Page 75 of Underground Prince

“Kai, we’re not even—”

“Watch your back.”

* * *

“Vare? Verily!” I called as soon as I unlocked our apartment door. “We have to—”

Noah and Verily were sitting on the couch in the main room, beers in their hands and pausing mid-conversation as I careened inside.

“Watch Rounders…” I finished.

“Hey,” Verily said, setting down her drink, but the movement was more, I figured, to cover her surprised, caught-in-the-act expression. “I didn’t think you’d be home until later.”

Anger wasn’t the first emotion to unfurl inside me, nor was it hurt, or annoyance. It was guilt. The shame of seeing the look on Verily’s face for simply hanging out with a good friend of hers, someone she scheduled so he wouldn’t cross paths with me because she had my feelings in mind when she shouldn’t have to think of me.

“It’s okay,” I said, with more sincerity than was warranted. “Hi, Noah.”

He nodded at me.

“I should probably—” he said, at the same time I said, “So did you want to stay and watch—”

Verily glanced between the two of us, saying nothing, probably in fear of ruining the moment.

“Really?” Noah said. “You want me to stay?”

If today taught me anything, it was to throw myself into the unexpected. It was better than bumbling around in the past or attempting to control the present.

“Sure,” I said, making myself comfortable on the vertical part of the L-couch, while they remained where they were, stiff and wary.

“Yeah, but…” Noah paused, his expression so open and easy to read, as it always was with him.

“It’s no problem,” I said, including Verily in the conversation. “But I don’t want to interrupt your plans.”

“You’re not!” Verily said, almost shouting. Her hands flew up, ready to clap with glee. “We were going to the Drop Down in a bit, but we can totally stay here.”

I checked the time on my phone, mumbling “Huh,” when I saw it was only nine o’clock. It felt like an entire twenty-four hours had passed since I met Kai in Chinatown, but in my other life there was still a whole Saturday night to live through. “Let’s go, then,” I said, shocking us all.

“Seriously?” Verily’s eyes widened, realizing her mistake. “Wait, yes. Yes. We can watch the movie first, though. Plenty of time.” She fumbled for the TV controller. “Is it on Netflix?”

“Amazon Prime,” Noah said. He shrugged. “Don’t faint, Scarlet, but this is one of my favorite movies you’re offering up.”

“You like poker?” Verily asked before I could.

“Is that surprising?” he replied.

“I’m not sure,” Verily said.

He laughed, and it was so close to the one from before that my chest lurched.

“Me and Jamal play, like, once a month with some other guys from class. I love it,” he said.

Verily and I met eyes across him.

“What?” he asked. “It’s at Luke’s place. It’s not like we’re betting in the seedy underbelly of New York City. All perfectly legal, I swear.”

That did it. I put my hand to my mouth, Verily following suit.

“What the hell?” Noah looked from Verily to me. “You think I’m a nerd? I play poker. I’m cool. I can play.”

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