“Oh, yeah?” Curt asked. “You mean like hobbits and elves and that kind of shit?”

“Yes.” She narrowed her eyes. “That kind of shit.”

Curt must have realized he’d stepped in it, because he raised his hands, palms out, and said, “It’s totally cool if it is. I love me some Game of Thrones action.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, and not just because of all the T and A. Though I’m not complaining about that.”

“Of course not,” Andie said stiffly, sable eyes flaring as if she were about to roast her companion Mother of Dragons style.

“How are things going here?” Pen asked cheerfully, sidling up to their table in a whoosh of positive energy. Luke hid a grin behind his water glass. His sister had perfect timing. He’d noted how she’d been making her way around the room, stopping to chat at each table, and he was impressed.

As game master, it wasn’t something he would have thought to do. He considered his role as more like an overseer. “God looking down on his minions,” was how Pen had once snarkily phrased it.

But watching his sister now, Luke realized the advantage in taking time to meet the players in smaller groups. It allowed her a chance to connect with them as individuals and evaluate how the game was progressing in real time. As Penelope engaged the table in a few minutes of friendly chatter, Luke was impressed again. She was gregarious and professional and seemed to put everyone at ease.

He knew Pen accused him of still seeing her as a helpless kid, and maybe she had a point. Over the past year, while planning this project together, his sister had often reminded him of the degree she’d earned. Whenever they’d gotten into an argument over a detail, she’d trot out her credentials, listing all the ways she was qualified to have an opinion. In his usual big brother manner, Luke had listened but not heard.

He’d made her GM and had agreed to trust her to do the job on her own, but until he saw her in action tonight, he hadn’t pictured her actually taking control, let alone doing it in a manner that was so uniquely her. She was doing more than simply filling in for him as leader … She was leading. And if Luke had bothered to pay closer attention to his sister, he wouldn’t have been so surprised. The realization was a punch to the gut.

Luke had the sudden urge to jump out of his chair and hug her. He might have, too, if they weren’t supposed to be acting like they didn’t know each other. He forced his attention to the servers as they arrived with the meal.