Chapter 15
“Cool story,” Abby said. “Why don’t you just move along?”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Zeke snarled.
“Abby, let’s just go,” Ivy said, tugging on her friend’s arm.
Abby shrugged her off.
“No, I’m not going to let this loser ruin our—”
“There a problem here?”
It was Giga Chad. Now that the blond guy was standing beside Ivy, she realized how big he was. Six three, two-twenty. Solid.
“Yeah, there is a problem here,” Zeke said. His anger had simmered a little in the presence of the much larger man. “This—”
“You want to speak to this guy?”
“No,” Abby snapped. “I want him to leave us the fuck alone.”
Giga Chad faced Zeke, inched forward.
“You heard the woman.”
Zeke’s cheeks reddened again, this time more from embarrassment than fury.
“I—”
“Let’s go.” One of Zeke’s buddies had come up from behind. “Zeke, let’s just get the fuck out of here.”
Ivy didn’t recognize the kid, but he had that frat boy look about him.
Zeke hesitated. The kid pulled.
Zeke eventually lost the battle, but the student kept his intense eyes locked on Ivy until the bar door closed behind him.
Ivy finally let out a breath.
“You okay?” Giga Chad asked.
“Yeah, fine. Thanks,” Abby said.
“He was just drunk. Let me buy you guys a drink. I’m Blake, by the way.”
“I’m Abby. This is Ivy.”
Blue Eyes appeared at Blake’s side.
“I’m Tony.”
“Hi,” Ivy said, still a little taken aback by the violence she’d seen on Zeke’s face.
“We should be buying you a drink,” Abby said with a little laugh. “Thank you.”
“How about this? I flip you for it. You win, I’ll buy the first round. I win, you can get me and Tony a beer.”
Blake had a nice smile, but he was a little too polished for Ivy’s taste. Too done up. Then again, did she even have a type after this long?
“Ivy?”
Abby had that look about her. That c’mon, live a little, please don’t mess this up look.
“Sure, I guess.”
Abby’s eyes brightened as Blake pulled a quarter out of his pocket. He rested it on the back of his thumb, lowered his arm a little as he prepared to flip it.
“You call it.”
“Wait,” Ivy said.
Abby shot her a sidelong look.
That look again.
Ivy smirked.
“How about this . . . we don’t flip the coin once, but three times. You pick a combination of three results, and I will, too. Whoever’s sequence comes up first wins, the loser buys the round.”
“Ivy, let’s just flip—”
“No.” Blake beamed. “I like this. Tony, you have a pen?”
Tony passed him one and Blake grabbed a coaster.
“I’ll go first: heads, tails, heads. Your turn.”
Ivy wrote down “T-H-H.”
“You wanna flip or me?”
“You can.”
The game played out exactly as Ivy expected: eight total flips later, her sequence appeared.
“Alright, you win. Tony, grab a round.” Blake pointed at Ivy playfully. “Let’s go again. This time, I choose heads, tails, tails.”
Ivy wrote down “T-T-H.”
It only took six flips this time.
“My God, you’re lucky. Again!” Tony returned with the drinks and Blake told him to grab two more. “I’m picking the same that you just did.” There was a gleam in his eyes, as if he thought he had her. Broke the code. “Tails, tails, heads.”
Ivy countered with “H-T-H.”
She won again.
And again.
Ivy was having fun with this. She quickly downed two drinks, paced herself on the third.
“This is insane—I’m gonna go broke playing with you. What do you do, Ivy?”
Ivy chuckled. She was enjoying herself. Realized that she hadn’t thought of Zeke, her father, or her work for the better part of an hour.
“I work at a beauty parlor.”
“Seriously?”
Ivy just smiled.
Blake was in banking. Finance.
Trust fund, six foot five, blue eyes.
A stupid song she’d heard some of her students singing before class.
Blake was a little shorter than 6’5, Ivy couldn’t be sure about a trust fund, and his friend Tony was the one with blue eyes. But still.
They played a few more rounds—Ivy only lost once to heads, heads, heads, by sheer luck—and she forgot about her water. Unsurprisingly, she was drunk. Very drunk. It was getting late, and Ivy still had three drinks lined up.
Blake leaned close.
“You’re not just lucky, are you?” he whispered in her ear.
Ivy grinned.
“I know this game; Penney’s game, right?”
Drunk as she was, Ivy was surprised.
“You know Penney’s game?” Her words all ran together.
“Of course. I love numbers. I’m a finance guy, remember?”
There was something about the way he said this that made her uncomfortable. If he knew the game, why did he let her win?
Abby came near and Blake backed off.
“Hey, I’m staying at a hotel not far from here—the Marriott at Forrestal. We’re only in town for three days. How about you and your friend come back with us? Hotel bar is open late.”
Bad idea, Ivy thought. Sorta thought. Her mind was swimming. And three days? This triggered something in Ivy, but she was too drunk to place it.
“Actually, my friend has a busy morning tomorrow,” Abby said. She put her arm around Ivy, propped her up.
“Busy day at the spa?”
Blake wasn’t making fun of her, but he was challenging her claim.
“Yes. Lots of BBLs to do.”
Blake didn’t push. Neither did Tony.
“Can I get your number at least? I’ve spent nearly six figures—” Trust fund, 6’5”, finance “—tonight. I need a rematch.”
“I can take yours,” Abby offered.
Blake didn’t seem excited about this, but went along with it.
“Sure.”
Abby was a good friend. She’d pushed Ivy to come out, to stay, to drink. But she also knew Ivy’s limits. If she went home with Blake, she’d regret it.
“Thanks for the drinks, boys.” Abby gave them both a little coquettish wave and guided Ivy out of the bar.
Ivy passed out in the cab home.