"Good. Now that we've settled all that, let's do something fun with my parents. They'd love to get to know you better, and so would I."
He nods with feigned seriousness. "Ah, the interrogation is about to begin in earnest."
I poke him in the belly. "Better not mock the woman who's giving you a place to sleep and awesome sex."
"Am I mocking you? Thought I was being facetious instead."
Footsteps on the stairs catch our attention, and we both realize my parents are coming back. So I jump off Ben's lap, standing up. He's just pushing up out of his chair when my parents reach the living room.
"We were trying to think of something fun to do," I say. "Something we can all do together."
"I've got an idea," Dad says, rubbing his hands together. "Let's play games."
Ben and I exchange looks that I think mean we're both thinking the same thing. Games? Yeah, we played one of those earlier, but it involved stripping. No, I don't think I'll mention that to my father.
Dad walks up to Ben and slaps his arm. "Ever play war, kid?"
Ben's forehead crinkles. "War?"
"The card game. Don't they have that in England?"
"Not sure. I've never heard of it, but I'm hardly an expert on card games."
"You'll like it." Dad slaps Ben's arm again. "It's easy to play. I'll show you how."
I sidle up to Ben, slipping my arm around his. "It's strictly a game of chance. No strategy involved. But it's actually lots of fun, especially the way my family plays it."
"All right," Ben says. "I'm in."
"Terrific!" Dad almost shouts.
Why my father is so happy that Ben will play a card game with him, I have no idea. I hope it means Dad likes Ben, because I like him a whole lot.
But he's a crown prince from another country. Maybe I shouldn't get too attached to him, since I doubt his mother would ever approve of me, but I can't help it. Ben is the nicest guy I've ever met. Could we find a way to be together even without his family's consent? Not sure I want to be the wedge that drives them apart, but I'm also positive I don't belong in his world.
I'm being a worrywart. Since I just met Ben, it's way too soon to fret over our star-crossed relationship.
We sit down at the dining room table to play war. Since the "dining room" is just an open space beside the living room, I'm not sure it actually counts as a separate space. The round maple-wood table fits four chairs nicely, so we seat ourselves around it and put the deck of cards on the tabletop. Only two players can participate at one time. Dad and Ben go first.
"It's real simple," Dad says. "We each take half the deck and place it face down. Then we both lay a card down at the same time, face up. Whoever gets the highest card wins the hand. We do that over and over until one of us has all the cards."
"Sounds easy enough," Ben says. "Let's go."
My father fake-squints at Ben. "How fast can you flip a card, kid?"
Ben fake-squints right back at my dad. "As fast as you can. Maybe even faster."
Dad counts out the cards, separating them into two stacks of twenty-six each. He hands one stack to Ben. Then my father rests one finger on his cards and affects an even squintier fake-squint. "Ready, kid?"
Ben hunches forward slightly, his finger on his stack of cards, and stares intently at my dad. "Oh yes, I'm ready."
"Let's see what kind of quickdraw you are."
Jeez, he's making it sound like this is a duel to the death at high noon with six-shooters. Well, at least they're having fun.
Dad flips his first card.
And Ben flips his over at almost the same instant.