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He may be my best friend, but that doesn’t mean I can convince my eyeballs not to violate him. From that chiseled jaw all the way down to the eight-pack I know is under the t-shirt he’s about to lose. Because his hand may be good… but mine is better.
The next card is a Jack and I see the mischief in Eli’s eyes as he commits to raising again.
“I’m all in,” I say, calm as a cucumber, while my raised eyebrows antagonize.Bring it on, big boy.
“Damn, I know Evan wishes he was here to see this, especially if you lose, Q. You’ll be down to those pretty little panties,” Taylor says, letting out a low whistle, and I shoot off a double dose of middle fingers in his direction.
Eli’s head snaps to his teammate. “What the fuck does this have to do with Evan?”
“Your bestie didn’t tell you?” Eli looks at me before Taylor continues. “He’s been begging her to go on a date for weeks now.”
A strange look crosses Eli’s face, and I know he’s wondering why I haven’t told him that when I literally tell him everything. And the answer is, I honestly just don’t know.
“Well, he isn’t here, and you know what, since you two dicks folded, I don’t think you should get the privilege of witnessing if she has to strip,” Eli says, pointing between his two teammates.
I want to tell him it doesn’t matter because I’m going to win anyways, but I don’t want to give myself away just yet. “Turn the next card. Let's play.”
Jett’s the dealer, and when the river shows a queen, I know my win is sealed.
I let the smugness take over my face as I meet Eli’s eyes. It’s in that very moment, the cockiness is wiped clean from his smirk.
Hesitantly, he flips his cards over, showing a full house. But mine’sfuller.
Sevens high with two queens.
“Ah hah, Hotshot! Some people know how to handle the cards they’re dealt better than others. Strip, motherfucker, strip,” I gloat, doing a little dance in my seat.
He rips his shirt off and throws it across the table at my head. It takes everything inside of me not to hold it to my face and inhale his cologne that I love so much.
Instead, I let it fall. “Aw, E, don’t be a sore loser. I know that’s three out of the last four games that I’ve won and all, but that’s okay… there’s always baseball.” I give him my sweetest smile. “Oh, and don’t forget, you raised twice, so go ahead and take those pants off too, buddy.”
He pushes his chair back and rips his pants down, leaving him in form-fitting boxers. And holy mother… maybe I shouldn’t have reminded him.
Oh my gosh, I can see the outline of his—
“Queenie, eyes up here,” he calls me out, and my eyes quickly bounce up to his gray ones. The older I get, the harder it is for me to ignore just how beautiful he truly is. Those penetrating grayish-blue eyes of his aren’t easy to look away from.
I see movement out of my peripheral and notice the other guys replacing their discarded clothes.
“We’re out of here. Heading over to Kayla’s to hang out with chicks who don’t beat us at everything,” Taylor chimes in as he finishes buttoning his shorts.
“Yeah, I’d hate for that big ego of yours to take another hit,” I snap back at him as he throws up his middle finger and heads toward the door. Jett says his goodbyes as I move to the living room to see what movie they’re watching.
Wes and Sloan are knocked out as the credits toEasy Aroll on the screen. Maddie is nowhere to be found, most likely in her room snoozing by now.
“Of course, the sleeping beauties are passed out. Want to come downstairs and watch a movie with me?” Eli asks from behind me. I nod and grab the bag of chips we started munching on earlier and some Oreos. The minute we get comfy, Eli’s sweet tooth is going to hit.
Since Eli is the only boy, his parents turned the basement into his own lair of sorts. I often end up down here playing video games, watching movies, and just hanging out, because Sloan is not nearly the night owl that her brother and I are.
“You good? I feel like Taylor struck a nerve,” Eli asks as he—thankfully, not so thankfully—slips some gym shorts over his boxers.
I swallow, trying to decide exactly how vulnerable I want to be, but it's Eli. He knows me… maybe even better than Sloan does.
“Yeah, that’s just not the first time I’ve heard something like that. Even Hannah at school told me a lot of the boys in our class avoid asking me out because they are intimidated by me. Well, except for Evan, but I know what he wants.”
He frowns as he walks over to me, and I continue explaining. “They think I’m too loud, too competitive, too untamable… too much.”
Eli runs his hands down my arms, causing a prickling of goosebumps to cover my body.
