Pam regains her composure. "Already! What time is it?"

Luke glances at his left wrist. "Five o'clock."

"Five o'clock, wow." I pull a blanket over me as Pam swings her feet off the pillow on my lap. "We've been playing for like three hours?"

"I'll be right back." Pam leaps off the couch and runs upstairs.

I hit "start" on my controller to pause the game, the muted sounds of the Peach's castle track filling the dark basement. Suddenly it's so easy to remember a few days back when I was leaning against the arm rest Luke is sitting against now, wondering how I was going to, well, handle all this. And now here he is.

"How's your visit so far?" I ask him, realizing I may have put him in an awkward spot if he's not actually enjoying this.

Luke gently places his controller on the arm of the couch and leans into the corner. "It's great. This game is really fun, actually."

I chuckle. "Really? You have good sportsmanship, then." Oh no, was that an insult?

"Why, thank you. Maybe by the end of this trip I'll actually beat one of you."

"Hmm. That's a good point. I think you could get there if you really want to."

Luke tilts his head. "That's very supportive of you. A positive attitude."

I laugh and shrug. "Attitude is a small thing."

"That makes a big difference," we both finish.

I'm pleasantly surprised we both knew where I was going with that. I sit up, tucking my feet under me. "Sorry, I tend to spit out proverbs and sayings. My friends call that my 'spiritual guru' moments."

"Sounds like a handy gift to me. Who couldn't use an encouraging word now and then, right? Especially when you've been losing for what, three hours straight?"

I laugh, but now I really do hope Luke manages to win before he leaves—it's more fun when everyone is enjoying the game.

There's a loud thump upstairs and I freeze, straining to hear any indication that everyone's okay.

"All good!" Pam yells, her voice muffled from somewhere in the house.

"All is well!" Josh echoes.

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Not sure what that was, but it sounds like everyone's fine."

Luke's head is still partially tilted over his shoulder. He turns back to face me. "So, who's Josh?"

Oops. "Oh, sorry—he's Pam's boyfriend."

Luke nods. "Cool. Do we like him?"

"Do we like him?" I repeat.

Luke leans forward and runs his hands through his hair, shaking his head. "Sorry, habit—my sister just started dating for the first time and my mom keeps asking that. That wasn't meant for you guys." He shakes his head again. "I can't believe she got to me."

I try to picture Lucy pulling Luke aside and asking, half joking, half serious. Then again, I don't know her well enough to know how far along that question falls onto the spectrum in either direction.

"Well, for the record, we do like Josh." I look up at the ceiling. "He and Pam just...they have a way of bringing out each other's cutest features, this silliness they share."

"Awww." I snap out of my reverie, trying to figure out if Luke is teasing me or not.

"It's romantic," I conclude.

The basement door squeaks open and Pam and Josh come pounding down the stairs.

"Guys, let's play!" Pam pulls up behind Luke, and waves Josh forward. "Josh, this is Luke, my mom's best friend's son. This is Josh, my boyfriend."

Luke rises to his feet and extends a hand to shake Josh's. "Hi, nice to meet you."

Josh shakes back. "Nice to meet you too. It's nice not to have another guy here."

I want to bury my head behind a pillow. Josh knows I haven't dated anyone in a while, but I didn't realize he missed having a male around the house. Or maybe that's it—he could just be referring to Dad being away for work.

"Cat!" Josh opens his arms wide and I stand up and give him a hug.

"Joshy!" I reply, my endearment sneaking into my tone. I really do think he and Pam are so good together. "Are you staying for dinner?"

Josh pulls back and smiles at Pam. "I think we are...?"

I give Pam my best puppy face and cup my hands together. I actually do this all the time because the three of us have so much fun together—nothing like having Luke around to lose, I realize, but that was just starting to feel bad—but now I realize I actually am desperate to have them stay so that it's not just me stuck awkwardly trying to entertain Luke and keep the conversation going over dinner.

Pam claps her hands together. "Yes!"

"Woohoo!" I cheer, then realize Luke might take this personally. "It's always fun to hang out together, right?" I add, pulling a subtle Soul on him to make sure I haven't hurt his feelings.

I don't think Luke realizes I'm doing that, but I feel reassured because he nods his head and says, "Of course—the more, the merrier."

He and I look at each other. "Talk about a spiritual guru moment," I joke.

Pam looks confused. "Just an inside joke," I reassure them. "So how about we play something upstairs?" I ask, hinting at Pam that we do something other than video games, to give Luke a chance.

Pam straightens. "I thought you'd say that. Josh and I have put together a collection of recommended board games upstairs."

"Ah, that would be why we heard that thump," I realize, turning to Luke. Our board games aren't always put away in the most organized of fashions.

Pam collects our controllers—she's very protective of them—and shuts off the TV.

"Okay, let's go." Pam leads the way, Josh right behind her. I gesture for Luke to go on ahead and turn off the lights, then turn back around and smack right into the wall. No, not the wall. It's—

I yelp at the same time that I hear, "Oh, sorry!" I feel vibrations under my hands and realize it's Luke's voice reverberating in his chest.

I jump back and this time I do smack into the wall. "Sorry, I thought you went up." Did he not get the polite gesture memo?

Luke takes a step back and now I can see him in the glow from the upstairs light. "Manners dictate ladies first."

"What does that make me?" Josh calls from upstairs.

I shoot a glance at Luke and burst out laughing, then give in to his offer and make my way upstairs, though I feel very self-conscious going first. I always find it awkward to lead up the stairs unless it's my mom or Pam behind me.

"I guess you get a point for quoting," I add, hoping Luke gets my reference to earlier in our conversation.

"That's right, a spiritual guru moment," he remembers.

When we get to the top of the stairs, we can see that the living room coffee table is now covered in a multitude of board games, their bright colours welcome against the backdrop of white and silver couches and accessories that make up the room.

Mom and Lucy haven't budged from the kitchen table, and they don't even look over when I close the basement door.

I lower my voice and ask Pam, "Do we have permission to play there?"

Pam lowers her voice too. "Yeah, Mom gave me the thumbs up. I told her Luke was freezing down there."

Luke's eyes widen. "What, I—"

Pam laughs. "Just kidding! I just asked and she said yes."

Luke looks relieved.

We turn and head into the living room, gathering around the glass coffee table. There's a big couch here and two side chairs, so Pam and Josh take the couch and Luke and I pick the chairs, which face each other on either side of the table.

We dive into a game of Linkee and before I know it, the smell of sesame oil and fried onions embraces my nose. "Mmm! Stir-fry!"

I'm halfway through the card I'm reading so I get up, tell everyone, "Be back, one sec," and peek my head into the kitchen.

"Are we having stir-fry?"

Mom dumps a handful of broccoli into the pan. "You betcha."

"Yummm!"

I scurry back to my spot in the living room and tuck one foot under me. "Okay, clue number three."

Dinner is delicious and easy-breezy. Everyone is starving – I guess playing games and talking all afternoon can do that to a person – and the food tastes so good, even though Mom didn't add shrimp like she usually does.

"You don't have to do that on our account," Lucy says when she notices everything is vegan.

Mom waves her hand dismissively, hurrying to swallow a forkful of rice and vegetables topped with her famous homemade peanut sauce. "It's totally fine. I at least wanted to do this today." She smiles. "Plus now I can taste the sauce even more."

"And it's delicious," I add, so Mom doesn't have toot her own horn. And it really is delicious. Mom's food is the best.

We end up eating dinner so late that by the time Pam and Josh are done doing dishes – Josh is a speedy dishwasher, so Luke and I end up on table clearing duty – and the four of us have been watching Netflix for an hour, it's really almost bedtime.

I'm sitting on the recliner facing the TV, the kitchen table a few feet away to my left. Mom and Lucy are still sitting there, talking quietly so we can hear the television.

Pam has been leaning against Josh, who's tucked into one corner of the couch, while Luke sits at the other end, his chin in his hand. Pam sits up now to let Josh stand up.

"Well, guys, it's time for me to go home."

"Now?" I look at my watch. It's nine thirty and usually Josh would stay later on a Saturday.

"Yeah, I want to get up early tomorrow."

Luke perks up. "You do?"

Josh does a dramatic stretch. "Yeah, my dad wants us to go to church tomorrow." He looks down at Pam. "I'll come over after?"

She pushes off the couch. "Sure, that sounds good. I have some homework to do first."

I rub my eyes. "Ah, homework."

Pam throws a pillow at me and smiles. "Give it two more months and I'll be done school too."

Luke doesn't say anything and I wonder if he just finished exams recently too.

We walk over to the kitchen table and Mom looks up. "Heading out already?"

Josh puts his hands on the back of one of the chairs. "Yeah, thank you so much for dinner. It was delicious."

Mom smiles. "It's my pleasure."

Lucy pipes up, "It was nice to meet you!"

Josh nods. "Thank you, and you too." He looks over his shoulder at Luke. "And you too, man." The guys do some sort of guyish hand shake props thing and we follow Josh out to the hallway to the door. I give him a hug good-bye and plop onto a couch in the living room, glad when Luke follows me. I know we're still close to the hallway, but it gives Pam and Josh some version of privacy.

I'm so tired, I can't think of much to say. Luke props his chin in his hand again and says nothing either, and I wonder if he's exhausted too.

"Do you miss home?" I find myself asking.

Luke's gaze flicks up, lashes long around blue eyes. He seems to be mulling the question over. "Kind of. I was just thinking of how I'd be sitting on my bed right now, but I don't miss it in a I-need-to-leave kind of way."

"Which is probably good," I realize, "since it's only day one."

Luke laughs and leans back into the chair.

Mom and Lucy come into the hall, which fills with warm air and the faint sound of crickets until Pam closes the door and skips over to us.

"Alright, let's get this living room into bedroom mode," Mom suggests. "I am happy to say the couch bed is surprisingly comfortable, as far as couch beds go, and we have a mattress topper we can put on top if that helps."

Luke stands up. "Oh, thank you. That sounds great. Can I help?"

Mom opens and closes her mouth. "Actually, yes, that's probably best, given the mattress topper is still in the basement and is much taller than I am. Sure, let's go get it." Mom and Luke disappear into the basement. 

Pam and I stare at Lucy. "Well, how about we get the couch into bed mode, then?" she suggests. "I imagine that's something your mom would say."

Pam laughs. "Yeah, good idea."

We carefully relocate the coffee table to the corner and have finished setting up the couch bed when Mom's hair and back appear at the top of the basement staircase. She and Luke safely manoeuvre their way onto the main floor and we all work together to get the mattress topper onto the bed.

"Whew." I plop back onto the chair, which we've since pushed to the side. "Luke's got to be thinking about he started and ended his day with some kind of workout."

Luke's standing on the other side of the couch bed, brushing his arm across his forehead. He laughs. "That's the second time you read my mind."

Mom puts a hand on his shoulder. "I assure you, tomorrow will be much more relaxing. So, Lucy, let's show you your room next, and I'll bring down some sheets and pillows for you, Luke."

Luke nods. "Sure, thanks."

Lucy hugs Luke, which is so sweet to see, as he's taller than her. "Good-night, sweetie. Love you."

Luke looks a little shy. He mumbles quietly, "Love you too, Mom."

Lucy lets go of him and turns back to Mom. "Ready."

"Okay. I'll be right back," Mom reminds Luke, ushering us to the stairs.

"Thanks," Luke responds. "So, good-night, everyone."

I turn back on the first step and wave. "Good-night, sleep well."