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"Half our group wanted one answer, and the other half wanted another," the man says. "We're going with having sex."
Bursts of laughter erupt around the room.
Beckett runs his hand across his face as his shoulders shake with amusement. After a minute or so, he stares at the team captain and, in a serious voice, says, "And your team name is the Geritol Gang?"
"Yep. Great answer, huh?" the man says.
"I think I'll refrain from commenting," Beckett says between struggling breaths. "It'll only get me in hot water."
There's another round of chuckles.
"Okay, let's finish this question before the game goes completely off the rails."
Beckett gets the rest of the answers. Done with the scoring, he continues through questions three, four, and five.
Dane studies the players. Some teams appear in much better spirits than others. Jerry looks rather smug, which must mean he and his team are doing reasonably well. Brittany and her team also appear pleased, the six of them loudly toasting each other. The chickens behind her are scowling, with two of the men wrapped up in what looks like a serious discussion.
"Okay, question six. Here we go. Name an occasion for which you might wear lucky underwear."
Chuckles and a few giggles break out amongst the players.
After several minutes, Beckett calls time. Going in order, he collects the answers for teams one through six. He gets to Brittany's team next.
"Team seven, what's your answer?" Beckett asks.
Brittany smiles brightly. "Our answer is a candlelight dinner."
"Hmm…hold on. I need to come back to you." Beckett moves on to teams eight and nine, who answer going on a date and interviewing for a job. Returning to Brittany, he says, "I need to get an opinion on your answer." He scans the room, then zeroes in on Dane. "Dane, I need your help. The question is, name an occasion for which you might wear lucky underwear. Team number seven's answer is a candlelight dinner. One of the top five answers is a hot date. You get to be the judge and jury on this one. Their team captain, Brittany, will either love you or hate you, so be careful. What's your decision? Will Brittany get points or no points for her answer?"
Dane stares at Beckett.Oh, hell. Why me? Fuck, this is bad!
Jerry points at Dane. "Hey, you can't ask him. That's cheating! Those two are—"
"I'll do it," Luis shouts, cutting off Jerry. "Dane's too nice a guy to have half the room mad at him," Luis laughs. "Okay, if I heard you correctly, team seven's answer is a candlelight dinner, and one of the top answers is a hot date. Hmm…let me see." Luis rubs his chin and eyes Brittany. "A candlelight dinner could be a hot date. So, I say give team seven the points."
Brittany and her team whoop it up. Jerry glares at Luis.
Beckett flips the page on the easel. "Here are the top answers. A hot date is thirty points, a job interview is sixteen, a casino or gambling is eleven, a sporting event is nine, and a wedding night is seven. Before we move on to the last question, I want to see where we are with the scores. If you have over a hundred points, raise your hand."
All the team captains except for teams six and eight raise their hands.
"Most of you are doing pretty good. If you have a hundred and ten or higher, keep your hand up," Beckett says.
Teams one and five drop their hand.
"If your score is a hundred and twenty or higher, keep your hand in the air."
Teams two, three, and four drop their hand. Only Brittany and Jerry still have a hand in the air.
"Wow, I'm impressed," Beckett says. He looks across the room at Brittany. "Team number seven, what's your score?"
Iris and Rose shout in unison, "One hundred and forty-two!"
Beckett gives a low whistle. He turns to Jerry. "And what's your score?"
"A hundred and fifty," Jerry says, snickering.
"Well, this last question will determine which of you is our winner. So, here's the question. Name something that's hot."
