Page 51 of Forever my Love

“Oh?” She walked over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“How am I supposed to concentrate on the fight when you’re wearing this?” he asked, running his hands over the smooth material over her hips.

She chuckled. “Easy, I’ll be sitting down. “Next to your parents,” she whispered.

He laughed and then kissed her.

“Take me gambling,” she said against his mouth.

“Yes, ma’am.” He stood up quickly.

He watched her face the moment they stepped onto the casino floor for the first time. To him it was noisy, crowded, and very overwhelming.

The smile on her lips told him it was nothing short of magical to her.

“Where do we start?” she asked, her eyes darting everywhere.

“First, we get some credits. They used to just give you coins of your choosing, depending on which machines you wanted to play, but now you get casino cards. We can get chips for the tables if you want to try those first.”

They found the cashier, and he got them each a card with a hundred dollars on it. “It’s a start,” he told her. “We can get more put on if we want.”

“A hundred is more than enough.” She placed the card on her wrist with the clips provided.

“No, you don’t want to do that.” He took it off and handed it back. “It’s an easy mark for thieves.”

She nodded and slid it in her front pocket. He did the same.

“The first rule of gambling is”—he leaned closer to her—“drinks.” He smiled.

“You’re going to have water.” She tilted her head. “I think I drank enough last night.”

He nodded. “They have virgin drinks.”

“Oh, a daquiri would be great then.” She glanced around. “Where’s the bar?”

“In casinos, they deliver them to you.” He took her hand and they made their way through the floor. “Let’s start with something small.” He found the quarter slots and after they each found an empty machine, he showed her how it worked.

Before someone arrived to take their drink orders, she had already won an extra hundred dollars while he was down ten bucks.

“You’re very lucky,” he told her when there drinks finally arrived. “I’m down while you’re up”—he glanced at her machine and shook his head—“almost two hundred.”

“This is fun.” She laughed when she won again. “I could do this all day.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you were losing,” he pointed out.

She stopped to take a drink. “You’re probably right. I don’t really have the money to spend to keep going.” Then she laughed. “But for now, I have extra money that I can enjoy.” She motioned to the machine.

They sat at those machines for a little over an hour. When her winning streak dried up, they headed to get lunch at one of the restaurants before making their way to the tables.

Hailey liked roulette the best. She picked it up quickly and, here too, she won while he was down almost his whole hundred.

Since he was having more fun watching her than gambling himself, he sat back and enjoyed the show.

By the time his parents showed up, she was up almost eight hundred dollars. His folks had checked into their own room and changed for the evening.

His mother always looked great but her Vegas attire was, no doubt, the reason his father had a big smile on his lips.

It was interesting watching her interact with his folks. They’d known each other for over a year. From everything his parents had told him, they liked Hailey and her sister very much.

His parents suggested they sit down for drinks and catch up, so they made their way to the bar area.

He had never really felt comfortable with his parents around someone he was romantically involved with before. Whenever he’d brought a girl home, he’d been so nervous.

Now, however, he couldn’t help thinking how right this was. How at ease they all were, as if they knew it was a perfect fit.

When he got a call from Aaron telling him he had less than an hour before he had to get ready for the fight, he kissed Hailey and said his goodbyes to his parents.

“One more for luck,” he said and kissed Hailey until he felt their hearts beat together.

“You’re going to do great,” she told him, cupping his face.

He wanted to tell her that he loved her. The desire to say those three words was so strong at that moment that he even opened his mouth. Then he realized that he could do better than blurting it out in front of his folks, so he shut his mouth and rushed away.

This too felt right. He was going to find the best time to tell her, to show her, how he felt about her.