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The Sinking of a Monster Ship

New York City
2009
Theo's POV

Word of advice for future me: Never challenge Annabeth Chase to a game of chess. Because you will lose 100% of the time in less than 10 moves if you're lucky.

For some reason, I only told myself that AFTER I had lost my 5th game of chess against Annabeth.

Annabeth: Checkmate.

I leaned back on my chair and sighed.

Theo: What did I think was gonna happen? Strategy is your whole schtick. I was setting myself up for failure the second the word "chess" came out of my mouth.

Annabeth: (smirks) Should've thought of that before playing against me, Pinhead.

Theo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rub it in, Wise Girl.

Annabeth was still smirking when she added another tally to the whiteboard that we had next to us. The whiteboard basically showed a tally of the number of times we beat each other in games. So far, the score of 3-5 in Annabeth's favor. We had played Blackjack with snacks earlier, and I had beat her 3 times in a row.

I looked at Diego, who was lying on the floor next to the dining table. He was purring in a laughing matter.

Theo: Laugh it up, fuzzball.

In case you're wondering what Annabeth was doing in Brooklyn, here's why: David and Annabeth's dad agreed to let Annabeth stay with us for a couple of weeks before we head back to Camp Half-Blood. The first night, I wanted to let her take my bed while I slept on a mattress on the floor, but Annabeth wasn't having it and suggested that we share the bed together.

So, for the last couple of weeks, I've been waking up to see Annabeth wrapping her arms around me like a koala while resting her head on my chest.

Right now, we decided to have a little game night while David and Kathrine were on a date together. Right now, I'm losing.

Theo: Alright, you know what?

I grabbed a couple of Xbox 360 controllers and held one out to Annabeth.

Theo: Couple of races on Prostreet. No strategy, just skill.

(A/N: Need of Speed is a goated series IMO. Sure, it does have its ups and downs, but it holds a special place in my heart. Except Undercover, 'cause fuck that shitty-ass game)

Annabeth raises her eyebrows.

Annabeth: Really?

I just shrugged.

Annabeth: Alright.

She grabbed a controller, and I booted up the console.

I won two races back-to-back.

Theo: BOOM! 5-all, baby!

Annabeth: (sighs) Sudden death?

Theo: You know what? How about we leave it at that, hm? David and Kathrine should be back a little late.

For some reason, Annabeth grew a sly smirk.

Annabeth: How about we settle this in another way?

Before I could question what she could have meant by that, Annabeth straddled my waist and wrapped her arms around my neck before smashing her lips against mine. I widened my eyes in surprise before kissing back.

Before I knew it, I was caught in a trance by Annabeth's soft lip that tasted like strawberries and her hair that smelled like lemons. Suddenly, I felt Annabeth pushing her tongue against my lips, which I opened slightly, allowing her to explore my mouth with her tongue while I did the same with her.