan calls him out with a smug rookie move every time he slips up. Celeste stirring the pot between flirting with Stirling and pretending she doesn’t care about winning when I know she does.

I glance at Stirling, half-expecting him to be staring at the door, calculating his escape. Instead, he’s leaning back, watching the game with something softer in his expression.

“You enjoying yourself, Lucy?” Orion taunts.

Stirling’s eyes flick to him, then to Celeste, who is currently stretching like a cat, probably just to mess with him. He exhales slowly.

“I don’t hate it.”

Theo nudges me. “They’re all insane.”

I glance around. Orion arguing with Morgan. Celeste openly flirting with Stirling. Bennett looking betrayed by his cards.

I smirk. “Yeah. And?”

Theo just grins. “I like it.”

“Speaking of rookie moves,” Bennett says as he’s forced to pick up the pile again, thanks to a poorly timed nine. “How’s the FBI pitch going, Orion? Convinced her to join the big leagues yet?”

Morgan rolls her eyes but doesn’t hide the hint of a smile. “It’s not a pitch. It’s a lecture disguised as flattery.”

“It’s neither,” Orion protests, though his grin says otherwise. “I’m just saying she’s too talented to stay in one place.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Morgan says, flipping over her next card. “Play your turn, or I’ll take your badge myself.”

“That’s not how it works,” Orion says, but he plays his card anyway, muttering something under his breath about small-town stubbornness.

By the time the draw pile is gone and everyone’s working through their face-up cards, the tension is both hilarious and palpable. Bennett has to pick up the discard pile again, much to our delight, while Morgan and I form an unspoken alliance to make sure Orion doesn’t finish first. Celeste, as always, plays the role of chaotic neutral, throwing the occasional wrench into the game just to keep things interesting.

When I finally get rid of all my cards, I lean back with a triumphant grin. “I am not the village idiot”