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After a couple hours—and two mocktails since I had to write later—I was fully invested in the game, rooting for Asher whenever he had a good hand.
“You say you don’t give out blank chips often,” I said, then nodded to a stack of blank chips near the rest of them. “But you have some there.”
“Sometimes we bet with a blank chip if the hand is intense enough.”
“So, anyone could write anything on it once they’ve won it?”
“Yes,” he said. “It’s a risk I don’t like to take often.”
I smirked at him. “Can I have a blank chip?”
His gaze widened on me. “You want a blank chip?” he asked, his voice gravelly and doing all sorts of things to my body.
I nodded, not at all expecting him to give me one.
But he grabbed one from the stack and handed it to me without a hint of hesitation.
The whole table fell silent for a few seconds.
“Did that just happen?” Ethan asked Gareth, who sat next to him.
“Maybe she’s just looking at it,” Gareth answered, both of them staring at us with shock.
Weston arched a brow at Asher too, but he and Crossland remained quiet.
“Anyone have a spare marker?” I asked, since I didn’t want to reach into Asher’s stack of chips and money to grab his.
“I do!” Brynn hurried to say, practically chucking a marker at me across the table.
I laughed, holding the chip close to me while I scribbled across it, meeting Asher’s eyes while I did it.
“Why, Asher Silas,” I said. “You look scared.”
Asher blinked a few times, shaking his head. “Not at all.”
I leaned closer to him. “You’re not at all worried about what I wrote on this chip?” I teased. “It could be anything, and we both know how you love to be in control.”
His eyes churned, a muscle in his jaw ticking as he glanced down at my lips, which were probably way too close to his for such a public setting, but I couldn’t find a fuck to give. This was too much fun.
“You like it when I’m in control,” he said, lowering his voice so only the two of us could hear. “You proved that much yesterday.”
And there it was. The unspoken, hot-as-hell incident from yesterday. The memory played red-hot in my mind, and an ache wrenched between my thighs that had my heart beating harder.
“And you like it when I surprise you,” I said, then glanced at the table. Everyone looked away, trying hard not to eavesdrop but unable to hold back their looks of shock. Gareth dealt fresh cards, and Asher peaked at his. “Do you like those?” I asked.
He nodded.
I tossed the chip into the middle of the table when it was Asher’s action, adding it to the pot of blinds without him looking at it.
His eyes flared wide, but there was something there, a sense of wonder and excitement, like we were at the top of that volcano again, about to plummet down.
“Damn,” Weston said, laughing as he leaned over and read the chip. “This one has your number.”
Crossland and Ethan laughed too, calling with their own chips, and Gareth merely grunted his amusement.
Asher finally broke my gaze, leaning over the table enough to read the chip.
I scooted back in my chair, knowing I needed to go back to the room and write. Plus, if this pissed him off, I’d at least have an escape route.
“Take a last-minute vacation,” Asher read the words aloud as I rounded the table, flashing smiles and waving at everyone else as I headed toward the exit.
I paused at the door, glancing back to look at Asher, whose eyes were on me.
“Don’t do anything foolish, like bet our ride home or anything.” I winked at him, and he shook his head, but there was nothing angry shaping his features.
Nothing but that surprised grin I couldn’t get enough of and that look in his eyes that made it extremely hard to turn around and walk back to our hotel room. Because I knew if I stayed a second longer, I wouldn’t be able to escape the need I had for him, and my book wasn’t going to finish itself.
9
ASHER
“Don’t do anything foolish, like bet our ride home or anything.” Daisy winked and disappeared through the double doors.
And just like that, I didn’t give a shit if I won or lost this hand. I just wanted to go after her.
Take a last-minute vacation.
Damn if the woman didn’t have me pegged. Guess that came with spending every waking minute together for the last month. I’d never given anyone the kind of access to myself that I’d given to her, and I didn’t regret a single second. She’d not only kept up today, but done it with a giant grin on her face. Fuck, did everything about her have to turn me on?
