"A lot depends on genetics, I think," Tim said.
"I guess that makes sense." Coop stared at Matty with a sore winner's grin as he plucked a can of Tom's soda from the six-pack. He cracked it open in an exaggerated motion, as if he were on a commercial.
"I appreciate you fellas letting me play tonight," Coop said.
Matty held up the game box. "Catan only has pieces for four players."
As if on cue, Coop held up a smaller box. "I brought my Settlers of Catan expansion pack."
He could practically see the smoke coming from Matty's ears. His righteous indignation was adorable. Matty pulled him aside and backed him into the kitchen off the lounge.
"You don't have a regular Catan group. You don't play Catan at all."
"I could."
"Where did you get that expansion pack?"
"A store."
"You wouldn't know a development card if it bit you in the butt."
"It depends which development card we're talking about here." Coop crossed his arms. "A Year of Plenty card, a Knight, or your run-of-the-mill Victory Point card? Boom!"
"How did you know I'd be here?" Matty's eyes swirled with fury. It was kinda sexy. He was close enough for Coop to detect his deodorant and musky Matty scent.
"I looked in the archives of the student bulletin and found a listing for a weekly Catan group." Coop rested against the fridge, cool as a cucumber. Speaking of cucumber, being this close to Matty was making his blood rush south. It must be the excitement of getting a rise out of Matty that was getting a rise out of him.
"I figured you didn't get involved in this by striking up a conversation with somebody around campus."
That seemed to ding Matty, and Coop felt a little bad. His nudged Matty with his shoulder. "I'm excited to play."
Matty looked past them into the lounge. "This isn't a game like Scrabble or Connect Four that you can pick up on the fly. Catan is intricate and involves a lot of rules and strategy, and you are playing with four guys who are really good."
"That includes you, right?"
"I've won the last four games in a row."
"Well, prepare to lose tonight." Coop strutted back into the lounge. "Who is ready to get their Catan on?"
Coop spent this afternoon reading up on the rules and watching YouTube videos of strategy. He snickered to himself as he went from message board to message board over this game. If his friends could see him now … I'm ditching a party to play a board game. Matty and his friends reminded him of the nerds from Sixteen Candles, which obviously made him Jake Ryan. Although John Cusack was megacute in that movie, too.
Matty grabbed onto Coop's arm, his warm touch sending some kind of electricity racing through him.
"This is your last chance," Matty said.
Coop didn't get the big deal, but he embraced the spirit of competition and got right in Matty's face. "Prepare to get Catanned."
They took their seats. A chair was pulled up for Coop on the corner opposite Matty. The guys looked on in awe as Tim flipped over each of the board tiles. You would think he was showing them porn for the first time.
Coop placed a settlement and road on one of the light green hexagons in the middle of the board.
"You place them on the edges of the hexagon, not in the middle," Matty said."I knew that. I just like pissing you off." Coop fixed his pieces. "Psychological warfare."
"I'm watching out for this one," Akash said.
Coop's teammates did not follow his speedy cue. They each took a good two minutes agonizing over the perfect space for their little houses and roads. They would keep their index finger on the house until they were one million percent sure that this was where they wanted to place … and then they'd switch it at the last second.
Not Matty, though. He moved with a swiftness and decisiveness that unnerved the other players, and Coop, too. He placed his settlement and road as if it were part of his master plan all along. Matty did not fuck around when it came to Catan.
"How long do your games usually last?" Coop asked casually.
"We're pretty fast," Tim said. "We usually finish in just under an hour and a half."
Coop's face sank. He checked his phone. This was going to be a long night.
"So does anyone have any fun plans for this weekend? Any parties going on?" Coop asked the guys. Akash rolled the dice. The game officially started, and all eyes, ears, and brains were fixated on the board. Coop didn't get a response, not even an acknowledgement.
Correction: This was going to be a very long night.
Some time later, Coop hunched over the board, soaking up every bit of activity on every single hexagon. His pupils were dilated. His skin was flushed. Every nerve in his body was on high alert.
Coop was high on Catan.
He held the dice in his fist and calculated all of his potential moves before he rolled. Matty watched with the icy glare of a Mafia crime boss. He wasn't settling for anything less than world domination. He had two major clusters of settlements and cities at opposite ends of the board. He was but one road and one settlement away from connecting them, thereby claiming half of Catan for himself. He showed no mercy for any player. He boxed in Akash's pieces, thereby cutting his growth off at the knees.
But Coop had a plan to build a road and a settlement that could blow up Matty's empire. He just needed one brick card and one sheep card to put his plan into action. The dice slid around in his sweaty fist.
"It's your turn, Coop." Matty sounded like one of those evil twin girls in The Shining.
Coop released the dice. The cubes bounced on the table. Coop didn't blink until they settled.
"Four!" He raised both arms in the air and pumped his fist for good measure. He collected his sheep card. His eyes opened wide as he turned to the other players. "Does anybody have a brick card they can trade me? I just need one little brick card."
Akash and Tim shook their heads no. Coop turned to Tom. Sweet, kind Tom.
"Tom, one brick card. That's all I need." He had a sinking feeling about this. Tom didn't trade with anybody the whole game. Trading was an essential component of Catan, but Tom had decided to be a bastion of rugged individualism.
"Tom doesn't trade," Matty reminded him coolly, enjoying his perch at the top.
"You don't speak for Tom." Coop shifted his chair to face Tom. "Two turns ago, you got a brick resource. I know you did. Don't try to deny it. Listen, I need that brick card from you. It's the only way we can stop Matty. He'll take over half the board."
"I need my brick card," Tom said, but Coop sensed an opening.
"Do you? Will that brick card be worth anything once Matty takes his turn next? This is the only way we can stop him."
"And what about you?" Matty asked, eyebrow raised. Coop stared daggers at him in this moment, but couldn't deny how sexy his confidence was. They were definitely engaged in some type of foreplay. "Can we stop you?"
"You're the threat here. You're spreading over this board like the Bubonic Plague."
"That's an easy excuse," Matty said with a reserved calm that rattled Coop. He was quite versed in this psychological warfare. "My settlements are spread apart. If you build that settlement, you will have control of the center of the board."
"But I have no chance of winning," Coop said. He only had three settlements and a city built, giving him a whopping five points. Dead last.
"Or so you say, but this settlement will tie you with Akash and give you all that power. Tom, do you really want this trade to be your first trade of the night?"
"Tom, don't listen to him," Coop said. "Think of what Joseph Smith would do."
"What's he got to do with this?" Matty asked.
"Tom's studying to be a bishop in the Mormon Church."
"You are?" Matty spun his head to Tom, who nodded in agreement.
"I'm a religious studies major."
"You didn't know that?" Coop asked.
"That's why you drink Caffeine-free Coke." Matty's expression changed with the click of understanding.
"No, I drink Caffeine-free Coke because it's nighttime and I want to sleep. We're allowed to drink caffeinated soda."
"Oh." Matty nodded at the new information. Then he was back in take-no-prisoner game mode.
Tom teetered back and forth, a rope in a tug of war. Coop and Matty weren't looking at him, though. They locked eyes in a staring contest for the universe. Coop gulped back a lump in his throat. Matty didn't flinch.
"Fifteen more seconds," Tim said.
"Tom," Coop said. "I'll give you the next two resource cards I earn."
"But will it be too late?" Matty didn't mince words.
"It's never too late."
"Tom, I'll give you two wheat cards right now for your brick card." Matty held up the two cards in question.
"Don't listen to him, Tom."
"Tom can make up his own mind."
"I'll give you the next three resource cards I collect. You can't pass that up."