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“That sounds interesting. Perrymont had an Intro to Ecology class I could have taken.”
“It’sreallynot,” Avril cut in. “You’re not missing much.” A sly grin lifted her lips. “Or maybe it is interesting, but it’smy professorwho makes everything so clinical and emotionless. It does help me catch up on my sleep, at least.”
In a way, Victoria’s muted response provided further credibility to Avril’s jab. He wondered if she realized that.
“My class is for those who want to be there. It’s not my responsibility to put on a show for you.”
“Yeah, but couldn’t you add—I don’t know—alittleflair to things? That lecture about termites and their mounds mademewant to chew on wood.”
“Avril, don’t be rude,” Anna said, brow furrowed as she made her return.
“I’m just giving an honest critique, but fine, fine.”
The game continued, and their chatter remained constant. Besides that one instance, Victoria remained relatively silent for the rest of the evening. Liam found his curiosity piqued about all of their relationships, but especially Avril and Victoria’s. The juicy details the former had dropped on his lap, right before she’d climbed onto it, had left his mind whirring with questions. He knew he could probably get more elaboration from Avril, but he also suspected it’d come heaped in bias. Unfortunately, he also knew that he simply couldn’t request such details from Victoria, not without spilling that he and Avril had gossiped about her. So, he put those desires to bed.
Nearing the fortieth hand played, he finally began to shift everyone into the places he’d decided they would end up. Avril’s hot streak ended, and she quickly found herself staring up at the rest of the players, much to her chagrin.
“You all kept badmouthing me, and now the cards don’t like me anymore!” she complained.
By the time they’d reached the final hand, Anna had already cemented her victory. For the fiftieth hand—everyone ignoring Avril’s calls for another five or ten hands—he decided to show off a bit. Allfourwomen ended up with an ace as their unshown card, and he let three of them—only Avril missed out, receiving a five—nab a ten or face card.
“Alright, let’s show them,” he said once everyone’s cards were distributed, and decisions on hitting or standing had been decided. Naturally, only Avril had asked for additional cards, a fact that had established a quick frown on her lips. It’d only grown after she’d ended up busting because of a pair of eights he’d sent her way. She’d grumbled under her breath and flipped over her ace.
Liam showed his twenty, which would have usually accompanied groans in an honest game. However, Anna, Tess, and Victoria all flipped their hidden card, revealing a trio of natural Blackjacks. Even Victoria responded to that, surprise, mellow compared to Tess and Anna’s, glimmering in her clear blue eyes.
“Wait, what the hell?” Avril said, the first to recognize the improbability of what had just occurred.
“Wow,” Anna said, blinking as if to make sure her eyes were working correctly. “That’s really unlikely, isn’t it?”
“Suspiciously so,” Victoria said, shifting her attention from the cards to the one who’d dealt them.
“Liam?” Tess asked, slightly frowning.
He responded with a relaxed smile, finished adding the final tallies to the first page of the notebook, and then extended it toward Avril.
“Since you’re the one who ended up in last, would you mind sharing what I wrote on the second page with everyone?”
He knew her penchant for mischief would buy him enough leeway that she’d do as he requested. One eye squinting suspiciously at him, she took the notebook. All three other women leaned in around her shoulders to see what had taken him so long to write down before the game had begun.
Liam wore a smile as they read his handiwork.
Another burst of surprise enveloped that side of the table. The four women proved susceptible to the shocking claim he’d written within, even Victoria, and Avril pulled her mouth to one side as she finished reading his words.
“Well, aren’t you something,” she said, shoving the book, page on display, back at him.
Liam’s smile broadened, and he let himself re-read what he’d written earlier.
I’m going to cheat in basically every round. Anna is going to win, and Avril will get last. If anyone catches me, you can all ask for anything you want from me. If you don’t, then Anna’s win still counts, so she gets her reward.
“I told you I was good at cards,” Liam told Avril, still smiling unapologetically.
“Likethiscounts,” the redhead growled, folding her arms. She glared at the two older women at the table. “Aren’t you professors supposed to always be on the lookout for cheats like him? That’s, like, in your job description.”
Victoria stared at her, expression regaining its usual flatness. “This isn’t one of our classrooms, Avril. And it’s winter break.”
“That’s why I didn’t want you to bet with money or anything,” Liam pointed out. “I wouldn’t have felt right doing all this if you all had played with real stakes. But I figured it’d be fine after you all decided what you were playing for.”
“So, you wouldn’t have screwed me over if we’d started stacking hundreds on the table?” Avril grumbled.
