Chapter 43 – Luke
LUKE
Eden set the barn up perfectly for a low-key bachelor party. She filled a long table with every chip and snack imaginable and had me stock the bar with my best whiskey. Low country music plays from the speakers, and a few worn couches are waiting for us to crash on later.
Of course, since it's Beau’s, the centerpiece of the whole place is the poker table.
Which is where we’re all enduring the current awkwardness.
There's an invisible line down the center of the old card table we’re using as a poker table.
On one side, Beau, Ryan, Nate, James, and I are as dressed down as we get.
Nate and James are still wearing tailored button-ups and the trousers from their suits.
I have a feeling that Cat’s interference is the only reason Nate didn’t come down to the barn with his matching blazer.
The rest of us look better, but even Ryan’s jeans are tailored.
On the other side of the table, Brinley’s brothers look stiffer than I’ve ever seen them. They’re all in their version of nice clothes, western shirts and well-worn jeans. Reed’s wearing a cowboy hat that probably costs more than it looks like it does.
When Beau invited them at breakfast this morning, Wade’s face shuttered and Jasper’s lips firmed into a thin line.
They probably would have made their excuses if Reed hadn’t said “we’ll be there” in a tone that made it clear his acceptance was more to torture his brothers than from actual desire to enjoy our company.
Then Eden smiled brightly and said, “Yes! You should all go!” in a way that suggested we had given her a gift. After that, nobody wanted to disappoint her.
“So, are you big poker players?” I ask the Lockes.
The three of them exchange glances. “We play hold ‘em sometimes,” Jasper says.
“That’s what we play, too,” Ryan says. “I can help if you have any questions.”
“You’re the professional, aren’t you?” Wade asks. “You’re not trying to hustle us, are you?”
Ryan folds his hands awkwardly. “Yeah, I’m a poker pro. But I’m not some shark trying to cheat you or anything.”
“Relax,” Reed says. “He’s joking.”
“Right.” Ryan takes a long sip of whiskey.
“So what are we playing for?” Wade asks.
I exchange glances with Beau. Normally, we all put in around $10,000 and start big blinds at $200, but I don’t want to assume the Lockes have that kind of money to throw around. I know from my grain deal that they must do well, but their overhead is a complete mystery.
“$500 buy-in, $5 big blind?” I throw out, guessing.
The number must not scare Eden’s brothers, because they all nod. “You do cash upfront?” Wade asks.
“Nah. We’ll figure it out at the end,” Ryan says. “Playing banker is a pain. Let’s get right to the game.”
I start as the dealer, with James and Nate putting in the little and big blinds. Beau throws in his chips, and Ryan immediately doubles the pot. On his right, Reed raises his brows.
“You like your hand, huh?” Reed drawls, and Ryan shrugs.
“I don’t hate it.”
Reed nods. “I’ll raise by fifty.”
Ryan’s brows raise slightly. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn’t for Reed to quadruple his bet. Jasper’s next, and he silently matches Reed’s bet. Wade throws his cards down.
“You boys deal with these two,” he says, throwing back half his glass of whiskey.
Ryan’s eyes flash between the three of them, clearly doing mental calculations about the kind of players he’s facing. He seems to decide it’s worth playing the hand out, because he’s the only one to match the bet.
At the end of the hand, Ryan takes the pot with a pair of kings, while Reed fails to get the flush he’s going for and Jasper’s pair of tens falls short. Ryan frowns as he reaches for the chips.
“I don’t love taking money from the bride’s family,” he says.
Wade scowls. “What, you think we can’t afford it?”
Ryan shakes his head quickly. “No. I’m just saying, it feels wrong.”
“You won. Fair and square,” Jasper says.
Ryan balks, and I decide to put us all out of our misery.
“Forget playing for money,” I say. “I’d rather put real shit on the table.”
“Like what?” Beau says.
“Like trading my truck for your Maserati rental for the weekend,” Jasper says.
I lean back. “Exactly.”
Ryan sits up and points at Reed. “I want his hat.”
Reed touches the brim. “We’ll see if you can take it.”
One hour and many glasses of whiskey later, the money’s long-forgotten.
Jasper wins my Maserati for a day, but loses a hand to Beau that’s going to see him wearing skintight lycra gym shorts all day tomorrow.
Ryan loses a hand and gets stuck washing Wade’s truck, but he manages to win Reed’s hat.
It helps that Reed plays like a wild man, tripling the pot out of nowhere and folding on the river.
James wins an actual horse at some point, but I’m not sure that anyone will remember that in the morning. I lose almost every hand I play.
And I can’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed.
At this point, there’s nobody to perform to.
Sitting around a table with the billionaires and the cowboys, I don’t feel like the scholarship kid I regress to in my worst moments.
I’m just Luke, holding cards, drinking whiskey, watching Beau grin across the table at the brothers who are about to become his family.
My only regret is that I can’t enjoy much whiskey.
Since Eden will need me to help with the wedding setup tomorrow, I don’t want to show up hungover.
I nurse my first glass for the first half of the night, and by the time I walk over to the bar for my second, I find that most of the whiskey and all the ice is gone.
Two large hands land on my shoulders, making me jump a bit. “Why are you staring at the wall like that?” Reed asks from behind me.
“We need more ice, but I don’t want to go up to the house and interrupt the girls.”
He tilts his head. “I’m pretty sure Eden set up a back-up fridge in the shed already for the caterers. There should be ice in there. I can show you.”
“You’re not going to murder me out there, are you?” I ask, raising my brows. “Because, and I mean this as a compliment, I think you could successfully hide my body.”
He chuckles. “You’re safe with me, city boy. Jasper, on the other hand…”
I follow Reed out the back to a small shed. When he opens the door, I find that Eden has transformed it into a fully functional emergency kitchen. There’s a narrow fridge with a freezer, a sink, and a two-burner stove. “I can’t believe she built this in a shed.”
“And knowing her, it’s probably up to fire code and everything.” Reed chuckles and presses the bucket against the ice machine, and we both fall quiet while it rumbles. Then I reach over and turn on the water in the sink.
“Thirsty?” Reed asks.
I shrug. “Just wanted to see if Eden really got the water running in here. She didn’t just plan a wedding, she found a reason to renovate a building. She amazes me sometimes.”
Reed grins. “For the record, I know things have gone beyond dating with you two,” he says casually.
I freeze, not sure how to react to that. Reed clocks it and laughs.
“I’m not rushing anything. I’m just saying, if you marry Eden, do it here at the ranch. It’d mean a lot to Mom.” He claps me on the back. “Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure Wade and Jasper are still oblivious. I’ll see you back in there.”
He leaves me in the shed, holding the ice bucket. I don’t have the presence of mind to follow him, because my brain is full of the image Reed put there.
Eden in a lacy white dress, my ring on her finger, standing in the barn with sunlight in her hair. She’s surrounded by her family, now my family. It’s a beautiful fucking picture, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get it out of my head.
Eventually, I stumble back to the barn. Beau yells my name drunkenly, beckoning me back to the poker table. Apparently, he won Wade’s denim shirt in the last hand, because Wade is in a tank top and scowling more than usual.
The night turns into a blur of cards and conversation. I barely pay attention to any of it. I’m still thinking about that damn ring.