"You want to start by cuttin' around the neck of the deer and start skinnin' the hide," Roxanna explains, demonstrating with her hands. "Once you've exposed the meat of the neck, you should have enough hide to get a good grip. Pull with one hand, slice with the other, and the rest is easy from there." She grins and nonchalantly raises her glass for a sip.

I nod slowly. "Fascinating."

Her face brightens. "Oh! You should come huntin' with me and my brother next weekend!"

"Uh, well, I think I might actually have plans already," I say hesitantly, glancing over at Nora who is pointedly avoiding eye contact with me, hiding behind her drink as she sits next to Liam.

"Well, maybe next time then," Roxanna says with a friendly smile, taking the last sip of her whisky sour. "I should probably get going, y'all."

Nora turns, looking a bit surprised, and asks, "So soon?"

Roxanna nods as she rises from the high-top table. "Oh yeah, I have to be up early tomorrow." She turns to me with a warm smile. "It was nice seeing you, Wells."

"Oh yes, very nice talking with you," I say as she leans in for an awkward hug. "Can I walk you to your car?"

Please say no. Please say no.

"Oh, that's alright. My truck is parked just out front," Roxanna says, gesturing through the window to a red lifted Ford truck. "Bye, y'all."

"Bye, Roxy," we all chime in. I briefly watch her walk away and before I turn to Nora, who offers me a toothy smile.

"Why the hell did Roxanna think this was a date tonight?" I grin out.

"She thought this was a date?" Liam says, a chuckle escaping him as he tips back his beer to take a sip.

"I swear, I didn't tell her it was one!" Nora defends herself. "All I said was that she should join us and that you'd be here. I don't understand why you don't like her."

"It's not that I don't like her, Nora. Don't get me wrong. She's very beautiful," I clarify. She is, she looks like a Megan Moroney. "And I'm sure she will make some cowboy very happy one day, but I don't know if a country, hunter, Montana girl is exactly my type."

"How do you know she thought it was a date?" Liam asks.

"Because she came up to me while I was dancing to Juniper and introduced herself as my date," I say, my gaze subtly shifting to Juniper at her table.

"You were dancing with her?" Nora's eyes widen in surprise. "You don't even like dancing."

"I know," I admit.

I hate dancing. But when I saw Juniper in that crowd, dressed in that fucking short silky black dress, I couldn't resist. I had to do something, anything to get closer to her, to touch that soft material caressing her figure.

She had definitely caught my attention (as well as the attention of every other guy in the bar) and I've been struggling all night to keep my eyes off her ever since.

She senses my gaze and lifts her head from the table, her whiskey brown eyes locking with mine. She shoots me a glare and turns as she scratches her temple with her middle finger. I can't help but suppress a smile as she does.

"Her friends seem to be very popular tonight" Liam says, and both he and Nora turn their attention to her friends talking to a couple of guys in cowboy hats.

"That's because the blonde one is an Instagram influencer," Nora says as she takes a sip of her drink.

I turn to Nora, intrigued. "How do you know that?"

"Because I follow her. Her name is Ellis Sutton. She's been posting pictures on her story all night," Nora says, pulling out her phone to show Liam and then turning to me. "You'd know if you actually had an Instagram or even a Facebook."

"Let me see," I say, snatching Nora's phone from her. She rolls her eyes at me as I start clicking through a handful of pictures of Juniper and her friends posing at various spots.

Juniper in front of the bar, taking shots with her friends, and one where her friend is kissing her cheek. All the while, she's in that short silky black dress.

"Is everyone ready for the final round of Saved by the Trivia: 90s Edition?" The announcer's voice fills the bar through the microphone, accompanied by background music for added dramatic effect.

After Juniper left me behind on the dance floor, both of our teams managed to secure a spot in the final round of trivia, alongside one more team. Of course, she'd be good at trivia. Why doesn't that surprise me?

"We've got three teams left, folks. Team Barbie Girls," he announces, gesturing to Juniper's and her friends on the right, "Team Always *NSYNC," indicating the team in the middle, "and Team Vandelay Industries," pointing at me, Nora, and Liam.

"This round will be slightly different. I will ask the question, and the first team to push the button will be the first to answer. The first team to secure three points more than the others wins," he announces as they hand each of the three teams a buzzer.

"Are we ready?" The boisterous, slightly intoxicated crowd around us erupts in cheers.

"Alright, our first question." The crowd hushes. "Macaulay Culkin was paid $1 million—the first child star ever to do so—for what film?"

I press the buzzer and confidently respond. "What is 'Home Alone'."

"Wells, I don't have to say 'what is' when you answer a question," my sister chides as the buzzer goes off, indicating that I'm incorrect.

Juniper quickly buzzes in, "What is 'My Girl'."

"Correct!"

"She's saying it," I say, gesturing towards Juniper.

She rolls her eyes at me, "You guys are both weirdly made for each other."

"What singer broke their own record for highest-ever attendance at the Houston Astrodome in 1995?" The announcer continues.

I reach for the button, but Juniper beats me to it. "Who is Madonna," she quickly responds, and the buzzer goes off, indicating she's wrong.

I hit it immediately after. "Who is Selena."

"Correct!" the announcer says with a smile. "You guys actually don't need to say 'who is' and 'what is' by the way."

"I told you," Nora mumbles from the side.

"In the 1990s what news outlet, often associated with the phrase 'All the News That's Fit to Print,' was the most prominent newspaper in the United States?"

"The Wall Street Journal," Juniper hits the button, but the buzzer signals that she's wrong.

I glance over at her table. "How do you not know the answer to that question?"

"What?" Juniper shoots me a defiant look, the same one she gives when she's irritated with me at work.

"It's The New York Times. They've had that tagline for over a century."

The announcer interjects, "You technically have to actually press the button to get that answer right."

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not a newspaper nerd like you are," Juniper retorts.

"You don't have to be a nerd to know, you just have to be a journalist."

Her jaw clenches, a faint blush tinging her cheeks as I manage to get a rise out of her. I fucking love getting under her skin. It's the only way I've ever been able to grab her undivided attention. I revel in it, seeing her all riled up.

"Do you two know each other?" The announcer interrupts, glancing back and forth between us.

"No," we respond in unison.

She then quick presses the buzzer. "The New York Times."

The announcer turns to me. "Technically, she wins because she pressed the buzzer first."

I steal a quick glance at Juniper, who's in the midst of being teasing by her friends. She looks back at me, her irritation still evident as she sticks her tongue out in my direction.

"Smooth, dude," Liam comments.

"Wow, Wells, you're so charming," Nora adds sarcastically. "You'll win her over in no time."

"Shut up."

The game stretches on for another twenty minutes, and it's a neck-and-neck between Juniper and me, trading wins. The third team appears to have lost all enthusiasm and isn't even attempting to answer anymore. The crowd seems to have lost almost all interest in what has turned into Juniper and I's personal game of trivia. Even Juniper's friend, Ellis, is now at the bar, gleefully downing shots with the cowboy hat guy.

"Alright lady's and gentleman. Our final question is sudden death. Winner takes all. Are we ready?" The announcer's voice echoes through the bar, trying to build anticipation.

A voice from the audience can't help but exclaim, "Finally!" in exasperation.

"In the hit '90s TV show 'Friends,'" the announcer begins, making eye contact between Juniper and me for added drama, "the famous relationship dilemma that fans still debate today, Ross and Rachel. Were they on a break?"

I start to reach for the button, but I pause. My gaze shifts to Juniper, who hovers over the button as well, while the iconic Jeopardy Think Music begins to play in the background.

Were they on a break? Rachel did say 'Maybe we should just take a break.' But that's not a breakup. Is it?

Shit. I don't know.

I look at my sister and Liam. Simultaneously, she says "no," while Liam insists with a confident "yes." They exchange a quick look.

Suddenly, a buzzer rings, and I look up to see Juniper still hesitating over her button, yet to press it. We exchange a puzzled look, wondering which of us hit the buzzer.

Then, the forgotten team sitting between us speaks up, "Yes! They were on brake," the woman asserts.

"Correct!" The celebratory horn sound echoes through the speakers as the announcer proclaims, "Wow, what a comeback! Team Always *NSYNC, sealing the victory with the final question!"

"Oh wow," Nora's eyebrows shoot up as we all glance over at the other team. "I didn't even realize they were still playing."

I shake my head in agreement. "Yeah, me either."

"Well, as entertaining as that was," she says while rising from her seat, "Liam, let's go so you can take my clothes off and do that thing you know I like."

"God, you're gross," I say, gently pushing her face with my hand as she laughs. "Stop saying stuff like that in front of me."

"I'm not sure it's physically possible for her to not," Liam adds, giving me a handshake hug with a back pat.

"I'll see you guys later," I say, giving my sister a warm hug. As they exit, I watch them go and then make my way over to the bar to settle my tab.

I catch the bartender's attention as he passes, asking, "Can I close out?" He nods, and I take a seat at the barstool as I wait for him to return.

"You know I would have won." I hear from beside me. I turn my head to see Juniper, her glass lifted to her lips as she takes a sip.

"Would you have?" I respond, raising an eyebrow.

She nods her head, her steps bringing her closer to me. "I was just about to press the button before the other team did."

"Is that so?" I reply, standing up from my seat. I take a step closer, our proximity increasing, "I guess we'll need a rematch to find out."

"So, where did your girlfriend disappear to?" She blurts out, her tone attempting to sound casual. She realizes it's not and briefly closes her eyes before looking at me.

Is she jealous?

I narrow my eyes and counter, "My girlfriend?" I reply, thrown off by her comment. "Are you talking about Roxanna?"

She shrugs nonchalantly, taking a sip of her drink, just as the bartender hands me my bill.

I shake my head, a wry smile forming. "Roxanna's not my girlfriend, Juniper."

She pauses for a moment. "Oh."

"Roxanna's my sister's friend from Montana, who somehow thought tonight was a date."

"Oh," she repeats.

"Even if I did have a girlfriend," I say as I sign the bill, "do you really think I'd go off and dance with you like that?"

I look up at her, and her face takes on a light shade of pink. She responds, "Well, I've had worse happen to me, so..."

My jaw clenches at her words, anger courses through my body. Fucking Beckett Moore. How could anyone ever do something so terrible to someone as kind as Juniper, or to anyone, for that matter?

"June, let's go," her friend calls from the other side of the bar, who is taking a shot away from her friend, Ellis. Juniper glances over at her and then back to me.

"I should probably go," she says, gesturing to her friends.

"Yeah, sure," I say, reaching out to shake her hand. "Well, it was a good game."

She glances at my outstretched hand, her expression skeptical. Tentatively, she accepts the handshake, and as she does, I take a small step forward. That same rush of heat surges through my body as I subtly pull her closer to me.

I feel her breath catch as I lean in, my lips almost grazing her ear. In a soft whisper, I say, "And, Juniper." I tilt my head slightly so that I can see her. "When it comes to you and me, I'll always win."

Our eyes connect, and I feel her hand tighten slightly as a blend of annoyance and a flicker of heat dances in her eyes.

"June, let's go home," her friend calls again from behind Juniper, startling her. She releases my hand and takes a step back. "I had to take Ellis' phone away, and she's about to break her own no-boys pact."

Thank you everyone for reading, commenting, and voting! ❤️