8. Blake
8
BLAKE
“ A nnika still needs a date.” Addison sets a beer in front of me.
I lift it to my lips and take a sip as I peer at my cards. “And?”
She shrugs. “Just saying.”
Maddox knocks on the table to check, staying in the game without upping the ante. It’s the safe way to play—usually my method. Stay in for as little as possible until everyone else drops out.
Cam pushes chips into the center of the poker table. “Raise. Addie, I told you he’s not going to go for it.”
Cam’s fiancée pouts. “She’s my best friend. And since it’s a destination wedding, it’s not like there’s a bunch of single people coming. She’s going to be all lonely without a date.”
“I don’t need a date.” I add my chips to the pot.
A king and queen, suited, is too good a hand to tap out now, especially with the community cards showing a nine, ten, and king. At the very least, I have a pair.
“Everyone needs a date. It’s going to be a disaster if you don’t have one. Seriously, Blake. This is important.” Addie’s hands fly into the air in a dramatic gesture.
Cam motions for her to come closer to him and then whispers in her ear, something that calms the brewing storm.
She straightens and nods. “I’ll be upstairs.”
We wait, silent, as Addie heads up the stairs of their home, and a door closes.
Maddox turns to Cam. “Shit, man. What did you say to her? I swear, you’re like the Addison whisperer now. I’ve never been able to do that.”
I snort. Maddox is Addie’s older brother and overprotective as fuck. It doesn’t surprise me that Addie never listens to him after being told what to do her whole life.
Cam shrugs. “I told her our wedding would be perfect and that she didn’t need to worry about it. That I’d make sure my friends don’t ruin it. ”
He levels a stare at me.
I set my cards down and hold up my hands, palms out. “Whoa. I’m not going to ruin anything.”
“Damn right you’re not,” Maddox says, taking a swig of his beer. “That’s my baby sister’s wedding. It’s going to be perfect. Even if she’s marrying this guy.”
He elbows Cam.
For what must be the hundredth time this week, I miss Miller. We started with a group of five poker buddies, all of us rising in the rankings nationally. Then Lawton left to go to the police academy and gave up gambling with some bullshit about legality. And then last year, out of nowhere, Miller moved to upstate New York for a girl.
At the moment, we’re down to the three of us. Me, Maddox, and Cam. And our games are few and far between since Maddox is consumed with his new son and Cam is in the throes of wedding planning.
Not saying I’m innocent here. I’m just as distracted by my career as they are with their family things. It just…feels different.
“So if Addie says you need a date, you need one.” Cam points at me with a carrot stick, which further reinforces how far we’ve fallen. We used to have chips and wings at our poker nights. Now the girls make us veggies and dip. “Annika is great. You’ll have fun. ”
I scowl at him. “I’m dating my coworker. So I’ll bring her.”
This fake-dating thing is working out in my favor so far. I figure we’ll conveniently “break up” just in time for the wedding. Honestly, though, after pretending to date for a week, I’m enjoying her company. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to hang out with her in the Bahamas for a few days.
Cam and Maddox exchange a glance.
“When were you going to share that with the class?” Maddox asks with interest.
He takes a slice of cucumber from the platter.
I shrug. “It’s new.”
And fake, but it seems like it’s had some benefits so far. I’ve managed to dodge Randi’s advances as well as a forced wedding date.
Cam deals out the fourth community card and looks to Maddox for his next move. “Well, congrats, man. When do we get to meet her?”
“Soon.” Better to stay vague.
I’ve been surprised by how much I enjoy spending time with her, and I get the sense that the guys will like her, too. But I don’t want to commit to anything too soon.
We all check, leaving the pot unchanged. Cam deals the last card, an ace, giving me nothing but my pair.
“Has Lawton met her?” Maddox asks, checking again.
Technically, they’ve all met her when we stopped by the table at the bar that first night. But she wasn’t my girlfriend then.
I nod and knock my knuckles against the table to check.
“What does he think of her?” Cam raises.
I believe he mentioned she was “hot” after he saw her in the bar, but beyond that? Shit. If they ask him and he admits he’s never heard of this relationship, he’s going to blow this whole thing.
I match Cam’s bet, and we turn over our cards, Cam winning with a pair of aces while I work through the options in my mind.
No time like the present.
I stand from the table, taking my beer with me. “Hey, have Addie sit in for me for a round, will you?”
Maddox raises an eyebrow. “You good?”
“Yeah. Just need to do something. I’ll be back in a few.”
Cam heads for the stairs to get Addie while I go the opposite direction, toward their galley kitchen. The two of them bought this house a couple months ago, moving in together before their wedding in November, and it’s changed a lot already. I look at the newly painted cabinets, a white color that stands out against the deep blue backsplash tile.
You can tell Addie was the one who chose it. Cam is a lot of things, but a decorator isn’t one of them. Addie has taken this place to a new level entirely.
Leaning against the freshly installed granite countertop, I pull out my phone, trying to gauge how to explain this to Lawton. My brother can see through most of my bullshit, so I consider telling him the truth. On the other hand, his poker face doesn’t extend beyond the game. The man can’t tell a lie to save his life, and he could blow my cover.
Yeah, he’s getting the same story as the rest of them. Setting my beer on the counter next to me, I type out a text to Lawton.
Lawton
Hey, how’s it going?
Decent. What’s up?
Just realized I never told you. I’m dating someone.
Good luck.
Huh? I thought you were all blissfully in love or some shit.
Kristina is having trouble adjusting to life in a small town. It’s been tough. I’m kind of down on love at the moment.
Are you breaking up?
Hell no. I’m all in with this. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make this work.
Well, good luck to you, too, then.
Tell me more about this new relationship of yours.
You remember the girl from the bar?
What girl?
When you were out here visiting. The girl who needed a fake boyfriend.
Oh, yeah. She was hot. Way out of your league.
He’s not wrong.
I’m aware of that, asshole. But somehow we’re dating.
For real?
Turns out she’s a professor at Ardmore, too. I ran into her in the student union.
Holy shit. Definitely out of your league. Hot AND smart?
I’m bringing her to Cam’s wedding.
I should probably let Kat know about this plan.
Nice. Glad you won’t be the only one sitting at the singles table.
You bringing Kristina?
That’s the plan.
Less than three months. I’m looking forward to it.
I can’t wait for the Bahamas. By November it’s going to be freezing up here.
I slide my phone back into my pocket. I’m still not sure why Lawton decided to move to High Lonesome, of all places. It’s like two miles above sea level, tucked into the Colorado Rockies, and way too far away from pretty much anything.
I mean, they have everything they need. It’s got more than I expected for a town that size, with its own small hospital for the town and its surrounding areas. Maybe it’s because in the winter, it gets so cold and icy that the two roads leading into town become impassible at times.
I shiver just thinking about it, picking up my beer from the counter. It gets cold in the Philadelphia area, but nothing like Lawton’s described in his new neck of the woods.
Pushing off the counter, I wander back into the living room in time to see Addie sweep a pile of chips toward herself and start stacking them into neat piles.
“I should have you sit in for me all the time,” I say, perusing her winnings.
Addie beams at me. “What can I say? I learned from the best.”
“Damn straight.” Maddox raises his bottle toward her before bringing it to his lips.
“No loyalty at all.” Cam crosses his arms over his chest in mock protest.
Addie tosses a chip toward him. “Here. Buy yourself some big-boy pants.”
I snort, even though those are my chips.
“All my pants are big-boy pants, baby. How else would I fit my big cock in there?”
Maddox smacks the back of his head. “ Keep your dick in your pants, man. No one wants to hear about that.”
“Your sister does.” Cam’s cocky smirk spreads across his face.
“Dude.” Maddox’s expression is pained.
It took a while for him to come to grips with his best friend dating his sister. He’s accepted it, mostly, but only because he doesn’t let himself think about them being intimate.
I’m not sure why Cam insists on poking the bear, but it’s fun to watch.
I tip my bottle back, draining the last of the beer. “Moving on. Addie, you want to join?”
Pushing back from the table, she shakes her head. “No thanks. It’s fun to beat these two, but I have more wedding planning stuff to do. And I heard you have a date now.”
Nodding, I take her place at the table. “That I do.”
“Good. It better be someone who fits in with the group. I don’t have time for drama.”
Addie is nothing but drama, if you believe Cam, but I’ll keep that one to myself.
“You’ll like her. She’s a teacher. You and Annika can bond with her over lesson plans and stuff.”
Eyes widening with excitement, she brings her hand to her mouth. “Ooh, I like her already! What does she teach?”
“Technically, she’s a professor. She works with me. Teaches Biology.”
Addie eyes me suspiciously. “I thought you were anti-dating or something.”
Shrugging, I rack my brain for a response that makes sense. I’ve made way too big a deal over the last two years about how I’m not looking for love, how I only do one night with a girl and no more. I’ll need a good reason to do a complete 180.
“Maybe she’s the one,” Maddox says, studying my face, like he’s going to get any information from my expression.
“Maybe. She’s just…different.” That sounds believable. Isn’t that what people say in romance novels and shit? Like, the right one is different , whatever the fuck that means.
I should ask Miller. He’s always reading Harlequin romances that his mom sends him.
Addie still doesn’t look like she believes me, but she heads for the stairs. “I want to meet her before the big day,” she says over her shoulder.
“Noted.” Waiting until she’s out of earshot, I turn back to the table and pick up the deck of cards. “Now, let’s play poker. ”
This hand is a winning one from the initial deal of pocket cards. Two aces.
I raise on the first round, and I keep raising when the flop shows another ace along with a queen.
When the river’s final card is another queen, handing me a full house with aces high, I push my whole pile into the center, going all in.
I’m going to up the ante, raising the bet as much as I can, because I have a winning hand. With the cards, and with Kat.
As long as she keeps playing along.