Lennon hopped into the seat first, but he didn’t get to stay long. Then it was Mason, his shouted complaints making melaugh harder than I had in a long time. To the point my stomach was aching from it.
“Oh, come on, give me another shot,” he begged as I wiped him out.
“Those weren’t the rules,” Wilder said. “Move.” He hopped in next to me, feigning confidence, but out of all of us, Wilder was probably the worst.
Even going easy on him, he joined the others in the defeat column.
“Even though I highly doubt that I’ll actually win, I’m going to give it my best shot,” Kieran offered, sitting down next. He lasted longer than the others had, focusing so hard that his tongue was poking out of his mouth and his eyes were narrowed at the TV screen.
He almost got me, just from the fact that I was checking him out more than playing. In the end, I pulled it together, gaining another victory.
“Okay, get her, Cade,” Kieran called. “You’re the last one. We’ve got a wager going.”
“And you think I have a chance?” Cade questioned as he joined us, arms full of snacks. I don’t know if he did it to prove that he knew the kind of things I liked, or if it was just one of the usual things that Cade did to take care of us. Either way, I wasn’t going to question a good thing. We dug into the snacks as we waited for Cade to take his seat.
We hadn’t played against each other yet.
“Get it, alpha,” Mason said. “The prize is her, you have to try.”
“Tell me someone is going to be able to go after me, because we all know I’m not going to win this,” Cade said. He looked slightly embarrassed.
“Why do I feel like I’m about to get hustled?” I said, turning away from him and locking in. I knew him better than that. He was always quiet, but confident.
A few minutes in, and it was clear that Cade was not, in fact, kidding. He was honestly terrible, maybe even worse than Wilder.
“Well, that didn’t work out. We need a new wager,” Mason said, holding his hands up. “Our girl is just too good.”
“How about a game she’s not familiar with?” Lennon suggested, giving me a side-eye. “If it’s a game she hasn’t spent hours and hours on, we’ll be on even footing.”
“What game is that?” I questioned, not sure how this turned against me so quickly.
“How do you feel about jump scares? This game here, if you scream, you lose.” He pulled up a game that looked terrifying as hell.
“It’s not suspense,” Wilder reassured me.
I had a feeling I wasn’t going to win this one, but that was the point.
“I can handle this,” I said, readjusting on the couch. My palms were already getting sweaty. The chances of me making a fool of myself were extremely likely.
“Whoever makes it the furthest gets to claim you.”
“If I win, does that mean I have to sleep alone?” I asked, eyes wide. “After a game like this?!”
Kieran snorted. “You know there’s no way we’re letting you sleep alone if we can help it.”
“So what you’re saying is, no matter what, I win?”
“Pretty much,” Lennon agreed. “I know it’s tough being an omega.” This time, my delta’s voice was teasing.
Just like he was proud of that picture that was spreading around, I was proud that I was able to change his mind on omegas.
Now, if we could just show him that he didn’t have to avoid his delta nature, then we’d be perfect.
The game started off subtly, the setting creepy enough to have me on the edge of my seat. I was jumpier than I usually was, and of course Lennon and Mason found that hilarious.
I didn’t say a word, jaw clenched tight. Everyone talked a big game until it came down to getting jump scared.
We were walking through a foggy, dark forest. Every shadow felt like it was about to jump out at me.
