Things do not go in your favor. Your team goes down 7-0 early, much to the delight of the girls. When a turnover makes it a 14-0 game in the first quarter, most of them are already claiming the game a victory. You and Ashby sit and watch quietly, though, with her squeezing your arm and giving you a grin every time her team continues to score. It’s only with the score at 24-10 at halftime that Ashby sets in with her taunting, pulling her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and handing it to you.

“Can you do me a favor?” She asks.

“What?”

“I want you to call a plumber. Tell them that we’re going to have a problem with a clogged toilet here tomorrow.”

The girls laugh. You resign further in to your part of the couch and hope for a surprising comeback.