Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Amelia’s voice came from behind me. “Umm…whose ass are you going to kick?”
I looked at the door, now closed behind her. I hadn’t heard a knock.
She smiled. “It was open, so I let myself in. I figured if I needed to Tase you, I was better off with the element of surprise.” Amelia looked at Travis and the card table. “I’m glad there’s an actual poker game.”
Travis shook his thumb toward me. “I’m playing with his money. I didn’t have the cash to ante, so he gave it to me just so I’d come. He’s pretty desperate to hang out with you.”
Amelia looked to me with a smug smile. I shut my eyes. “Thanks, buddy. I appreciate you sharing.”
Travis laughed. “No problem. You want a beer, Amelia?”
“Sure. That would be great. Thanks.”
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door before Will let himself in. He was always the last to show up for anything. He grabbed a beer, and we all settled in around my kitchen table. Travis tossed the cash I’d given him across the table to exchange for chips, and Will reached into his pocket. But Amelia stopped him before he could pass cash my way.
She pointed to me. “Your game is on Merrick tonight, Will.”
“Uh, no it’s not,” I said.
“Why not? You paid your other friend to play.”
Will looked back and forth between Amelia and me. “Is she serious?”
“Travis didn’t have any cash,” I said.
“Playing cards is the only way he could get me to hang out with him.” Amelia shrugged. “If we don’t have four people we can’t play, and I’m leaving.”
Will stuffed his cash back into his pocket. “Thank you for letting me know.” He lifted his chin to me. “I’ll take whatever you kicked in for Trav. Or I guess we don’t have a game, and Amelia here will be on her merry way.”
I narrowed my eyes at Amelia, who looked damn proud of herself. But I knew Will. He’d probably made two grand day-trading between classes today, yet he wasn’t about to put out cash now that he knew I was stuck. Groaning, I pulled out fifty dollars more and tossed it into the pile.
“Thanks, guys. I can’t wait for one of you to need a wingman.”
• • •
A few hours later, I hadn’t lost all my money. I’d lost all mine plus the cash I’d kicked in for Travis and Will. Once again, Amelia had kicked our asses.
I leaned back in my seat, still shaking my head. I was a damn good card player. It was rare that I took a beating. But Amelia had won at least seventy percent of the hands. “I don’t get it. You said you count cards, but I looked it up. You can’t count cards in poker the way you can in blackjack. You’d have to memorize the likelihood of winning with all the different combinations of hands and then compare that to what you see face up on the table from every other player.”
She shrugged. “That’s right.”
“And you’ve done that?”
“It’s not hard. I’m good at numbers.”
“I’m good at numbers, too. I’m going to open my own brokerage firm in a few years. Maybe I’ll hire you.”
She smiled. “Maybe I’ll hire you.”
The other guys laughed and got up. After a quick round of laters, it was just Amelia and me. She slipped her winnings into her purse, and it looked like she was about to leave, too.
“Stay for a little while?” I asked.
“Why?”
“Because I want to hang out with you.”
“Why?”
“Is why your favorite word?”
She stood. “I’m not a very trusting person.”
I grinned. “Why?”
She tried to contain her smile, but failed.
I reached out and took her hand. “Because you’re obviously smart. You like to play cards. You can dish it out to my buddies as good as they give it to you. And…you’re hot.”
Amelia looked into my eyes. She searched the same way she did when she was trying to figure out if one of the guys was bluffing his hand. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Wouldn’t be asking you out if I did.”
“So that’s a no?”
“It’s definitely a no.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I have trust issues. If I get it into my head that you’re lying to me, I’ll probably search your phone when you’re not paying attention. I fact-check people—if you say you were somewhere, you darn well better have been there, because I’ll find out if you weren’t. I pick fights when I’m feeling down. I assume the worst of most people. My father’s in prison, and I don’t even know what state my mother lives in anymore.” She held my gaze. “Still want to go out with me?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
She shook her head, pulled her purse up to her shoulder, and headed for the door. I figured I’d flunked whatever test she was trying to scare me away with. But halfway to the doorway, she stopped without turning back. “I like foreign movies with subtitles. Friday at seven. I’ll meet you here, but outside.”