“No.”
Caleb finally managed to say something, even if it was only a single word and it sounded strangled, like he had to force it out from between his teeth.
“I get to challenge,” Jack said, still stifling laughter. “It’s torture, Caleb. I’m actually going light on you here. I’ve got much bigger ones in the case, you know.”
“No way, Jack. This is beyond the pale.”
Jack curled up in hysterics. “I love the way your language gets all formal when you’re stressed. You’re such a fucking writer.”
Beth watched the men with her own mouth hanging open. That the game had lurched to such a sudden place wasn’t that much of a surprise; sooner or later, with the three of them, this game had always been going to go there. Probably why Caleb was so insistent on them not getting drunk if they were to play.
But that Jack was the one to turn first, spin the first betrayal, and of Caleb, that was a shock.
Caleb’s frantic gaze turned to her. “Will you tell him this is ridiculous?” he said. In his hands, he still clutched the squat rubber object causing him such consternation. “Back me up here, Beth.”
She opened her mouth to at least offer some kind of protest to Jack, but stopped before finding the words. This was a game about alliances, making them, breaking them, and using them to come out on top. Jack might have stunned Caleb by ramping up the challenges...