Chapter 10 #3
Codenames was a game that was all about mental connection.
Thinking the way your partner would think.
Essentially, reading their mind. There were twenty-five cards holding a single word face up on the table, then one partner gave a clue consisting of exactly one word and one number, where the word described the theme connecting as many cards on the table as they could, and the number told the teammate how many words matched that theme.
Towards the end of the first round, Maddy and Aspen had still been trying to find their footing at working together instead of against each other. They weren’t losing, but it was close.
They needed four points to pass Chloe and Jake—who were doing surprisingly well together—and only needed three points for the win.
It was Aspen’s turn to give the clue. She studied the board, saw a very ambitious opportunity, and studied Maddy to figure out if it would work.
Maddy held her gaze. They seemed, for a moment, to come to an unspoken agreement.
At least that’s how Aspen interpreted it.
So she gave Maddy the clue and hoped it worked. “Salt. Four.”
Everyone at the table went quiet, eyebrows raising. No one had attempted a four-word clue yet.
Maddy kept her eyes on the board, the crease deepening between her brows, looking for a moment like Aspen had handed her a problem specifically meant to sabotage her.
Then the annoyance changed into something lighter. She slanted her head, shifting her eyes up to meet Aspen’s, like she thought she had figured it out, but wanted to confirm, then back to the cards.
Maddy tapped the first card. “Ocean.” The second. “Margarita.” The third. “Wound.” She paused, her eyes scanning the board. Then slowly pressed her finger to the fourth. “Shoulder.”
Aspen’s stomach flipped. That last one had been the leap, the card she’d added half as a challenge and half as a hope that Maddy would read her properly. Then, only then, Maddy looked up.
The room had gone quiet. Aspen felt the huge grin that took over her face.
“Wow!” Olly broke the silence, and everyone else joined in, expressing their astonishment.
Maddy’s eyes sparkled, still locked on Aspen’s.
They were unstoppable after that. The game went five more rounds. Every turn, Aspen and Maddy would lock eyes and silently read each other, then rack up three to four points every time, breaking the previously held high score with each win.
They only needed three points to win the final round of the night, and it was Maddy’s turn to give the clue. She got a sexy little smirk on her face, looked Aspen dead in the eye, and said: “Deniability. Four.”
Aspen could not contain her smile. Maddy had just turned something Aspen had said at the aquarium into a private joke, meant just for her. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought Maddy was flirting with her.
Aspen could not fuck this up. She studied the cards on the table and pointed.
“Receipt.” An alibi, obviously. She tapped the next card.
“Masquerade.” Hidden identity, of course.
She paused, surveying the remaining options, less certain.
A tide could wash away evidence…a bit serial killer-y, but it made sense.
“Tide.” She glanced up at Maddy, who smirked.
Aspen’s heart fluttered. She turned her attention back to the cards, her confidence rising.
Then it just as quickly faded. She couldn’t figure out how to connect any of the remaining cards to deniability.
Shit. She could not let Maddy down now. Her eyes frantically searched the cards.
Then her gaze caught on Tide again. Oh. Tide was not about washing away evidence.
Tide was about the ocean. The aquarium. The tunnel.
Us. She scanned the cards again and immediately spotted the connection.
The dark tunnel with the blue glow they had been in when they’d talked about plausible deniability. She pointed. “Glow.”
Maddy’s face broke into a wide smile.
Everyone erupted—Bunny cheered, Jake stood up and slow-clapped, Maisie demanded a rematch, Marion swore under her breath in French at losing the game that two hours ago she’d said she wasn’t going to play, and Chloe and Olly wanted to know how in the world Aspen got glow from deniability.
Aspen just shrugged. She liked the idea of having a private joke with Maddy too much to share. And Maddy seemed to agree.
Olly and Maisie began cleaning up the cards under Bunny’s supervision. Chloe and Jake transported empty snack bowls and glasses to the kitchen sink. Marion snatched her wine glass back from Jake’s hand and mumbled something about needing a refill.
Aspen came around the table and raised her hand for Maddy to give her a high-five. “Not bad, Sterling.” She said with a smile.
Maddy looked at the hand hanging in the air and hesitated. Then rolled her eyes and lazily slapped her hand against Aspen’s. Aspen’s fingers lightly closed around Maddy’s hand and held it there. Neither of them moved.
A faint blush colored Maddy’s cheeks, and she abruptly pulled her hand away, averting her eyes.
“I need some air,” Maddy said and walked swiftly to the sliding glass door that led to the back deck.
Shit. She blew it. Aspen trudged into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa.
* * *
Aspen drummed her thumb on her thigh, her leg bouncing, as she tried not to glance at the sliding glass door again to see if Maddy had returned yet.
She lasted about eight seconds, then turned her head to steal another glance—and came face-to-face with Jake bent over behind the couch, hands on his knees in the huddle stance, mouth two inches from her ear, with a stupid grin on his face.
“Jesus, Jake!” She shrieked, pulling her neck back to put some distance between them.
“Whatcha doin’?” His grin widened.
She shoved his face away with one palm and turned back to the dark TV. “Nothing.”
“Mhm. I can see that.” He didn’t move. She could feel the warmth of his breath on the back of her neck. “What I meant was, why are you sitting in here, alone, while Maddy is on the deck. Also alone. Under romantic twinkle lights.”
She shot him a glare over her shoulder. Then crossed her arms with a sharp sigh. “I overplayed my hand, and she ran away.”
“She didn’t run away. She’s twenty feet away. Right on the other side of that glass.” He hooked a finger under her chin and turned her head towards the glass.
Aspen swatted his hand away. “She said she needed some air. AKA away from me.”
Jake raised his eyebrows. “Did she say that she didn’t want you to get air with her?”
Aspen opened her mouth to fire back. Closed it. Replayed the moment in her head. “Not in so many words.”
“So go out there and talk to her.” Jake poked her shoulder with his index finger.
Aspen turned her body to face him, both arms folded on the cushion. “And say what?”
“Ask her out.” He shrugged.
Her mouth dropped open. “Ask her out? That’s your big advice?” Her pitch was climbing. Her eyes flicked to the kitchen, where the rest of the family was having nightcaps. She forced her volume back down a notch. “I can’t just ask Maddy Sterling out!”
“Why not?” He leaned both forearms on the back of the couch, settling in. “That’s what I did. At a party not too different from this one. And we dated for two years.”
The words until she ghosted your ass almost slipped out. She bit them back. She was annoyed, not cruel.
“Says the guy who can’t even ask my sister out.” She said instead, turning away from him again.
Jake huffed. “That’s different. Chloe is barely aware of my existence. You and Mads are like…moths to a flame.”
He wasn’t wrong. Even if it wasn’t the kind of attraction she wanted to be receiving from Maddy, they still gravitated towards each other in some capacity. They always had.
“Come on, you two have been vibing all night.” He placed one hand on her shoulder. “Look, you have one shot.” He held out his index finger with his other hand. “One opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted. Are you gonna capture it, or just let it slip?”
Aspen blinked. Then turned her head slowly and shot him an incredulous look over her shoulder. “Did you just quote Eminem to me? About Maddy?”
A wide, delighted grin took over his face.
“It’s good advice.” He shrugged the same easy shrug.
The hand on her shoulder lifted, and both of his hands came up into a loose, ridiculous starter position—fingers spread, elbows cocked, the Eminem-bathroom-mirror posture.
And then he started rapping. “Her palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy…”
“Okay!” Aspen launched herself off the couch. “I’m going!”
He laughed and straightened, both arms above his head as if he had just scored a touchdown, and then extended one arm to point at her across the room. “This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo!”
“Will you stop!” She whisper-yelled over her shoulder.
At the sliding glass door, she paused, her hand on the cool metal handle.
On the other side, she could see Maddy leaning against the deck railing with her back to the house—shoulders forward, hips bent, looking out at the dark yard.
The string lights overhead caught her blonde waves and threw a soft golden glow along her arms.
Her heart stuttered. She pulled in a long breath. Then slid the door open. Warm June air washed over her. Her Birkenstocks thudded on the wooden boards as she approached.
Maddy didn’t turn.
Aspen carefully stepped up next to her and copied her posture. Forearms on the railing. Eyes on the dark yard.
“Did I just hear Jake in there rapping Eminem?” Maddy asked without turning.
Aspen laughed. “Yeah, uh…” She rubbed the back of her neck, thinking of a good excuse for Jake’s impromptu rap. “I guess that’s his way of trying to impress my sister.”
The corner of Maddy’s mouth tipped up. “Ah, so you know about his little crush then?”