Aaron’s eye injury placed him low on the emergency room’s priority list; despite visiting one of the city’s best hospitals, known for its short wait times, they still waited an hour before he was seen. The atmosphere was tense. Aiden was clearly worried, though Aaron, not Aiden, had been hit in the eye by Cameron.

Cameron had apologized profusely, but Aaron had to restrain his anger. Repeating "He's getting married, he's getting married," he focused on enduring the situation until the wedding was over.

After a nurse took his vitals and summoned a doctor, Aaron sat alone in a small room. He felt utterly miserable. He had to socialize later, when all he wanted was sleep. His face ached. He'd never been good at relating to men, even those in high society with similar backgrounds.

He tolerated Aiden and Cameron out of familiarity, but Keeley was his only true friend. He’d see her tomorrow, but the prospect no longer appealed to him; he looked terrible, and she’d surely laugh.

As he dreaded Keeley's reaction, the doctor entered, extending his hand. "I understand this was a paintball injury."

"Yes," Aaron replied. "The goggles were faulty."

"Let's have a look." The doctor gloved his hands and gently, but painfully, pried Aaron’s swollen eye open.

Tears welled up. The area around his eye was tender.

"I'm not seeing any problems. Close your right eye," the doctor instructed. Aaron complied. "Can you still see out of your left eye?"

"Yes."

"Any headaches or nausea?"

"No."

The doctor stepped back. "I think it's a simple black eye. It'll heal in a week or two."

A week or two! He’d have to go to the office like this. Everyone would see it, including his father. Could he feign the flu? No, it wasn’t flu season.

"Thank you," he said flatly, heading to the waiting room where Aiden sat.

Aiden jumped up, worry etched on his face. "What did the doctor say?"

"It'll heal in a week or two."

Aiden grimaced. "Yikes."

"Yeah," Aaron said coldly. "That sums it up."

The ride home was silent. They arrived before the expected crowd, allowing Aaron to approach the doorman formally, despite his appearance. The doorman’s eyes widened, but he remained silent.

"I'm expecting guests in fifteen minutes. Send them up."

"Yes, Mr. Hale."

Aaron strode to the elevator with practiced dignity, Aiden trailing behind. Reaching the penthouse, Aiden whistled.

"This is the perfect party place! You've never had one here?"

"No. Why would I?"

Aiden fell silent. He had a point.

The rest of the group arrived, thankfully wearing shirts; the bet had apparently been forgotten in the rush after Aaron's injury. They were awestruck by the apartment's size.

"Wow, what do you do for a living?!"

"I've never seen an apartment this big!"

"Even I didn't know you had this much space!"

"I did," Aiden said smugly, addressing Cameron.

Cameron glared. "When have you been here before?"

Aiden avoided admitting the embarrassing reasons for his previous visits, offering only a mysterious grin.

"Enough ogling my apartment," Aaron said coldly. "Shall we play games?"

"Yes!" Aiden said eagerly. "I have the perfect one! It's in Cam's car, though."

Cameron retrieved the game, leaving the others in awkward silence until Dinah arrived. Her presence relaxed everyone; pets have a humanizing effect.

"Oh my gosh, she's so cute!" Aiden cooed, petting Dinah.

"What's her name?" Cooper asked.

"Dinah."

Dinah acted as an ambassador for Aaron, calming the tension as she rolled around, enjoying the attention.

By the time Cameron returned with the game, the mood had completely shifted. He was surprised to find everyone gathered around Aaron, who was showing Chase pictures of Dinah.

Aiden snatched the game. "Guys, we're playing Drunk Jenga!"

Cheers and groans followed. Aaron was confused; he'd never heard of it. Keeley had mentioned regular Jenga years ago, but he couldn't remember the rules.

Aiden set up the tower of blocks marked with permanent marker and explained the rules: each player removed a block and followed the instruction written on it. The person who knocked over the tower took an extra shot.

Aaron thought it sounded terrible, but remained silent. He just needed to endure a few more hours before sending everyone home.

Initially, the rules seemed manageable. Chase drew "rock, paper, scissors"; Cooper lost and drank. Cameron drew a tile requiring one shot per child for parents; Chase, Mike, and Donny obliged.

Aaron didn't drink until Aiden's tile instructed all single people to drink. He, Cooper, and Josh were the victims.

'Okay,' he thought. 'Maybe this isn't so bad.'

Everyone except Aaron grew progressively drunker. "Tallest person drinks," "one drink per sibling," "youngest person drinks"—he didn't drink again until he knocked over the tower.

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