Page 45 of Anomalies

But what does she have to be sorry for?

I don’t say a word when she turns on her heel and leaves me in the death-ridden grass.

“Fold,” I swear, laying my cards down.

“Me too,” Gemma adds, topping off Pax’s glass with the last bit of wine. He’d been stationed on my porch when the storm started, and not only did we convince him to come inside, but we also got him to agree to a glass of wine after he won the first hand of poker.

Gemma and I have been stealthily refilling it ever since.

His eyes are glossy, his fair skin flushed, and he’s smiling like a Cheshire cat. Pax looks down at his cards before his hazy eyes zero in on Selene.

“Fuck this game.” Selene folds, throwing her cards down on the table.

Kimber looks up at Pax to find him already staring. “Just me and you, Kimmy,” he grins, “I hope you have some good cards in your hand.” I glare at Gemma when his words come out slurred. Maybe we’d given him a little too much wine. My eyes fall to the armed vest he’s unclipped and let hang around his shoulders.

We should confiscate his weapons.

Kimber tucks her cinnamon hair behind her ears before pushing all her candy into the middle. “All in.”

Pax’s smile only grows wider. “Yeah, right. You’re bluffing,” he chuffs. “There is no way that you have a better hand than me.”

Kimber’s eyes flash in amusement, and the corner of her mouth twitches slightly, but then she quickly schools her features into neutrality.

Pax’s smug grin fades only a fraction, his eyes narrowing on the pile she’s pushed into the middle. He contemplates a little longer, looking down at his remaining pile of multicolored candy, then he slams his cards face up on the coffee table in defeat.

Four of a kind; all sevens. It’s a decent hand, I’m pretty sure, but he thinks Kimber has better.

“Show us what you got, Kimmy,” Pax says smugly.

The Diviner is smiling as she flips her cards over for everyone to see.

Gemma’s laugh is boisterous, and Pax’s face pales.

She has nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Atta girl,” Selene grins, picking a few pieces of candy out of her massive pile of winnings. Kimber bats her eyelashes as she gathers it all, and Pax sits utterly dumbfounded.

I pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t be a sore loser, Paxton.”

He scoffs, tripping over the edge of the rug as he stumbles to the bathroom. The storm has died down enough that he can finish his watch shift outside.

“Alright.” Selene stands, gathering her things. “The wine’s gone, so I’m gone. I’ll see you two at breakfast.” Kimber yawns, following Selene to the door, and we quietly mutter our goodbyes.

“I should probably stay here,” Gemma announces, cocooning herself in the woven throw blanket. “I’ve had a lot to drink.”

I snort, bending down to pick up the candy wrappers that litter the floor. “Gemma, you live 10 feet away.”

“Too farrr,” she whines, dragging out her words, and settling into the couch.

I nearly jump when Pax pushes the door open with such force that for a moment I think it’ll fly off its hinges. He stumbles out of the bathroom, muttering something angrily under his breath. I look back at Gemma for all of two seconds, and when my bed creaks, I whip around in time to see Pax⁠—

Crawling into my bed.

“No!” I tell him. “No, no, no—Pax, you can’t sleep here.” I tug on his ankle in a poor attempt to get him to move, but he dismisses me with a lazy wave of his hand. “Seriously, Pax.”

“Roses,” he drunkenly mumbles, and I freeze.

“Roses?”