AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Unfortunately for her plans, he already knew who was going to win tonight. However, he could still play along with this part.
“I’m okay with it,” Liam said, drawing two surprised looks, one pleased look, and one utterly inscrutable look. “We’re playing Blackjack, so chance plays a pretty big role. I should probably sit out because I’m the dealer, though.”
“Not a chance!” Avril said, grinning slyly. “You’ve got to pick; we all do.”
Giving up on protesting her roommate’s demands, Anna instead surprised the rest of the table with a sigh and a nod.
“Fine, but in the event thatIwin, you have to properly apologize to both Liam and me for that stunt you pulled with my phone.”
Tess’s brow furrowed. “What stunt?”
“She stole my phone and texted Liam, pretending to be me.”
From his unique spot at the table, he could easily oversee the shifting changes in expressions and posture. With this benefit, he was the only one to spot a change in Victoria’s disaffected demeanor. A frown, much like the one he’d felt he’d seen when they’d met, showed itself.
“When didthishappen?” Tess asked, also frowning.
“The day he came over when we went ice-skating together.”
Tess’s frown deepened, and she looked his way. He nodded, confirming what Anna was accusing Avril of having done. It’d been Avril’s text message that had prompted Tess to give her his phone number, not Anna, as she’d believed.
“Avril, how could you do something like that?”
“I was just getting things going for a couple of slow starters,” Avril said, leaning back in her chair and appearing unbothered by the eyes boring holes into her. “Look, without it, we wouldn’t all be here, united against a common enemy: me. So, it all worked out in the end.”
Tess folded her arms, clearly agreeing with at least one part of what she’d said. “I have my reward decided as well. It will also be for Avril to apologize to Liam and Anna—and meaningfully.”
“Oh, come on,” Avril groaned, though Tess seemed ironclad.
“I’ll third that reward,” Victoria said, which was her only remark in the conversation.
“You all are something else,” Avril complained, throwing her hands up. “And you, Liam? Are you going to follow along with these boring women?”
No, he wasn’t. While they’d all been heaping onto Avril, he’d been thinking about what he would want if he won—which he wasn’t going to do. Still, he’d chewed on a few ideas, and one had tasted better than the rest.
“Could I get a notebook or something?” he asked, earning a couple of confused looks. “Since we’re basing things on round wins, we need to track everyone’s scores. We can play something like fifty rounds and then see who won the most. Multiple people can win a round—you just need to avoid going bust and beat me—and we’ll say I tally a win so long as I ‘beat’ at least three of you. If I bust, anyone still in the round wins.”
“I can get one,” Anna said, pushing away from the table and hurrying toward her bedroom.
“You have a scheming face on,” Avril said, leaning forward and grinning.
“You would know, wouldn’t you?” he fired back, which only broadened her grin.
Anna soon returned with a pen and a pristine, unmarked notebook. Based on Avril’s chuckle, he got the sense that she might have a few more in her bedroom in the same state.
Flipping to the first page, Liam dropped their names onto it, giving enough space for the tallies he’d regularly add to it. Afterward, however, he kept the notebook in his grasp. Instead of putting it down and taking up the pack of cards on the table, he flipped the page, garnering curious looks from the women across from him. He spent the next minute hiding what he scrawled on this new page.
“Are you writing a last will and testament or something?” Avril snorted about halfway through.
“You’ll find out later,” he answered, refusing to offer anything more about the words he’d filled the notebook’s second page with.
Finally, with everything he’d planned in order, he freed the fifty-two distinct pieces of card stock from their prison.
“Everyone knows how Blackjack is played, right?” he asked, beginning to shuffle the cards without even needing to glance down at them. A few eyes widened as a steady staccato of cards thrumming against each other filled the room. Avril’s pair was among them.
“I’ve played once or twice, but it was a long time ago,” Anna admitted.
Liam nodded, keeping the rapid shuffling going while he summarized the rules.
