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Before me, the stones broadcasted all I needed to know about the players.
Black—cautious, generous, and gentle.
White—ruthless, aggressive, and decisive.
Zach is White, I decided.
I arched a brow, burying my curiosity about Black’s identity. “I assumed it was Black’s turn.”
“And why would you assume that?”
Because I can count.
I opted for something slightly more offensive.
“Because White was dumb enough to respond to Black’s ko threat, so I imagine after destroying his own group, he begged Black for a timeout in order to lick his wounds and regroup.” I shook my head. “Didn’t have the balls to resign, did he?”
Silence.
I flicked an errant blade of grass from my dress, deciding I liked Zachary Sun best with his mouth shut.
His expression remained an impenetrable fortress, blank and unreadable. He didn’t look at me. Instead, his entire attention clung to the board.
There was something so detached about this man that I seriously doubted he was capable of functioning humanly.
It made him unpredictable.
Andthatmade him a very dangerous opponent.
“Yikes.” I rolled my lower lip into a pout, tilting my head sideways. “You’re White, aren’t you? Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”
The slight flare of his nostrils was the only telltale he was breathing. “I didn’t avoid resigning.”
I eyed the door, wondering whether he’d notice if I wormed my way out. “Glad to hear it. That would beterriblesportsmanship.”
The French windows tempted me.
Not like I needed my ankles intact these days.
“No.” Zach stalked toward me, one deliberate step at a time. His scent, of citrus and dark woods, burned through my nostrils, warning me that danger lurked nearby. “I did not back out,” he insisted, so close to me now that our shoulders almost touched.
We both glowered at the board.
He gestured to the high point. “Look.”
I did.
At his hands.
Hands that had never seen a day of hard labor. Perfect, clean, and cut cuticles. Long tan fingers. Smooth, even skin. Thick wrist with a De Bethune strapped to it.
So perfect.
So glamorous.
Sosoulless.
“I smell a bet,” I challenged, realizing this so-called genius hadn’t caught on to my intentions.
