Page 14 of Strike Zone

“Don’t be pissy. It doesn’t suit you.”

“Poker?”

“Now, you’re talking.”

“Where’s the ball and chain?”

“My wife has gone up to the room with Dee. Did you really have to leave?”

“Did she really have to be an ignorant, venomous shrew?”

“Valid point. My sister-in-law is somewhat…”

“Of a C-U-Next-Tuesday.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “Abrasive. I was going for abrasive.”

“You say potato… I say cunt. Let’s play some poker. I’ve been watching these guys. They like to bet big with no real finesse.”

“You know as well as I do that craps and poker have zero correlation.”

“It’s all in the body language, bro. Have I ever steered you wrong in Vegas?” He actually takes a moment to ponder it. What the fuck?

“No. You haven’t. That bothers me, and there’s a first time for everything.”

“For fuck’s sake, can we just play some goddamn poker?”

“Sure.”

“Do I really come off as some womanizing dickhead?”

“No. She was out of line. She was projecting her shit onto you. You know I don’t think like that, and neither does anyone else who actually knows you. She hasn’t told Brooke any details, but I think there may have been a breakup recently and not an amicable one.”

“I didn’t know she was seeing someone.”

“Just give her a break. She’s nervous about tomorrow and has been a little off her game the past few weeks. She shouldn’t have said that shit, but I don’t think she meant it.”

“Do you know what really grinds my gears about your sister-in-law?”

“I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”

“Even when she was tearing me a new one… there’s just something about her. Fuck, she’s hot, and it annoys me that I still want to rip her clothes off with my teeth.”

“Are you on some thrill-of-the-chase mission now? Should I be worried? Because it’s not your nuts that’ll be in a vice if you fuck her over, Brooke will come looking for me.”

“I didn’t realize our cocks are linked. Is it like a superpower-type thing?”

“Shut up. You’re both grown-ass people. If you want to have a night of love-hate sex and get it out of your system, just don’t tell me or Brooke. Deal?”

“Deal.”

He slings his arm over my shoulder and signals the bartender as we enter the private high rollers poker room. “Best whiskey you’ve got, on the rocks, keep them coming, open a tab for Verbeck. I’m in the Presidential Suite.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tonight just got better. I get to drink my sorrows away on your dime.”

“Only because Dee reduced your already tiny manhood to microscopic size.”

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