The Cherished Wife

Sean's eyes darted around, but honestly, he could not stomach the thought of kissing any of them. Steven was out of the question, and as for Peter, Sean was sure that if he even tried, Peter would lay him out flat. That left his cousin Bob, and then Yoel and Gerald. Sean propped his face in his hand, torn between a laugh and a sob. "Can I just opt for death instead?"

"No can do," came the reply. "You're the one who wanted to play this game. You can't bail now! How are you going to show your face around Brookville after this?"

Sean could not even fake a smile. "Come on, Noelle, I get it, I messed up. Can't we just call it even? Please pick someone else, I just can't do it!" Kissing any of them felt like the ultimate no-no.

He peeked at Bob, but Bob's glare was scary, so Sean quickly nixed that idea. Then there was Yoel, but that was just as unbearable. Peter and Steven were definite no-gos.

"What if I just stand up and belt out a tune for you, huh?"

straight face. Gripping Charles's hand, she squeezed the back of it tightly. Seeing Sean's almost tearful expression, she finally burst into laughter. "Okay, Mr. Smith, if you're not

a stickler than Charles. I'm impressed," Sean said, grabbing a bottle with a look of noble sacrifice, like he was about to heroically charge into

dramatics and gave Charles's sleeve a little tug. "We're good now,

and patted her hand. "Relax, he's got a tank for a liver.

more rounds, and Sean got the short end of the stick every time, with Jennifer and Noelle not far behind. The others, though, seemed to dodge the bullet like they had it all figured out. The bottle just would not target

night's end, everyone but Noelle, Jennifer, and Sean was still standing

headed home, Noelle was pretty sober since most of the alcohol had ended up with Charles. Luckily he could handle his

was not