Page 88 of The Best I Never Had

Everyone starts clapping, those closest to Addy nudging her toward the stage. A light blush takes over her cheeks, and she looks at me with so much gratitude.

When we start our song, Owen finally stops moving. My body is primed for his reaction, for the way he watched me at the bar, but he stares into the middle distance. He meets my gaze briefly, then shoots away. My stomach roils. It’s one thing to keep his distance while we’re working, but this feels different.

Just like that night at the bar, Owen makes me miss my cue, but this experience is so different. I’d felt like I was on fire then, slowly melting like a candle under Owen’s flame. I’m freezing now. How dare he pull his warmth away after making me dependent on it?

My concentration on Owen is broken when the song ends and Addy wraps her arms around my shoulders, whispering, “Thank you, Tia.”

Camila comes up on stage and unplugs my microphone. “That’s enough, sirens. They’ve gotta get some work done.”

Everyone grumbles except for Lynne, who jumps up on the stage with the wireless microphone they use for wedding MCs. “Or we can pass the time with a game? Cami can’t unplug this one!”

The microphone is clasped between both her hands like she’s a pop star. Camila whines that there’s too much to do, and Lynne agrees not to start the game until everyone picks back up their jobs. I’m rolling out another round table with Mira when I hear Lynne call out. “Ellises and guests, welcome to the Newlywed Game. Single elimination, so don’t mess up. We’ll start with Addy and Harrison versus the oldest couple in the room, Uncle Dennis and Aunt Patricia!”

Dennis and Patricia holler about how they aren’t old while the rest of the family laughs.

Lynne dramatically shushes everyone, still clutching the microphone like a lifeline. “I have a list of a hundred questions. The couples will go head-to-head, and the first to get one wrong is kicked off until there’s only one couple standing. I need to help Cami oversee the setup, so who wants to be our MC for the day?”

A dozen cousins rush for the stage, tripping and tackling each other until one of the twins—Tommy or Johnny, who can say—scrambles up in front of Lynne. She smiles angelically, pushing the microphone into his hands. He looks down with a furrowed brow a second before keys with a bright yellow key chain tumble from his hands, the metallic clang echoing through the room.

“Son of a bitch,” he screams into the microphone, so loud I cover my ears. “You tricked me!”

“If you weren’t so desperate to be the center of attention,” Lynne says, pleased with herself, “you wouldn’t have ended up on driving duty.”

“But Cole texted me they got a new whiskey for tonight!”

Lynne cups her cheeks in mock horror. “Oh no! What will you do?”

The Ellises howl in laughter.

“The night’s not here yet,” he says, looking out over the crowd with an almost demonic grin as he slips the keys into the back pocket of his jeans.

He starts up the game while the rest of us keep working. Addy and Harrison take down Dennis and Patricia in one question, and as they exit the stage, the room can hear Patricia complaining that her husband of almost fifty years doesn’t know her favorite ice cream flavor. Addy and Harrison make it through three more challengers before they’re dethroned by a couple I haven’t met yet. The couples on the stage keep rotating after that, viciously arguing and taunting each other. The Ellises don’t play when it comes to competition.

I’m shaking out a tablecloth when Camila’s scream echoes through the ballroom. Mira rushes to her side with terror etched on her face. Her feet stop in their tracks when she spots the telltale yellow key chain hanging from Camila’s fingers, a bag of Poppy popcorn mix spilled out at her feet.

“You can’t scream like that, Camila,” Mira yells, running her hands up into her hair.

Camila’s pointing at Gabriel, who has a shit-eating grin stretched across his face. “What the fuck, Gabriel?”

“Johnny paid me forty bucks to slip them into the bag and give it to you.”

“How?” she screams. “He’s been on the microphone the whole time!”

“Twin-tuition,” Johnny and Tommy—who’s on the stage with his boyfriend—say together. They high-five without looking.

“You can’t use my Asheville Mix cravings against me,” Camila whines. “That’s cheating.”

Gabriel turns to me. “Is there a rule against using pregnancy cravings?”

Camila begs with her eyes, but the rules must be maintained, so I shrug. “Sorry, Cami. It’s every man for himself in the Ellises, right?”

I glance over at Owen, looking for a smile or a laugh or anything, but he just stares blankly at me and walks away.

Something’s wrong, and I feel sick. There’s too much attention on me right now, but I’m sneaking away the second I can to corner him. He can’t spend the week making me obsessed with him, and then just take it all away without an explanation.

Mira holds out her hand. “I’ll take the damn keys.”

“No,” Camila says with the fire of a vengeance demon. “This isn’t over.”