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“I’m not trying to get you to sit on my lap and make out with me while Avril pops confetti poppers, but maybe we can figure out a comfort level for playing off that we seem interested in one another? Even just us smiling at one another and talking a bit more informally might be enough to keep anyone from growing suspicious. I live next to Tess, and you livewithAvril, so it’s probably pretty likely we’ll have some more meetups like this with them around.”
Slowly, Anna nodded. A moment later, she nodded a bit more confidently.
“That would be for the best. Um, I’m all right with a hug or two… maybe a kiss on the cheek when you leave tonight. I think that would be enough to make our relationship seem more real.”
“I think so,” Liam agreed. “Given that it’s a new thing between us, I don’t think even Avril would expect us to break our norms and start acting like she might.”
“You have no idea,” Anna said, shaking her head.
I have a few,Liam thought.
They wrapped up the rest of their brief talk upon hearing a knock at the door. As they both headed out to see who it was, Avril had already disappeared from the couch and gone to let either Tess or Victoria indoors.
As the former showed herself, wearing a comfortable winter outfit and a bright smile for all three of them, Liam’s mind hurried toward what he and Avril had gotten up to earlier. If a world existed where he could do what he had to Avril to Tess, he’d die happy. It was all he wanted. Hewouldfind a way to make it a reality.
Victoria’s return occurred fifteen minutes after Tess’s, and Anna had already started setting up snacks, drinks, and a fresh pack of cards—apparently, they hadn’t owned a set—on the round dining room table. After a bit of small talk, during which Liam sensed something was simmering between Tess and Victoria, the five of them moved toward the site of tonight’s fun.
Liam already knew some of them would have more fun than the others. In particular, one of them might not have any, though he expected she’d at least appreciate his reveal after the fact.
With everyone settled in, Liam sat opposite four of the most beautiful women he’d ever laid eyes on, who’d all collected their chairs and moved them a bit closer to one another so that he could deal without anyone named Avril trying to peak at the deck, their night of cards began.
Chapter Nineteen
The Mechanic
Settled in, the sun’s light already mostly diminished outdoors, they had a few hours still before the expected nasty blizzard was due to arrive. Man, he hated the winter. But he loved cards, so he could at least worry about spending the next several days cooped up in his home—or in Tess’s home, potentially, which soothed his issues with the ensuing wintry storm—later. Assuming they could get started.
Before Liam could even reach for the unopened pack of cards and begin shuffling, an expected speedbump arose from the redhead sitting between Tess, who was the furthest left of the four of them, and Anna, who owned the third seat from the left. Victoria claimed the rightmost seat.
“So, what are we betting?”
Liam put the pack of cards back on the table and sent his gaze toward Avril.
“We don’t have to bet anything,” Tess answered. “It can just be a friendly game among friends.”
Anna nodded, but Avril dismissed them both with a headshake. “Come on, we’ve got to betsomething.It doesn’t have to be money or anything, but stakes make everything more interesting.”
“I’d rather everyone not bet anything valuable,” Liam said. “I don’t know how well all of you know Blackjack, but I was planning to keep things pretty streamlined. Meaning no stuff like splitting, insurance on my face-up card, or doubling down.”
Anna and Tess both informed him of their newness to the game by the response of vacancy their expressions gave to the terms he mentioned. Avril nodded along as if she already knew about everything he was saying, and Victoria remained as unfazed and unreadable as usual.
“How about this?” the scheming redhead said. “Whichever of us does the best gets a reward, which we can hash out right now?” Avril pursed her lips, thinking swiftly. A maverick glint appeared in her eyes, and before anyone could stop her, she leveled a finger his way.
“So, ifIwin the most hands, Liam here has to rank the four of us in terms of hotness.”
He really shouldn’t have been surprised. None of them should have been.
Nonetheless, his jaw dropped like someone had yanked it down with ropes attached to his teeth. Anna’s did something similar, and Tess immediately frowned. Only Victoria, a woman who’d almost joined Avril’s family, sat unperturbed by the ridiculous request. Perhaps she’d known to expect something of its variety.
“Avril, that’s not funny,” Anna said.
“Who’s laughing?”
“I don’t think that would be an appropriate reward,” Tess added, having recollected herself quickly.
“Come on, you three, live a little!”
Avril glanced his way. It was subtle, and no one else seemed to notice it, or at least not make anything of it. But to the guy who’d spent half an hour learning that it was best to let her have her way and go along for the ride, it signaled in his mind with the blare of an air horn.
