Page 90 of His Secret Obsession

Lucas laughs softly. “Good try,” he says.

I shake my head. Don’t get distracted, I think.

The game continues, and Lucas and Gilly are matched in skill, landing the ping pong balls in cups with pinpoint accuracy. Lucas and I alternate, so I drink one of the cups and he drinks the next one. There’s not too much alcohol in each cup, but I feel myself grow lighter, louder, less shy.

With a final, well-aimed throw, Lucas lets out a triumphant whoop and shares a victorious grin with me as we high-five.

“What was that you said about humbling us?” I call over to our opponents.

Hugo laughs good-naturedly while Gilly waves his middle finger.

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Lucas says. His voice is playful enough, but there’s an edge to it, and Gilly’s jaw tightens. Maybe the pair of them took the game more seriously than I expected.

I glance around at the people watching and waiting for their turn. A crowd of girls has arrived, wearing trendy shirts that show off their shoulders and midriffs, despite the temperature. Perhaps Gilly was more sensitive because he’d lost in front of the opposite sex.

“Let’s get some more booze,” he says to Hugo, dragging him back to the house.

A group of the stylish girls crowd the beer pong table, setting up a new game, and Lucas and I take that as our cue to leave.

“You were really good.”

I turn around and see it’s a brunette girl who spoke, and she’s smiling at Lucas, her teeth white and straight.

“Thanks,” Lucas says with a chuckle. I know him well enough to know the laugh is forced, added in there to be polite.

“Any tips?”

“Practice.”

“Oh, so you’ve played a lot?”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” Lucas replies.

I shift on my feet, feeling like an intruder just standing here and listening to their conversation.

“Actually, can I ask you a favour?”

“I don’t have a secret to winning, if that’s what you want.”

The brunette laughs way too much for a sentence that wasn’t even funny. “No,” she says. “I was wondering if you’d be on my team? See, my friends and I have bet that whoever loses has to pay for brunch tomorrow and I’m totally broke, so…”

One of the girls from the other team shouts out, “Hey! That’s cheating!”

She’s equally as beautiful as the brunette, and I can’t help but feel a pang of insecurity. It gets worse when I notice that the brunette, who’s smiling up at Lucas with glossy lips, is taller than me.

I must look like a dwarf next to Lucas. A gremlin.

Stop tearing yourself apart, I think, but right now, it’s really hard.

“Pleaseeee?” the brunette says when Lucas doesn’t reply. “My bank account is on the line.”

“Uh, well. I would, but…” Lucas glances at me.

All the other girls follow his gaze, and the feeling of their eyes on me makes me want to run out of there. “Go ahead,” I tell Lucas. “I’ll join up with the others.”

Then I disappear back into the house.

I can’t find Hugo or Gilly, and I don’t have the energy to try and make conversation with a stranger, so I help myself to another can of beer.

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