A/N: Thank you for all your love and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 13: No Wrong Answers
By late afternoon, Mr. Brimsley arrived with all the groceries. He was a stout yet kindly older man who had clearly worked for the Bridgertons for many years as the siblings were all very comfortable around him. Brimsley treated them all very affably, but seemed to take a particular shine to Colin, who apparently enjoyed his cooking more than any of the other family members. From what Kate had seen so far of Colin's eating habits, she wasn't all that surprised.
Once all the groceries were put away, Brimsley began making them all dinner, which was a penne alla vodka with sausage mince and a caprese salad on the side. He even fixed up some cucumber gin cocktails for everyone to sip as he brought out the food for them. It was all extremely delicious, and Kate thought this was one of the fanciest home-cooked meals she'd ever had.
"Brimsley, you've done it again," Colin complimented the man, leaning back in his chair in a satisfied manner as Brimsley collected all their empty plates. "That was all very delicious, thank you."
Everyone else at the table chorused their thank you's as well, and Brimsley smiled brightly at the group. "Thank you very much, everyone. If you're all not too full, I also made a chocolate mousse for dessert. I can bring it out for you all if you'd like."
Everyone around the table made sounds of approval. "That sounds delicious," Daphne smiled. "Thank you, Brimsley. Actually, do you think you could bring dessert out to us on the patio? It's such a beautiful evening out, I thought we could hang out together around the fire pit."
"Of course, Daphne. Happy to oblige," Brimsley said jovially before heading back into the kitchen with their empty dishes.
Once Brimsley was gone, Simon shot his girlfriend a knowing grin. "You're going to get the game, aren't you?"
Daphne giggled, getting to her feet. "You know me too well, babe."
"What game?" Eloise asked, looking intrigued, but Daphne ignored her question.
"I'll be right back!" she insisted, and she dashed off toward the stairs, clearly going to grab something from her and Simon's room.
"What was that about, mate?" Anthony turned to Simon with a questioning smirk. "Does Daff have something planned for us?"
"She got this party game on Amazon called No Wrong Answers," Simon explained. "It's basically just a deck of cards with funny ice-breaker questions. There's nothing too complicated about it, and Daphne thought we could play it together while we're all here."
"A game of ice-breakers? That hardly sounds fun," Colin said, looking disappointed. "I was hoping she had brought Cards Against Humanity or something."
"I actually brought a pack of Uno cards with me," Penelope piped up. "After Daphne's game, maybe we could all play that?"
"Brilliant," Colin said, his face lighting up as he grinned at Penelope. "I love Uno. Thanks Pen, that's a great suggestion."
Penelope blushed and smiled back at him.
"Hey, No Wrong Answers is loads of fun too," Daphne insisted, now walking back into the dining room with a small box of cards in her hand. "Just give it a chance, Col, I'm sure you'll like it."
"We'll see, I guess," Colin said skeptically, and he and the others then followed Daphne outside to the patio, where there was a large stone fire pit surrounded by several couches and Adirondack chairs.
Everyone settled into their seats as Simon and Anthony went to get the fire started. As they worked, Brimsley came outside with a tray of beautiful glass bowls of chocolate mousse adorned with whipped cream and sprigs of mint. Everyone eagerly dug into their dessert as Daphne explained the game to everyone, which was pretty much what Simon had explained to them earlier.
"…So it's literally just ice-breakers? And everybody has to go around answering whatever question is on the card?" Eloise said skeptically, licking the chocolate mousse off her spoon. "That's not a game, Daff. And most of us here have known each other our whole lives."
"Since we have some new faces with us, I figured this game would be a good one to begin with," Daphne insisted. "And if we all want to play Uno afterwards, that's perfectly fine too."
"Deal," Colin said, scooping an absurdly large bite of his own chocolate mousse into his mouth.
"Why don't you pick one first, El?" Daphne asked, holding the deck of cards out to her sister. Eloise rolled her eyes before picking the top card, she held back a snort of laughter as she read it:
"'If you could guess the favorite pie of another person in the group, what would it be?'" she read out, and the others laughed. "Seriously?"
"Yes," Daphne giggled. "And everyone has to answer the question, not just Eloise."
"I know Anthony likes pecan pie, the weirdo," Simon lobbed at his friend, smirking.
"Oh, I'm weird?" Anthony snarked back. "Because a little birdie once told me you love gooseberry pie, Mr. Basset."
Simon's eyes widened and his face went red as everyone hooted with laughter. "You told him that?" he hissed at Daphne, who was giggling.
"Sorry, but you know it's true," she said defensively.
"I think Kate's an apple pie girl," Eloise piped up, and Kate grinned.
"I do love a good apple pie," she admitted. "But I think pumpkin is my favorite."
"Ooh, I love pumpkin pie too," Penelope said eagerly.
"Do you want to guess my favorite pie, Pen?" Colin asked eagerly, and Penelope thought for a moment.
"Shepherd's pie?" she guessed. Everyone laughed, including Colin.
"You know what, I think I'll give that to you," he grinned at her, and Penelope smiled back.
"Okay, let's move onto another question," Daphne said, holding a hand up to quiet everyone down. "That was just our warm-up round. Simon, do you want to pick the next one? We can just go clockwise around the group."
"Alright," Simon agreed, picking another card and reading it out loud: "'Which cereal mascot would be the best kisser?'"
Everyone laughed at that one. "Oh my God, these are ridiculous," Eloise giggled.
"Didi and I can answer this one," Edwina said, grinning over at her sister. Kate grinned knowingly back, remembering her and Edwina's long-winded childhood conversations about who all the hottest cartoon characters were.
"Tony the Tiger!" both sisters said simultaneously before bursting out laughing. The others laughed too.
"Oh, that's a good one," Daphne agreed, giggling. "Definitely a contender for me. But Count Chocula was always my favorite cereal growing up, so I'm gonna have to go with him."
"Same," Anthony agreed, nodding at his sister. When the others gave him an odd look, he just shrugged. "What? I like Count Chocula. At least he's human and not a tiger."
"He's actually a vampire," Kate pointed out.
"Cap'n Crunch is human," Penelope piped up. "He'd probably be my pick."
"He's so old though," Eloise giggled. "I could never."
"What would yours be then?" Penelope asked, and Eloise thought for a moment.
"The Honey Nut Cheerios bee," she finally said, nodding. "He'd probably taste like honey."
The others laughed. "If that's the case, he'd be my pick too," Colin agreed, grinning. "Either him or the Trix rabbit."
"What about you, babe?" Daphne turned to her boyfriend.
"Oh, that's easy. Lucky the Leprechaun," Simon scoffed, as if it were obvious. "He's got a pot of gold, right? So of course he must be loaded."
"Ah, so you're just a gold digger then?" Daphne laughed, poking him in the arm. "Good to know."
"Glad you're aware of my intentions now, babe," Simon grinned in amusement, and everyone laughed.
At that moment, Brimsley reappeared from inside the house with a tray bearing nine bottles of craft beer. Everyone thanked him as they accepted the bottles from him, and once they all had their drinks, he gathered up everyone's empty dessert bowls and headed back inside.
"…Tom, which cereal mascot would you pick?" Edwina now asked, turning toward her boyfriend. She and Tom were sitting cozily together on the couch, his arm stretched out behind her shoulders, and he just shrugged.
"I dunno… whatever you said, I guess," he said blandly, gesturing to her with his beer. "That Tiger guy, or whatever."
He was clearly not interested in participating in the game, and Kate had to fight not to roll her eyes. Daphne gave him a tight smile, clearly trying to hide her annoyance as well.
"Alright, then. Colin, you're next," she said, turning to her brother sitting on Simon's other side. Colin picked a card from the deck:
"'You were just accepted at Hogwarts! What House do you think you'll be in?'" he read.
"Ooh, a Harry Potter one," Daphne said, looking delighted. "I love it! Does anyone know which House they would want to be in?"
"Gryffindor," Kate and Anthony said in unison. They blinked and looked at each other in surprise, causing the others in the group to laugh.
"Well, I guess they're in Gryffindor," Daphne chuckled. Kate had to turn away from Anthony's gaze as she took a swig from her beer, her cheeks flushed pink. "Anyone else?"
"Pen and I are Ravenclaw, naturally," Eloise said in a haughty voice, and Penelope giggled.
"Indeed we are," she agreed.
"I always thought Slytherin would be pretty cool," Simon said thoughtfully, turning to Daphne. "Care to join me there, sweetheart?"
"Absolutely," Daphne grinned, and they clinked their beer bottles together.
"Aw, how romantic. Two lovers joining the evil side," Colin cooed at them, and the others laughed. "Hufflepuff never gets any love, so I'm gonna have to go with them."
"I agree," Edwina said, grinning at Colin. "Hufflepuff for me too."
"Great choice," Colin complimented her. "And what about you, Tom?"
Once again, Tom looked rather bored with the question. "Er, I dunno… I never really got into Harry Potter."
Edwina gave him a nudge. "You're no fun," she said teasingly, though Kate could hear the disappointment in her voice. "Come on, you do at least know the different Hogwarts Houses though, right?"
Tom shrugged again. "Not really. I'll just go with whichever one you picked… Huff Puff, or whatever."
A small sigh went around the group, and Kate knew that she wasn't the only one annoyed with Tom at the moment. "Kinda killin' the vibe here, Tom," Colin stated glibly, his voice light. He turned to Kate next to him. "Your turn, Kate."
Kate couldn't fight the small grin on her face as she reached forward and grabbed the top card from the deck: "'You're going on a date with the girl of your dreams, but you only have £20. What are you doing?'" she read out.
"Oh, that one's great!" Daphne laughed. "And I think only the men should answer that one. What do you guys think?"
"I'm good with that," Eloise smirked.
"The girl of my dreams, eh?" Simon asked amusedly, giving Daphne a knowing look. "Gosh, I have no idea who that could be…"
Daphne smacked him on the arm, causing him to flinch and laugh. "You're hilarious. Now how would you spend 20 pounds on me?"
The others chuckled as Simon looked thoughtful. "Well, I know you really loved our trip to Brighton, so I would probably take you on a walk along the beach. Perhaps bring a homemade picnic along with us to make it extra romantic."
The women all smiled at that as Daphne leaned her cheek against her boyfriend's arm, giving him a sappy smile. "I knew there was a reason I loved you."
"Looks like Mr. Smooth here just won the game," Colin smirked, taking a sip of his beer. The others laughed.
"Well, what would you do for a £20 date?" Penelope asked Colin. Her cheeks went pink for some reason, and she quickly took a sip of her beer.
"Well, if I could only spend 20 quid, I agree going for a walk together would be the best option," Colin said, looking thoughtful. "Perhaps she and I could take a nice nature walk around St. James or something? We could even go on one of those swan boat things in the park if it's not too expensive."
"A swan boat?" Simon snorted. "Sounds a bit corny, Col."
"It's not corny," Colin said indignantly. "Those swan boats are cool! I've always wanted to go on one of those."
"I think it sounds lovely," Penelope defended him.
"Thank you, Pen," Colin smiled at her, and Penelope smiled back. Kate watched the two of them: the more time she spent around Penelope, the more she suspected Penelope had a pretty massive crush on Colin, who was clearly oblivious about her true feelings. Kate wasn't about to out her, however, so she kept her thoughts to herself.
"What would you do for a thrifty date, babe?" Edwina asked Tom, batting her eyelashes up at him. Tom smiled lovingly down at her, pulling her closer.
"Well, that's easy," he said, as if it were obvious. "We'd hang out at my place and watch a movie."
Edwina didn't say anything to that, and neither did anyone else. Kate had a strong urge to laugh at how bad and low-effort that date sounded, and she had to bite her lip and look away so she wouldn't embarrass herself.
"That's it?" Edwina asked, her face falling slightly in disappointment. "You wouldn't plan anything else?"
"No. Why would I?" Tom asked, shrugging. "A movie at home is a perfectly nice date, and it's cheap too."
"It's not just about being cheap," Anthony explained to him. "This is supposed to be for a date with your dream girl. The point is you have to plan something romantic for her while still staying within budget."
"Well, there's not much a bloke can do with only 20 pounds," Tom frowned at Anthony, clearly annoyed. "It's difficult to be romantic on a budget."
"There's plenty you could do with only 20 pounds," Anthony argued back.
"Really? And what would you do?" Tom challenged him.
Anthony paused for a few moments as he thought about his answer. Kate watched him closely, feeling a strange desire to know how he would answer this particular question.
"Well, first of all, I would be upfront with her about the fact that I didn't have a lot of money to spend on our date," Anthony began. "If she sticks around after that, then I'll know that she really likes me and isn't just looking for a meal ticket."
"Smart," Simon nodded in agreement, and some of the others nodded too.
"If she does stay, then I think I would take her to a secondhand shop or a thrift store," Anthony went on. "I would tell her we could each spend no more than 5 quid on a small gift or trinket for the other person, and that it needed to be a surprise. After that, we would go to a used book shop and do the same, each of us trying to find a book for less than 5 quid that we think the other person would enjoy. At the end of the date, if I had any money left, we would head over to a café that had cheap coffee and we could give each other our gifts, explaining what we got for each other and why. The gifts would be fun keepsakes from our first date, and they could also be an interesting way to learn more about each other."
There was a short silence after he said that, and Kate knew she wasn't the only girl here melting slightly at the idea of such a sweet yet thrifty date.
Who knew Anthony Bridgerton could be so romantic?
"That's really sweet, Anthony," Daphne said, looking touched as she placed a hand on her heart. "I love that idea. Did you come up with it yourself?"
Anthony shrugged, looking a tad embarrassed as he fiddled with the label on his beer bottle. "I mean, I'm sure there's stuff online about these types of thrifty dates, but… yeah. Sort of."
"If that's the case, I take it back: Anthony actually wins this round of No Wrong Answers," Colin declared, toasting his beer to Anthony, and the others laughed. "Sorry Simon."
"Hey, it's fine," Simon said amusedly. "Well done, Anthony."
Anthony grinned at his friend before his eyes slid over to Kate. Kate looked back at him, her heart thumping loudly in her chest: honestly, she would love nothing more than to go on that thrifty date with Anthony, and that thought was a bit terrifying. She was finding it harder and harder to deny her growing feelings for Anthony, and she didn't quite know what to do about it. The way he was looking at her right now, Kate wondered if he was thinking similar things.
Before anyone could say anything else, however, Tom suddenly got to his feet. "Well, it's good to know all the men here can show me up in the romance department," he said, the sarcastic bitterness in his voice obvious. "This game is dumb, anyway. I'll be inside if anyone needs me."
With that, he turned around and stalked back into the house, everyone watching him leave in shock and bemusement.
A/N: No Wrong Answers is a real game. And yes, some of those are real questions from it lol :)
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