Brady took the small pause to run his thumb down Sloane’s shoulder. He hoped the contact helped calm whatever nerves he was sure she was currently swimming in. She gave him a quick smile but still looked worse for wear. Like they were getting ready to go into battle.

How much damage could Carol do with one stupid little game?

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Carol giggled, held up a finger, and became a pageant contestant vying for world peace to her peers. A fitting image, considering her first statement.

“I won the Arbor Bay Little Miss Pageant three times. I have a sun hat for every day of the week. I have been to France.”

Marcus immediately snorted. Brady had no fucking idea which one was the lie. To him, all three sounded like a Carol Robertson special. Sloane kept quiet, too.

Ruby spoke before Marcus could answer. “The lie is that you have a sun hat for every day of the week!”

That was surprising.

Marcus shook his head and leveled a severe look at Brady. “She has a sun hat for every day of most months. I know this because when we went to France after graduation, I had to make my carry-on one of the hat bags just in case they lost our checked bags that had all the others.”

Brady laughed at how ridiculous that was. Carol waved off her brother and shrugged.

“Keeping my face protected from the sun and being fashionable at the same time is a skill I’m not ashamed to have.” She ran her finger across part of the brim of the giant blue thing currently on her head before pointing to the person to her right, Felicity. “Your turn!”

Felicity ran a hand through her hair and furrowed her brow in thought. Her engagement ring caught the light just right for a glare to skitter across the boat. Brady found himself wondering how Golden Boy proposed.

“Okay,” she said, wiggling in her seat almost like Carol had done. “One, I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in design. Two, I don’t watch network TV. Three, my dog’s middle name is Borg.”

The players weren’t as quick to answer. Marcus tried first.

“Your dog’s middle name is Borg. Maybe he doesn’t have a middle name?”

Sloane backed him up. “Or maybe he has one but it isn’t Borg?”

“You don’t watch network TV,” Carol answered.

Ruby agreed with her master. “Yeah, because who doesn’t at least watch The Bachelor nowadays?”

Felicity smiled a little, probably because they were all wrong. Brady couldn’t let that lie.

“You have a Bachelor of Arts degree in design,” he said, all confidence.

Felicity’s little smile turned into a frown. “Dang it, Brady! I almost had that one.”

The twins’ eyebrows rose in sync.

“I thought you had a design degree?” Marcus asked.