Page 27 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“What? You knew I had the other four of spades? Are you a mind reader?”

“No, but you have a small tell, almost like a shitty poker face.”

She looks mildly shocked at my statement before laughing.

“I do not have a shitty poker face,” she laughs as she waits for me to place my chip.

“Oh contraire, Little Rabbit,” I say as I lay my next card and place a chip on the four of clubs, blocking off another path of hers. “Your eyes lit up when you looked at your opening hand, meaning you already saw a pattern in your cards that might set you up for a win.”

Her eyes narrow on me, but that adorable half smile stays on the corner of her lips. She plays her card, a two of diamonds.

“See. Now let me guess, you have the five of spades, or maybe the king of spades?” I ask as I play my card, a five of clubs.

Those beautiful green eyes narrow even tighter on me like little daggers piercing my heart. She plays her card and places her chip without even looking at the board.

A five of hearts.

“Wrong,” she says.

“Hmm. Interesting. Even though your path is blocked off, you’re still trying to continue it. Which could only mean one thing. You have a one-eyed jack.”

There. Right there. My little rabbit’s eyes slightly widen. Those pupils dilated just a small amount that to most would have been missed, but not me.

I play my next card, the three of diamonds. Then she plays the three of clubs, blocking off my path. This goes back and forth for a while. I play the seven of diamonds, then she plays the ten of spades. I play the ten of diamonds, and then she plays the four of hearts. I play the ace of diamonds, her three of hearts, my queen of diamonds, then she plays the two of clubs. I play the ace of clubs, then she plays the nine of clubs. Back and forth, back and forth.

“Same question you asked me,” I say as I place my chip on the eight of hearts.

“What question?” she asks, staring at her hand, then at the board.

“Did you always want to be a lawyer?”

“No. I think when I was younger, I wanted to be a vet or maybe a zoologist. I don’t know, I’ve just always preferred being around animals.”

I remember how much she loved animals when we were kids. All the barn cats at my family's farm were her friends.

She plays a two-eyed jack, a wild card. She lays her chip on the three of clubs, and that half smile turns into a full grin as if she knew I was thinking of that card. Who’s the mind reader now?

“Then why law?”

“I wanted to make a difference in this world.” Her voice is lower now as she keeps her eyes on the board.

I stare at my hand and contemplate my next move, then play the other queen of diamonds. She plays a seven of hearts, and I play the other three of spades, trying to go for a diagonal. She plays a four of diamonds, then looks up at me.

“I decided when I was younger that I wanted to make sure that bad people got what they deserved.”

There’s no way she has the second four of clubs, right? If she plays it next, she’ll have another four in a row. Do I use my only wild and block her, or wait and see what she does?

I risk it, playing my eight of diamonds next. I can play my wild on the eight of clubs next turn and win, as long as she doesn’t…

Another two-eyed jack falls from her hands. She places her chip on my eight of clubs winning spot and smiles triumphantly. Now I have to rethink my plan.

“Unfortunately, even in our line of work, the bad guy sometimes gets away,” I say as I place my chip on the other ace of clubs.

She quickly lays down the ten of clubs, then I play my wild on the six of hearts, winning me my first sequence out of two needed to win the game.

She places her elbow on the table and props her head in her palm as she stares at her cards, then down at the board. It’s getting trickier now. So many spots to choose from. One wrong move could cost you the whole game. I think this is becoming one of my favorite board games.

She places her chip on the four of clubs, then I play an ace of hearts, she plays a ten of hearts, then I play my king of diamonds. That’s when I realized I fucked up and should have played my wild jack to block her off.