Page 27 of Champion of Cards

Kingsnake opened the sack of coins and counted out the entry fee. “Now that I’ve been reimbursed, you can use the rest of this at the whorehouse.” He tightened the drawstring and pushed it toward me. “And buy us a round, of course.”

“I don’t really care about that now.” My thumb smoothed over the edges. Women and tits didn’t seem important anymore.

“You proved us wrong, Fang,” Larisa said. “We were wrong to ever question your integrity. All those times you beat us, you beat us fair and square.”

“Damn right I did.” I grinned before I reached for the necklace around my throat.

Kingsnake stared at me across the table, affection in his eyes. “I’m proud of you, man. Those were some good card players, but you kicked ass. How do you do it?”

I shrugged. “It’s complicated…”

Larisa smirked. “He doesn’t want to share his secrets.”

Lana approached us from the other side of the room, her eyes focused on me like I was her target. Drake had thrown a dagger at me, so my body stilled in preparation for some kind of assassination attempt.

But she stopped at the table and placed her hands on her hips. “I think congratulations are in order. You played well.” She extended her hand to shake mine.

I hadn’t done that before, so I tried to act naturally, but I think I gripped her wrist too hard because her eyebrows lifted slightly. “Thank you for a handshake instead of a dagger.”

She gave a quiet chuckle. “Drake has always been a walking toddler.”

My eyes moved to her tits, but I forced them elsewhere before she noticed.

She seemed to catch it because her smile widened. “I’d love to have a drink with you sometime.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise.

“Your reflexes are fast, you’re a champion, and you’re pretty eyes on the eyes. Yes, I want to have a drink with you.”

I turned to Kingsnake as I tried to suppress my grin.

Kingsnake gave me a nod. “Larisa and I will see you in the morning.”

I rose to my feet and walked with her. “So, how long have you been playing cards?”

She smiled. “A long time. What about you?”

“My whole life.”

We sat at a table together, drinks were brought, and we talked about the match for a while. It was nice to talk to someone about the game who knew it as well as I did, but the fact that she was so astonishingly beautiful was distracting.

She seemed to know my mind drifted a couple times because she said, “Want to go back to my room?”

My eyes dropped to her tits again. “Definitely.”

She smirked and got to her feet. “Come on. And make sure you keep your necklace on…”

FIVE

FANG

The next morning, I found Larisa and Kingsnake sitting in the pub, their bags packed and ready to go.

I was still dead tired as I dropped into the chair across from them, the Golden Card around my throat.

“Have fun last night?” Kingsnake asked.

“Is fucking always this exhausting?”

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