Page 39 of Just Enough

“How about we play some cards?” Dad suggested.

“We’ve been playing for the last hour,” I grumbled.

He ignored me. “What do you say, Benjamin?”

Benjamin looked at me for an answer. “Do you really want to leave?”

I frowned. “Fine. We’ll stay here with you, Dad. I hope you’re happy.”

Dad grinned. “Call that father of yours. Tell him to sneak away from that lady of his for a moment and come play some poker with us.”

_____

Benjamin

“You’re cheating everytime you deal,” my dad said to Emily’s dad as he shuffled the cards. “What do you say, Junior? You think he’s cheating?”

I smiled, shrugging my shoulders much to Emily’s annoyance because she huffed. “Y’all just suck. Fork over your dollar bills already.”

Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and she was into the game despite having originally not wanting to stay. Her curls were bunched up on the top of her head. They hadn’t lasted over her shoulders when we started playing, and our dads started throwing trash talk over the table.

I decided right there as she glanced down at her cards,I’m really glad I came home.AndI was glad Tammy left me. I might not have exactly what I wanted from her, but this felt better than not coming home and seeing her. I hadn’t known how lonely and unhappy I truly was the past year until now.

Nolan grinned at his daughter. Those two were winning all the bets. No wonder he had suggested we bet to make it interesting. It was interesting, all right, to lose every dollar in your billfold.

“How much have you cheated me out of already?” Dad nagged him.

Emily smugly looked down at the money she had and replied, “I got thirty of it.”

“I have forty dollars somewhere on this table that I’ve lost,” I told her, and she stuck her tongue out at me, then smiled.

“I got about sixty,” Nolan said casually.

“You cheat,” Dad kept on, but he was smiling as he did it.

“Don’t call my dad a cheat,” Emily said through a smile. “If anyone’s a cheat, it’s you. You coax people into thinking they need a new car and take the bank’s money while leaving them in debt.Thatis cheating someone out of their money.”

My dad looked at Emily surprised. Her head dropped slightly. Then she realized what she said, and we all burst into laughter. “I do no such thing,” Dad tried to defend himself through his laughter. “I want to help families find their dream car.”

“Uh-huh, sure. I’d tell myself that too to feel better about myself,” Emily muttered.

“You’re cheating too, aren’t ya? That’s why you’re trying to twist this around on me.” Dad aggravated Emily.

“You two have been dealing the cards too,” she huffed.

Dad gave her a crooked smile. “She’s about to blow a fuse, ain’t she?”

She shook her head fighting a grin then looked at me again. “Now I know why you’re so annoying sometimes.”

They all started laughing again, but I couldn’t stop staring at her. I wasn’t interested in the game as much as I was interested in soaking up her beauty. I’d been stuck looking at her through images for so long… How the hell did I stay away?

“Benjamin.” She smiled, moving her hands in front of my face, and I snapped my head back to the table and saw the men staring at me. It was like theyknewwhat sort of thoughts I had about her and how inappropriate they were for friendship. How many times had they given me that look already tonight? The only one oblivious was Emily.

I straightened in my seat as Emily’s phone went off again. She had been getting a lot of text messages, but this was her first call. “Hello?”

She glanced at me then down at the table. “I’m at Dad’s like I said.” She paused a moment. “Come over here. I don’t plan on coming home right now.” Her eyes held a tightness to them as she mouthed,be right back,and stood up and disappeared into another room.

I found myself glaring until one of them cleared their throat and forced me to look back to the table. “He must not like that Benjamin’s here.” I stiffened at her dad’s words.

---