Traditional games with Liz and Brandon

Brandon placed several games on the table and Liz picked up the Scrabble box, eyeing it suspiciously.

“So how’s this one work?”

“There’s letter tiles with numbers on them,” Brad said, pointing to the picture. “Make words on a grid to get points.”

Liz’s eyebrow raised and Vicky recognised the beginnings of a smirk. “Any words?”

“Let’s start with something else,” Brandon said hurriedly.

The three of them played snakes and ladders, Ludo, Connect Four, Trouble and - at Liz’s insistence - Scrabble, during which she surprised both Vicky and Brandon by dropping a “F-L-A-G” between “C-O-N” and “R-A-T-I-O-N”, taking two double-word bonuses and winning the game.

The evening went surprisingly smoothly and it wasn’t long before Brandon reminded Vicky of their early start the next day and the two excused themselves from the dining hall.

Hoping to avoid any further disturbances in her sleep and at Brandon’s winking suggestion, Vicky opted to sleep naked with only a sheet to cover her.

It was tempting to pull the warmer blanket toward her or snuggle up to Brandon in the night, but she was determined to avoid revisiting her dreams and endured the cold until sleep finally claimed her.