But I did. Never in all our years of friendship had he seen me chasing after a woman. They chased me.
“Mate, she was fucking hot.” Piped up Murray.
I met his eyes as I raised my glass, then offered him a wide grin. “Tell me about it.”
“So, where is she?”
I knocked back half my drink in one go. The experience of meeting her had left me parched, and my usual laid-back temperament was coiled tight. “She went off with friends, but I have full confidence she’ll be coming to find me later.”
I looked around the crowded space for anything resembling a beautiful leprechaun, just in case she’d decided against hanging with her friends. My shoulders dropped slightly when I didn’t spot her, but only slightly because Iwouldsee her again.
Tate shook his head. “One of these days it won’t be so easy, you cocky bastard.”
“Nah, that day doesn’t exist my friend.” I winked at him, earning myself a playful shove.
True story. Women loved me. Something to do with my boyish good looks, and world class charm.
“Anyone told the others where we are?” Asked Felix.
Tate nodded, “Yeah, I shot a text on the group chat.”
A waitress arrived at our table bearing full glasses, which she swapped out with our empty ones. Murray threw her a wink before she walked off, her returning smile made it clear he could definitely come and find her later.
“Anyone heard from Jas or Coop? Barely saw them all day!”
“Yeah, they’re coming down shortly, but he’s still avoiding anywhere there could be bunnies and paps.”
I would have rolled my eyes, but he had a point especially as he’d almost been caught out before. This place was teeming with hockey fans, almost as if the Bat Signal had sounded that we’d all be here for a Bachelor party, and decided to make a trip too. Unfortunately, it meant Jasper hadn’t wanted to hang out anywhere in public. So today, while we were all by the pool along with almost exclusively bikini thong clad girls, and more than I’d ever seen in one place, Jasper, Coop and Jamie – Murray and Wolfie’s older brother and the only married guy in the group – had gone to play golf like boring fuckers.
The past three nights we’d dined privately, before everyone gathered in our suite for a game of poker until Jasper eventually retired to bed, then we hit the floors for a couple of hours.
But tonight, we were going all out from the very beginning of the evening – because day drinking didn’t count - and the four of us at this table had plans.
Felix picked up his cell as the table buzzed from all our phones going off with a message on the group text.
“The rest of the boys are on their way, said they’ll meet us at the tables.”
Tate downed what was left in his glass. “Okay, let’s go win some money.”
The rest of us followed him in knocking back our own drinks, and we all stood up in sync. I slapped Tate on the back, throwing my arm around his shoulder. “Come on then, buddy, lead the way.”
We headed through the casino floors, to where the higher stakes poker tables were, and where I’d directed Lucky to meet us. And if they’d all decided to play something else or in a different section, I’d be here on my own because my ass was staying here until I saw her again. The four of us each took a seat;I reached into my pocket pulling out the fifty grand in chips I’d won the night before, and placed them on the table ready to be dealt in for the next hand.
Two hours later I still hadn’t spotted Lucky, but the pile of chips in front of me had more than doubled in size and I was another seventy grand up, having taken a chunk off both Felix and Carter Rice, who’d joined us. Given that we played a weekly poker game, which I usually won, it wasn’t as much fun to take money from them as it should have been. I was starting to get restless at how easy this was when a flash of green appeared in my peripheral vision, and I whipped my head around so fast my neck cracked.
There she was.
In the hours since I’d last seen her, she had gotten even more beautiful if that was possible.
I rapped my knuckles on the table. “Count me out for one round, I’ll be back in two minutes.” I said to the dealer, then narrowed my eyes at the boys. “And I know exactly how many chips I have, so don’t get any fucking ideas.”
I chased after her, faster than I’d ever chased anything without my skates on. “Lucky Charm, where are you going? I’m right here.”
She spun round at the sound of my voice calling her across the floor, a slow smile spreading over her face as she clocked me. “I’m going to play poker.”
I took her hand when I reached her, placing it against my chest. “Come and play with me.”
She hesitated, and looked toward her group of girlfriends, all of them showing varied expressions of amusement.
