“Yup.” Mateo fiddled with the pewter princess in his hand.

“I figured you for more of a Han guy.”

Mateo shrugged and placed Leia on Go but said no more about it.

“Alright, keep your secrets,” Archer murmured. “Leia it is.”

There was some tussling over the remaining pieces—no one wanted to be the stormtrooper—and Dominik started handing out the money. They rolled to see who would go first and the game began.

Harley and Grace—Mateo’s curvy, redheaded Retro partner—were up. Harley moved their Darth Vader token the appointed seven spaces, making a weird, vacuum-type noise.

“What’s that sound?” Seta asked, probably trying to be polite but not quite making it there.

Harley gave her a look of disdain. “A lightsaber, obviously.”

“That’s not a lightsaber sound!” Seta protested.

“Well, feel free to show me on your next turn—Oh, that’s right you can’t, because you can’t use the Force.”

The lightsaber bickering continued as Mateo leaned over to whisper in Archer’s ear. “What are your tried-and-true Monopoly strategies?”

Mateo’s breath tickled, and their thighs were now pressed together. It was … distracting. Of course, he knew Mateo’s thigh well. It was between his during the tango. It supported him in their pas de deux. He knew each ridge, each rise, very well. But for some reason, seeing it flush against his on the couch … He was very aware it was touching him.

“I’ve actually never played before,” he managed to reply.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, then”—Mateo leaned back, all sexy confidence—“don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

Mateo went after the red and orange properties, winning an auction for the Cloud City Reactor Control Room against Seta and Yuki, and snapping up the spaceships (which, Archer was informed, were normally railroads). He bought up cheaper property that others passed up, and didn’t seem worried when Dominik crowed about buying the most expensive property (the Coruscant Imperial Palace). The game rolled on as all the properties got snatched up, and it didn’t take long for more bickering to break out.

“We would like to build four houses, one each on our Tatooine—” Dominik began.

“It’s not your turn,” Caleb interrupted.

“Doesn’t matter, you can build whenever you want,” Dominik informed him.

“What? No, you can’t.”

Dominik rolled his eyes. “Pretty sure we had this argument last year—”

“Actually, you can build whenever you want,” Mateo interjected.

“What?” Caleb turned to glare at Mateo over Archer’s lap. “Bullshit!”

Mateo leaned forward and snatched the rules sheet from the box under the table. “Let’s check, shall we?”

Archer swallowed a smile at the expression on Caleb’s face. A rule follower himself, he was secretly delighted.

“Ahem.” Mateo read. “‘You may buy and erect at any time—’”

“Erect.” Dominik snickered.

Mateo ignored him and continued. “‘—as many houses as your judgment and financial standing will allow.’”