The alcohol warmed him from inside out. It made everything louder and quieter at the same time. The music, the taste of the bourbon and coffee liqueur, the smell of cigarettes, the touch of Dice’s hand against his—louder. The lights, the burn of the liquor, Sedric’s voice in his mind as he delivered the Shadow Card, Levi’s own caution—quieter.
“I’m looking for someone,” he said. Up close, Dice smelled like honey and designer cologne.
“A woman?” Dice asked.
“Sometimes, but not always,” he answered. “She goes by ‘she.’ Here, they’d probably call her Séance.”
Dice nodded, tracing his thumb against Levi’s wrist in a way that made everything else fade into the background.
“Another player,” Dice mused. “Why are you looking for her?”
Nine days,whispered Sedric’s voice.
“Do you know her?” Levi asked, his voice high and hopeful. He twisted the cherry stem between his teeth.
Dice moved his hand away so he could take a sip of his drink. “What do you think about, when you’re trying to bluff?” he murmured, deftly changing the subject.
“What do you mean?” Levi asked, playing along.
“When you have the winning hand, and you know it. How do you keep your face so still?” He tapped Levi’s forehead, just above his brow bone. His finger lingered a moment too long. “And don’t say ‘nothing.’”
Levi hadn’t been going to. “I think about the beach.”
“Not many nice beaches in New Reynes, but I hear that boardwalk they’re building will be something else.”
Levi took another sip as his memories washed over him. They were too loud, enhanced by the whiskey. “There was a beach near where I grew up. I think of the sound of the gulls, the feeling of the wind on my neck, the smell of the salt.” It was a trick he’d learned, living in that house. How to be somewhere else. How to be anywhere else.
“I just kept thinking, looking at you, that you had a winning hand. You play like you’ve already won.”
“That’s the only real waytoplay.”
“Until you need to show your cards.”
The ragtime grew louder behind them. Dice’s honey smell: louder. Levi’s heartbeat: louder. “Do you know the person I was talking about?”
Dice inched closer, though there wasn’t much space left between them. “Don’t fold so soon.” Levi could feel the words against his skin as easily as he heard them.
“You know, spectators wouldn’t get tattoos of dice,” Levi murmured. He brushed his fingers against it on Dice’s jawline, tracing the ink. Dice leaned his head back and exposed his neck to Levi’s touch. After several moments, Levi pulled away so he could reach for a napkin and a pen. “Write it down for me.”
“You’re notthatdrunk. You’ll remember.”
“It’s important.”
Dice conceded and took the napkin. While he wrote, Levi tugged the boy closer by his tie and pressed his lips against the tattoo. Dice let out a low groan that made Levi smile. He was winning a lot tonight. He trailed higher, brushing Dice’s hair aside, and kissed below his ear. Dice’s skin grew hotter, and he took his time finishing the note.
Levi spared a glance at the napkin before slipping it into his pocket. It was an address.
“I can’t make any promises,” Dice breathed against Levi’s neck. “It’s just what I’ve heard.”
“You hear a lot of things.”
He smiled. “It’s how I play the game.”
And then he kissed Levi, and everything felt very loud, all at once. It was the kind of kiss Levi had come to expect at places like these, with charming girls or mysterious boys in the hours after midnight. The kind of kiss that was meant for that place, that time, and never again. The kind of kiss you wanted the other person to remember, even if you would forget.
He’d remember this one, he decided, as Dice slid the cherry stem out from Levi’s lips and knotted it between his teeth.
Several acts in the variety show later, Levi staggered back to the table where Jac waited, his face flushed, the gold tie wrapped around his neck. They always let him keep something.
