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“Oh yeah. The pub.” Padraig started to follow her, but Colm put a hand on his chest to stop him.
“I need to help Dad, Colm.”
“Yeah. I’m not sure how much help you’d be at the moment, Bro.”
Mercifully, Finn emerged with Layla. “We’ll go down and help Uncle Tris, Paddy. Why don’t you stay up here and help Sunnie?”
Kelli walked over to Sunnie. “Want some help trying to clean up?”
“Clean up?” Sunnie asked. “The night is still young.”
Kelli laughed. God. She should have known better than to assume a little thing like no lights or music would dim the festivities.
Ailis and Caitlyn had managed to round up a bunch of candles, lighting them, which created the perfect atmosphere for a spooky Halloween party.
“Okay, okay,” Sunnie said, trying to get everyone’s attention. When that failed, she stuck two fingers in the corners of her mouth again and pierced the air with another of her loud whistles. Kelli had asked Sunnie to teach her how to do that once, thinking it would come in handy on the playground at recess, but Kelli hadn’t been able to produce the ear-splintering volume Sunnie was capable of.
Once everyone was quiet, Sunnie held up a bottle of tequila. “I’ve got an idea for an awesome game.”
“Oh yeah. This is where the night takes a horrible, horrible turn,” Colm muttered sarcastically and just loud enough for everyone to hear him.
“Oh ye of little faith, Colm,” Sunnie chastised. “You all know the movie A Quiet Place, right?”
“I don’t do scary movies,” Ailis said.
Sunnie dismissed that. “Yeah, but you know the main gist of it, don’t you?”
“You can’t talk or the monsters kill you?” Ailis asked.
“Yes!” Sunnie was clearly excited about her plan. “Except in our game, I’m the monster and if I hear you, you have to take a shot of tequila.”
“So you expect us to walk around here the rest of the night not talking?” Lochlan asked. Kelli practically heard the light bulb go on when Lochlan said, “I think I can get behind this game.”
Lucas laughed and agreed. “Me too. Might go down as the best Collins party in history.”
Caitlyn elbowed her husband. “You guys are only saying that because you think we’re too loud.”
“I just think this might prove once and for all,” Lucas said, “that it is physically impossible for you Collins ladies to be together and not talking at top volume.”
Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at her husband. “Twenty bucks says it’s the men who drink the most shots by the end of the night.”
And just like that, the betting and arguing over contest terms was on.
There was a longstanding argument between the male and female Collinses that the women talked too much and too loud. Of course, that wasn’t the part the ladies debated. They insisted the men were just as loud and talked just as much.
Kelli had been around long enough that she’d chosen a side, residing firmly in the women’s camp. She’d spent too many playdates with Padraig, Colm, and their other male cousins, Lochlan, Finn, Oliver, and Fergus, not to know exactly how loud they could get. Especially when it involved sports.
“That’s not a fair contest. Not with Sunnie pouring the drinks. She’ll only hear the men whispering,” Fergus said.
“Agreed,” Colm chimed in. “We need an impartial third party. Emmy, you don’t have a horse in this race, right?”
Emmy laughed. “It’s safe to say I think you’re all insane, but no, I would have no problem handing out the shots fairly. Kind of like the idea of being a monster. Wish I’d known ahead of time. Paddy and I could have come as vampires or something.”
“Damn. Missed opportunity,” Padraig said, laughing, as he held his hands up like claws, adopting a Dracula accent. “I vant to suck your blood!”
Kelli couldn’t help but grin. Padraig was actually a pretty funny drunk. She couldn’t wait to tease him about this in the morning.
Once the wagers were placed—which took a ridiculous amount of time—Sunnie declared the game was on.
