Matrimony Homies

23: Worst (Loren)

"Is it bad that I'm now comparing every castle to Peckforton?" I ask when we park at our third castle of the day. "I mean, Rowton was nice – very posh actually, and this place –" I glance at the brochure in my hand, "Crabwall Manor, looks equally lovely."

"But they're not Peckforton." Harry tacks on the phrase, restating what's on my mind. "And this is where we're staying tonight?"

"It's where I made reservations," I shrug. "The next hotel is another 30 minutes west, near Liverpool. Want me to see if I can make reservations there instead?" Picking up my phone, I prepare to dial the phone number for Leasowe Castle.

"Nah." He waves his hand in my direction as he steps out of the car. "Let's do the tour here and see how we feel after. Maybe we'll drive to Liverpool, do the tour, and come back to sleep here."

Narrowing my eyes, I climb from my seat, glancing at him over the bonnet. "Feeling zen today?"

"If we plan everything, there's no mystery. No excitement. Let's live on the edge, Freak. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Whenever you ask that question, we're in for trouble." My hand loops through his arm. "Let's play it by ear anyway." Together we march into Crabwall Manor.

"It's my birthday," Harry hisses to Gemma and me, "and I wanna play Seven Minutes in Heaven like on 'Family Guy'."

Gemma and I glance at each other, our lighthearted giggles barely contained. Ruffling his curly hair, Gemma agrees. "Fine, but only if everyone else agrees to play AND...." Harry pouts at what he assumes must be an even worse condition, "we're only doing 3 minutes. Seven minutes is for kids."

His face lighting up, Harry skips away to tell his friends they're playing Three Minutes in Heaven, leaving me laughing with Gemma. "He's such a kid still – even though he's sixteen today."

"Can you believe it, Lor? Our baby is all grown up." Gemma covers her mouth in a pretend sob. Anne has left us as chaperones, knowing that Harry won't want his parents hovering after she and Robin deliver beer and cider.

A snort sneaks out of my mouth, "Who do you think he's trying to kiss? And why does he need this premise to do it?"

"No kidding! Do you think it's Alice?" Gems wonders softly as Harry gathers everyone in a circle on the floor.

"I thought she was dating Jonny?"

Harry waves us over. "Come on! We need more girls."

Exchanging a glance and a shrug with Gemma, we move towards the circle. "It's not like you have to actually kiss any of them," Gemma reminds me. "If you get selected, you can just give them a kiss on the cheek or wait out the time."

"Good, cause they're barely out of nappies."

Harry is describing the rules to the partygoers, prompting Gemma to remind the crowd that everything must be consensual. I settle on the floor between two young men who look at each other in surprise with giant grins breaking out between them. Catching Gemma's attention across the circle, I roll my eyes.

"Birthday boy goes first," Harry announces proudly, spinning an empty cider bottle. I'm still making faces at Gemma which is why I don't notice right away that the lip of the bottle is pointing towards me. Not until Gemma's shocked face causes me to glance at the centre of our circle.

"Oooooo," the boys flanking me mock, and I shake my head, rising to step into the other room with Harry. We're practically siblings, but rules are rules. Gotta go into the room for 3 minutes no matter who it lands on. If gender doesn't make a difference then neither do familial ties.