“You haven’t seen the half of it, babe.” I get to my feet and hold out my hand. “Come on, let’s enjoy the party.”

Jonah is standing in a circle with two other guys, one I recognize by face but don’t know his name. The guy to his right, though, I remember both face and name.

“Hey, Richard. Good to see you again,” I say.

“You too, Shaw.” He looks to Sydney. “See you’ve got your girl with you again tonight.”

“Always.” I’m still holding her hand and I give it a squeeze.

“Shaw, do you remember Steve?” Jonah asks and nods to the other guy.

“You were down last summer?” I ask.

He nods. “Yeah, good memory.”

Jonah takes a sip of his beer. “We were just talking about playing quarters. Do you two want in?”

“Uhh…” Shit. I just got Sydney off the ledge from the last competitive game.

“Yes,” she answers for us as she elbows me. “Don’t give me that look. I’ll be fine.” Then she mumbles, “As long as no one hits on you.”

Chuckling, I let her lead me inside to the dining table. Jonah goes to get supplies while the rest of us take a seat. Sydney’s to my left and I scoot my chair closer to her and rest a hand on her leg under the table.

Jonah comes back with Willow at his side. She seems nice and I don’t think she’s actually trying to piss off my girl, but Sydney stiffens as Willow takes the seat across from me.

“Are you as good at quarters as you are everything else?” she asks, setting her drink on the table in front of her.

“I’m not sure. It’s been awhile since I played.”

Jonah places a glass in the middle of the table and pops the tab on a beer. He fills it about three quarters of the way. “Who wants to start?”

No one immediately volunteers, but Willow is the first to give. “I’ll go.”

Jonah slides a quarter down the table. We go all the way around the table once without anyone making it.

“Well, this is going to be the most boring game ever,” Jonah says at the same moment Willow takes her second turn and drops the quarter in the glass.

“Fuck, that’s coming to me, isn’t it?” he asks Willow as she laughs and then passes him the glass.

Willow makes it two more times, forcing me to drink and then Richard.

“You get to make a rule,” Steve reminds her.