Page 35 of Totally Geeked

“Do you play?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.

“I played a little online in college but I’m not really—”

“Come on, we’ll teach you. There’s room for one more, right, boys?” I ask, pulling him over to the table and grabbing an extra chair on the way before they can answer. “Shift down fellas,” I say, standing behind my seat so that I can be sure he’s next to me.

They shuffle around the table, and Arlo sits nervously beside me.

“So you get two cards. The goal of the game is to get the best five-card hand using the cards in your hand and the cards in the middle. Don’t show anyone what your two cards are though.” I explain the general guidelines to him as the boys finish up the hand they started without us, and then they deal Arlo and me in, too.

“Did Gordon tell you about Ryan?” Benny asks, and Phillip chuckles.

“The kid’s got it bad. Maybe he’s looking for something… what’d you call it, serious?” Phillip adds.

I shift in my seat. “I’d never date a player. Too messy if shit goes wrong.”

“That didn’t stop you and that OG hooking up at the mixer last year.” Benny laughs.

What is this, load on Harrison night? Arlo doesn’t need to hear this shit.

“I didn’t know he was a player, and it wasn’t really a hookup.”

“It looked that way to us,” Benny says, and I want to throw my chips at them and tell them to shut up. “Where is Ryan, anyway? I thought he said he was coming?”

Gordon shakes his head. “He said something came up and he couldn't make it.”

Stevie throws a few chips into the middle of the table. “I think it’s great you are done with the whole short-term thing, Harry. Get yourself a nice guy, maybe someone older who’s ready to settle down and have a few kids.”

“I don’t think he has to be older to want to settle down.”

“No, but the younger guys you were hooking up with are still in that free stage of their lives, right? Arlo, you’re young. Tell Harry here, guys your age aren’t looking for anything serious, long-term, right?”

“Ahhh,” Arlo begins, but Gordon interjects.

“Arlo’s not interested in anything serious. Our younger brother Noah isn’t either. I think you’re right, Stevie. Harry here needs to look out for an older guy.”

Younger guys can be interested in serious relationships, too. Arlo is a few years younger than me. Okay, more than a few. He’s like seven years younger, but that’s not a crazy age difference, right?

“Are two threes good?” Arlo asks and attention moves from me to him.

“You don’t tell people what you have.” Gordon laughs.

“And yes, with a three on the table, two threes are good.” Alan sighs, tossing in his hand. The rest of them fold, too, and before he slides the chips toward him, Arlo flips his six and nine over, and the guys all laugh.

“Your brother’s a better bluffer than you, Gordie,” Benny jokes, and I hope that all talk about Ryan, the OG guy from last year, and my poor past choices are over.

I sit out the next hand and grab another drink from the kitchen. Gordon joins me.

“Be careful around Arlo,” he whispers, and my chest goes tight.

“Umm, I don’t know what…”

“He has a history of getting too attached to the wrong people. Did I tell you about his ex?”

I shake my head.

“He convinced himself this guy was the one and almost lost everything he’d worked for. He’s still just a kid, really.”

“He’s not, though,” I say, and Gordon frowns.

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