Page 25 of The Wedding Fake
“Are we allowed to bet?” Nora asked.
“No,” Claire snapped. “Just ask the first question.”
“Okay,” Juliet said, standing straighter. “Question one: What is your lady’s favorite food?”
My pulse instantly skyrocketed. I knew Claire was a vegan, so that limited the choices to…about eighty-nine billion options. Shit.
“Ethan?” Juliet said, buying me a few seconds to think.
“Easy,” Ethan replied. “Chicken fingers.”
Nora squealed excitedly, throwing the card that said “chicken fingers” to one side.
I snorted quietly, and Claire, the only one who could hear it, shot me a small smile, her lips pursed like she was trying not to laugh. “Hudson, your turn,” Juliet said. “What is Claire’s favorite food?”
My brain had already run through every imaginable food option, and I was no closer to sure, so I decided on an umbrella answer that might score us a win by default. “Salad?” I offered.
I looked at Claire with wide eyes, my expression begging her to forgive my ignorance, and Claire’s lips curled into a gentle smile that squeezed my lungs just a little. “I do love salads,” she said, shifting through her cards until she found the right one.
13
CLAIRE
For one moment, I considered walking out. I could stand up, take Hudson’s hand and drag him away. We could go home—or, better yet, we could get a hotel. My shoulders sagged as I remembered this was the week of Nora’s wedding.
The week of Nora’s wedding wasn’t the week to finally grow a pair and stand up to my family, and I slid the card out, declaring for all my love of potato tacos. There was no way Hudson would’ve known that, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to guess the other questions. I wasn’t giving up hope yet.
“Okay, one-zero. We go first for the next question?” I asked, turning my steely gaze back upon my mother.
I usually liked games. Of the family, I was by far the best strategist, and, five minutes ago, I’d felt confident I’d come up with answers to these questions Hudson might be able to guess. Now I just had to hope he’d been paying attention all those hours we’d spent talking. And that he was also a good strategist when it came to games. The doubt crept in, sitting leaden in my stomach. God only knew why I’d felt so confident five minutes ago. This was going to be a shitshow.
“Question two,” Mom began, “what do you like best about your job?”
I swallowed hard. This answer had been a real Hail Mary. My answer referenced a moment in the elevator when Hudson made fun of me, but while I’d replayed the interaction a hundred times, it’d probably been a throwaway moment for him. I looked at Hudson, who was thinking.
Hudson’s wide lips remained twisted in thought, then he snapped his gaze up to mine, his dark eyes bright with excitement. For one second the energy seemed to crackle and swirl between us, and I forgot my whole family looked on, and then Hud said slowly, “Qualitative—no, quantitative improvements. Making quantitative improvements.”
I wanted to bounce in my chair, or to leap across the distance and kiss the hell out of him for figuring out my strategy and remembering—he remembered—but instead I kept my cool and pulled out the card, which read Seeing the quantitative changes.
“Are you cheating?” Nora asked, frowning.
“Nope. She’s just memorably nerdy,” Hudson said, catching my eye and shooting a wink at me, clearly proud of himself. My heart soared in my chest.
Mom, who’d been watching me like a damn hawk all night and knew I hadn’t cheated, said nothing, but turned to Ethan and Nora. “Ethan, what does Nora like best about her job?”
“Free coffee!” Ethan said, nearly before she could get the question out. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Nora was a barista and talked about drinking free coffee all day long. Unsurprisingly, Nora held up the corresponding sign.
“Excellent. The score is two-one. Ethan, you’re first this time,” Mom continued. “Question three: What is her favorite hobby?”
Ethan frowned, rubbed his chin, and said, “Napping?”
I couldn’t hide my giggle as Nora’s eyes went wide and angry and she smacked Ethan on the shoulder. “Napping? Is that even a hobby? Is that seriously all you think I do when I’m not working?” She pulled out the card, wielding it like a weapon. “I read, Ethan. Jesus.” Nora threw the card and Mom shifted the attention to Hudson and me with a grimace.
“Hudson, your turn. What is Claire’s favorite hobby?”
He smiled crookedly, not hesitating. “Collecting statistics.”
“Yes!” I exclaimed, unable to hide my excitement this time, pulling out the card and throwing myself into Hudson’s arms simultaneously. He caught me easily, even as the lightweight lawn chair toppled behind me. Ignoring the chair, I kissed him, a quick press of my lips to his, and I felt his lips curl into a smile.