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His smile grew impossibly wider as he ran his hand through the unshaved half of his head. “Thank you. It has been, in a word, exquisite.”
I smiled warmly at him. “Are you here with friends?” I glanced around, curious to see what a Liem friend group would even look like.
He copied my movements, searching behind him for a moment before turning back, the smile replaced with a confused frown. “I was with my brother, but he must have stepped out for a breather. He’s pretty risk averse, and I just spent the last forty-five minutes playing roulette. And I still don’t know how to play roulette, so… yeah,” he finished, looking almost sheepish.
“Well, I happen to be an expert. Maybe I can teach you one day soon?” I paused, knowing I should reign myself in but completely unable to. “Maybe you guys can come find me after the big spin is done? Unless you have more birthday plans. I wouldn’t want to intrude, of course.” My cheeks heated as the words played back in my head and I realized how clingy I sounded.
The casino intercom sounded three deep rings of a bell that was the prelude to announcements. We listened to the announcement of where—the elevated wheel at the center of floor seven—and when—thirty minutes from now—the players who’d won a seat at the Big Wheel should go.
Which was also my cue.
I smoothed a hand over my high-waisted skirt. “I’ve got a wardrobe change before the grand finale, so maybe I’ll see you later?”
There. That was casual.
With the friendship ball returned to his court, I turned in the direction of the locker room, but then hesitated, remembering his birthday. I spun back around. “If you haven’t already, go over to guest services and tell them it’s your birthday. They’ll give you a comp for dinner. If you tell them that I sent you, they’ll also give you some freeplays for the slots.”
“Should I tell them Bree or Lady Luck?”
I smiled wryly. “Lady Luck. Bree doesn’t live here.”
9
VINH
Liem only gets one twenty-first birthday.
I’m here to protect him, not police him.
It doesn’t matter that he yelled “Yahtzee” at the roulette table.
Honestly, it’d been pretty funny. To him.
“This night has only gotten better, bro!” Liem announced with a visible bounce to his step as he disrupted my curbside cycle of affirmations.
I’d stepped out of the casino to reorient myself to time and place, and my feet had subconsciously guided me to this curb.
Her curb.
Liem extended a hand and hoisted me up with strength that belied his smaller frame. “Come on! We only have a few minutes.”
I couldn’t stop my grimace, but luckily, he was already walking a few paces ahead of me and hadn’t seen it. The last thing I wanted to do was tarnish even a piece of his shine.
“A few minutes before what?” I asked, picking up my pace so we could walk side by side.
He glanced at me, a calculating, cagey look on his face. “I don’t think I should tell you.”
I grabbed his elbow, halting him. “Liem, you didn’t… do something I should be worried about, did you?”
He considered the question for exactly one second. “That you should be worried about? No.”
Ominous.
A goddess.
I had no affirmations for dealing with a goddess and was even less ready for her to be a familiar one. It was as if sitting under her magnolia tree and thinking of her had manifested her here.
But in a new form.
