Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
There was a time when my apartment wasn’t much bigger than your average fast food restaurant bathroom, and I could cook dinner without getting out of bed. Heat was a luxury, and in the summer, I cooled myself off as I slept by using a single electric fan, smog or air quality be damned.
Now, my pantry’s bigger than that first apartment, and I sit in the ‘games room’ of my eight thousand square feet, two-floor penthouse. With a touch of a button, I can make this entire place any temperature I want, including the floor. And if I feel like it, at a moment’s notice, I can hop on a private plane and go anywhere in the world in less time than it used to take me to get across town.
And that’s only some of the many things that have changed in my life.
The list could stretch from my balcony all the way down to the street, most likely. But it can all be encapsulated by the fact that I can look at a thousand dollars sitting on the table in between me and the four other men who are joining me tonight and not even blink as Austin takes another small stack of chips and pushes it into the middle. As he said when we talked about setting tonight up, a thousand dollars is pocket change to us. Currently, we’re playing hold ’em, and it’s Austin’s bet. “Raise five hundred.”
“Check, check, check, raise,” Teddy, who’s the dealer this round, complains. “Every fucking hand, he’s the same way. Check his way through unless he has to see someone else’s bet, and only then raise. Never fold, never call. You would think he’s got ice in his veins.”
“Maybe I do, Teddy,” Austin says casually, leaning back in his chair. Teddy’s grumbling is more than likely an act, but Austin’s not going to get baited into revealing his strategy. “But it’ll cost you five hundred to find out.”
Teddy, who’s a mutual acquaintance but not quite a friend to Austin and me, peeks at his cards again and sighs. “Not this time,” he says, tossing his cards toward the muck. “Claire would kill me if I did.”
We all laugh. Teddy is fairly recently married, and his being here tonight is a bit of a surprise considering his first child is on the way in a couple of months. But I suspect that while he loves his wife, Claire, more than life itself, they both needed a few hours to themselves. I’m actually jealous of Teddy in some ways. He wasn’t stabbed in the back by someone he loves and has achieved it all—wife, baby, generational wealth, and most importantly, he seems truly happy.
“Speaking of Claire,” Noah asks, “how’s she doing?” He folded immediately after the flop and is more interested in conversation than the cards on the table.
“Round as a beach ball and never more beautiful,” Teddy sighs wistfully, his eyes going soft at the thought of her. “We’ve both decided that we’re not going to hire an au pair. But that means I’ll be picking up a second full-time job, gentlemen. Daddy.”
“No finer job, in my opinion,” Ollie, who’s also joined us, says. “Enjoy it.”
Teddy deals out the next card, which is no help to me, a three of diamonds. But it’s my move, so I decide to imitate Austin. “Check.”
“Ollie?”
Ollie peeks at his cards and slides a hundred into the pot. “I’m feeling good.”
The bet goes to Austin, who doesn’t even look at his cards. He never does. He’s got them memorized. The man has exactly zero tells in his game, which in some ways, makes him easier to play.
Against Austin, you don’t play the man. You play the math. Ollie’s more complicated, as he’ll act pleased or not pleased with his cards. But how he acts and how good his cards actually are aren’t always the same. You have to play the man and the cards with him.
“Just to change it up for Teddy, I’ll call,” Austin says, sliding the appropriate chips in. It’s a bit of a surprise, but more about fucking with Teddy than changing his game strategy. It’s just Austin being Austin. Turning to me, he looks at me with the emotionless, murderer’s eyes that he can call on in a heartbeat whenever he wants. “Dylan?”
I knew what I was going to do even before Teddy laid out that three, but I still give an appropriate five-second pause before sliding my stack in. “A thousand.”
“The raise is nine hundred,” Teddy announces, and the table goes a little tense. For form’s sake, we’ve limited raises to a thousand, mainly so nobody gets too stupid. Some of us are married, and while a thousand dollars might be simply pocket change to everyone here tonight, nobody wants to get real feelings involved. This is supposed to be a fun, relaxing night for all of us. Not blood sport.