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All hearts.
He looks back up at me, and he still has that serious, pensive look on his face, even though he just won.
He just. Fucking. Won.
Everyone else at the table laughs and whistles, their tension breaking. But I’m still staring at River, and he’s still staring back at me with those beautiful, soft, dangerously mysterious eyes.
How is that possible?
It shouldn’t be. He shouldn’t have that hand.
He fucking cheated.
My heart rate slows to a dull, heavy thud as he reaches out and rakes the pile toward him. All the chips. A thousand dollars of my mom’s money. And two goddamn quarters.
Fuck.
The game starts breaking up, everyone gathering their chips and talking amongst themselves. I don’t have anything left to cash out though, so I stand abruptly and make a beeline for the door. I’m shaking with frustration and fury—at myself, at River, at whatever idiotic demon whispered in my ear that I should make that bet.
I burst out into the dark, quiet night and am halfway to my car when the door opens again, casting light across the dim pavement.
“Something wrong, Pool Girl?”
It’s Lincoln, and I can hear the smile in his voice. He knew. They all must’ve known. They fucking planned this.
I whirl on them and hiss, “Of course something’s wrong. You cheated!”
“Yeah.” River shrugs. He either cashed out already, or he came out here first, which is more likely. “So? You did too. You think I don’t know you were counting cards? I just cheated better this time.”
“Well, I’m not doing you a fucking favor if you didn’t win it fair and square.”
“Really? You want me to go back in there and tell Carson you’re going back on a bet? You seem to love the game—it’d suck if you couldn’t find a single person willing to play with you.”
“You’re a cock,” I spit, my anger and annoyance making me forget the whole “your friend could get me fired” thing.
He doesn’t seem to mind the insult though. He actually grins wider. Maybe it’s because he knows I wouldn’t be this pissed if I wasn’t about to give in.
“Fine.” I drag the word out, my body resisting saying it. “One favor.”
“Anytime. Anywhere. No questions asked.”
“Fine. What do you want from me?” I blurt.
A brief flash of heat flares in his eyes, and against my will, an answering warmth blooms in my lower belly. He grins at me, and for the first time, it occurs to me what exactly I just did. How truly stupid my bet was.
There are so many things he could ask for.
And if I say no, I’ll be blacklisted from every poker game I could possibly get into. I can’t let that happen. Especially not when I need to make back what I lost tonight.
“I don’t know yet,” he says softly. “But I’ll think of something.”
I lick my suddenly dry lips. “Great. Well, when you do, you know where to find me.”
Before they can say anything else or notice the breathy catch in my voice, I turn and walk quickly to my car.
There’s no music on the way home. No dancing behind the wheel. Just silence, and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as the adrenaline wears off.
This is probably the kind of reckless behavior that shrink would’ve helped me stay away from.
