Page 102 of Fallen Flame

Demi patted her knee. “You’ll learn.”

We dragged chairs closer and spread out around the coffee table. Alice abandoned whatever she’d been doing in the kitchen and claimed the armchair like a queen taking her throne. Ever sat on the floor beside Calla. Star squeezed between Adley and Clove, while Bell, Eden, and Penny crowded together on the loveseat. Demi sat beside me, leaving Drew trapped between us.

“For supervision,” I reminded her.

Drew looked nervous. “Do I need to know anything?”

“Never explain why you played a card,” Demi said. “It ruins it.”

“Don’t let Alice read too quickly,” Adley added.

“I read perfectly fine,” Alice said.

“You pronounced ‘aphrodisiac’ as ‘Afro-dizzy-ack,’” Star reminded her.

“That’s how it’s spelled.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Close enough.”

I opened the box and handed out the white cards. Drew studied hers with growing alarm.

“Oh,” she whispered.

Demi leaned over. “What did you get?”

“You said not to tell anyone.”

“I’m your sister.”

“That makes you more likely to use it against me.”

Demi looked at me. “She’s finally learning.”

We started with Alice as the judge. She drew the first black card and squinted at it. “‘What ended my last relationship?’”

“A lack of sexual imagination,” Cora called.

Alice pointed at Cora. “That’s not on the card and you are rude.”

Cora popped a handful of popcorn into her mouth. “I’m setting the mood.”

“You’re traumatizing us,” Calla muttered.

Cards were tossed facedown into the middle. Alice gathered them and shuffled with all the subtlety of someone trying to start a lawn mower. Then she read the answers one by one.

“‘What ended my last relationship? A tiny horse.’”

Penny frowned. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“That’s why it’s funny,” Eden said.

“‘What ended my last relationship? Poor life choices.’”

“Too real,” Ever murmured.

“‘What ended my last relationship? A disappointing birthday party.’” Alice nodded thoughtfully. “Valid.”