Chapter 3

"We won't play anything wild this round, since everyone here's got a boyfriend or girlfriend, right?"

"So what do we play?"

"Isn't Linda nervous about the wedding tomorrow? Let's give her a little preview tonight."

"That way she gets over her nerves, and we all have fun."

"Same rules as always. Whoever loses gets married to the final winner, right here."

"And the wedding night?"

"That one's pay-per-view."

"Hahaha, you're wicked. You said nothing wild, but this is wilder than a French kiss."

I really wanted to leave, but they blocked my way and flat-out refused to let me go.

They dragged me down into a seat and made me play.

I lost, same as always, and Linda, just as it had all been arranged, lost the last round to Hubert.

The crowd laughed and shoved Linda straight into Hubert's arms. "Marry him! Marry him! Marry him!"

Linda laughed, all shy and coy, then walked over to me with her face flushed.

"Stannie, take the ring off and give it to me."

I fixed my eyes on her, searching her face for some sign she'd stop before it went too far.

She didn't.

She had designed that ring herself. It meant one life, one love, two people who would never leave each other.

The night we got engaged, she'd slipped it onto my ring finger, and the vow she made was still fresh in my ears.

Now all of it was smoke.

I reached to pull the ring off, but going on was easy and coming off was hard.

The bone of my finger ached until my brow drew tight, and Linda, who had always cared so much about me, had no interest in my face now. She only wanted me to hurry up and get it off.

"Linda, you designed this ring yourself. You should know it goes on easy and comes off hard."

"But nobody else here has a wedding ring. Without one we can't play the marriage game."

Her words made it click all at once.

This whole so-called game was aimed at the ring on my hand.

Linda wanted Hubert to wear it and hold a wedding with her.

She'd worked hard for this, laying so much groundwork.

She'd run out of patience. She grabbed my hand and yanked hard, until even the skin went red with pain.

For a flicker Linda seemed reluctant, until her friend chimed in.

"You only get one wedding in your life. You can't leave anything to regret over!"

That line filled her with grim determination, and she went at my ring finger like nothing else mattered.

At last, Hubert stood up.

"Don't be so hard on my buddy. Can't you see how much it's hurting him?"

"If you really want it off, I've got a way."

With that, he pulled a tube of lubricant out of his pants pocket.

Every single person in the room knew exactly what that was for.

Someone was more than happy to stir the pot.

"Whoa, Hubert, you're a single guy and you keep this stuff in your pocket?"

"Please, maybe Hubert's already got someone special. He just won't say so."

Hubert laughed, delighted, shooting little glances at Linda every so often.

"I have a girlfriend."

"We were just being sweet on each other a minute ago."

"Hahaha, what kind of sweet exactly?"

"Quit being a brat. You know full well what I mean."

The room roared with laughter, and the mocking in their eyes as they looked at me was almost impossible to hide.

Hubert said nothing more. He even lifted the lubricant and gave it a sniff, which set Linda beside me squirming.