Page 40 of Rule Number Five
She huffed, shaking her head. “Please. Barely.”
I paused until the weight of my gaze pulled hers to mine. I was dead fucking serious. “Try me.”
“What?” Her brows pulled together so hard I’d think I’d thrown her off if it wasn’t for the deep flush crawling up her neck.
I’d been paying attention, and it was time she knew it.
“IbetI can answer any question about you.”
The table went silent around us, but all my attention was on Sid.
She tilted her head, trying to read me. “Is everything a game to you?”
“You aren’t.”
She sucked in a breath and bit into her lower lip. This girl better be careful, or I would kiss her in front of everyone. She gnawed on the delicate skin before saying. “What do you get?”
“If I can answer all of your questions, you have to call me ‘King’ for a week.”
She barked out a laugh. “Yeah, no.”
“Oh, come on, Sidney,” Lucas taunted. “Are you worried he’ll win?”
Her eyes snapped back to mine.
“Yeah, Trouble. You worried?”Come on, Trouble. Take the bait.
Sid studied me for a minute, then shrugged. “There’s no way you’re winning this.”
“Watch me.”
“Fine. Three questions.”
“Deal.”
Everyone leaned toward us, now the most exciting thing in the bar.
“What’s my favorite color?”
“You’d think I’d guess blue because of your coat, but it’s really the deep plum you get all your binders in.”
Her eyes went wide. “How did you…”
“I told you. I’ve been paying attention. That’s one.”
She drummed her fingers on the table, trying to think of something harder. Mia piped in instead. “What’s her favorite food?”
I checked with Sid, and when she nodded, I answered, “She’ll eat pretty much anything, but her favorite is chocolate croissants.” It was a guess, but it was right.
Sidney took what felt like forever to come up with the last question. When she had it, she faced me, her tongue poking into the side of her cheek, trying to hold back her smile. She thought she had me. “If I was an animal, what would I be?”
Fuck. I should say something cute, like a fox. She was definitely sly like one, but that wasn’t what she’d call herself. No, she liked to stay inside, curled up, and not move for hours. That was how she got her best work done. Hell, it was even what she did for fun, plugging into a book for hours at a time. What fucking animal did that? A slow smile pulled at the corner of my lips. “A sloth.”
As soon as I said it, the table erupted, and everyone gave me shit for my answer. But disbelief filled Sid’s face, and I knew I’d won.
“Okay, you win, Jax.” She rolled her pretty green eyes, trying to look unaffected, but she was snuggled in closer, and her fingers tightened into my shirt.
“He what?” Alex and Mia shouted, but I ignored them.