The Word Game Read Free Page A

eyed her with interest.
    “Of course.” She caught the look he gave his friend Brandon. “Why?” she asked. “Is there something I should know?”
    Her son shook his head. “I’ll keep an eye on it. One of the girls has a crush on Brandon.”
    “Really?” Weren’t the kids too young for this? So far Katy hadn’t shown any indication of liking boys—either that or she was just blind to it. In all honestly, she wasn’t ready for this stage. She was hoping to wait until Katy was at least fifteen or sixteen before she had to deal with broken hearts.
    “Hey, Tricia?” Myah climbed the stairs. “The girls can smell the pizza. Are you ready for them?”
    “Elijah, are you sure you don’t want to take an extra slice?” Tricia reached for a slice of Hawaiian, her middle son’s favorite, and placed it on his plate. “Send them up.”
    For the next ten minutes, the mayhem in her kitchen knew no bounds. The girls clustered together, whether sitting at the table, snagging stools from the counter, or standing beside their friends. The boys had migrated to the living room, and a few of the girls followed and sat on the floor, hoping to play the video game as well.
    “I gotta run. You going to be okay?” Myah tapped Tricia on the shoulder, her bag slung over her shoulder.
    Tricia laughed. “Are you seriously asking me that? I’ll be fine. Go. Call me if you need me, okay?” She gave Myah a quick hug then watched her friend say good-bye to her daughter.
    She didn’t understand why Myah would meet Eddie so late at night but trusted she knew what she was doing.
    It took another hour of corralling to get the kids into their respective areas and to explain the rules. Boys had to stay upstairs and girls in the basement—no sneaking around except to go to the bathroom.
    “Seriously, Mom?” Katy had said. “As if we want the boys to bug us anyways.” She stuck her tongue out toward her brothers before she turned and led the girls down to the basement.
    “Should you follow?” Mark asked her once the kitchen was finally empty.
    Tricia shook her head. “I’ll give them a bit to get settled and figure out a game plan. That’ll give us time to clean the kitchen at least.”
    Mark grabbed a garbage bag and began to throw away empty plates and cups, while Tricia stacked the empty pizza boxes.
    “But I think tonight will be fine. They’re only kids.”
    Mark laughed, dropped the bag, and grabbed her by the waist. “Only kids? Do you have any idea what I did between the ages of eleven and fourteen? I had found all my father’s Playboy magazines and—”
    “Disgusting.” Tricia stopped him going any further. She was well aware of his escapades. They’d known each other since middle school.
    “I’m just saying that maybe we shouldn’t do any more coed sleepovers.”
    “Perhaps. If you’re so worried about it, feel free to sleep with the boys tonight.” She winked. “I’m sure they’d love to have an old man stink up the room with them.”
    “Who are you calling old?” He growled at her before lifting her up in his arms. “Could an old man do this?” He walked with her in his arms, then held her against the wall and kissed her.
    “Stop.” She laughed, pushing him away until her feet touched the ground again. “Behave yourself. The last thing we need is one of the kids seeing us make out in the kitchen and telling their parents.”
    “I’m surprised your mother never showed up. I would have thought she’d be in the thick of things tonight.”
    “She’s coming in the morning to help me with breakfast.” She would make pancakes to her heart’s content and then help clean once all the kids left. Her mother was like Aly, a neat freak, so it was a win-win situation for Tricia, since it meant she’d have more help in the morning and a clean house in the end.
    “Should we check in on the kids again before we head to bed?”
    “Are you suggesting we embarrass our kids while we’re saying good