Page 17 of True Blue

“You go, Lay,” I say when no one speaks for a beat.

“Okay, we’ll start clockwise.” She throws a green skip down over the six she flips from the top of the deck. Axel rolls his eyes at her while she smiles behind her cards.

The game goes quickly, Layla attacking Axel every chance she gets, then playing her number cards when the order reverses since I'm sitting on her other side. Christopher attacks pretty much no matter what, even frowning when he only has a number card to play on me or Axel.

Taking it from both sides, Axel ends up with a hand of at least twenty cards, not even so much as grumbling as he grabs more when Layla plays another draw two on him and laughs maniacally. I laugh too and his eyes flash to mine.

“You’re lucky I’m between these two, Blue. You’d be the one with twenty-six cards if we were sitting next to each other.” My breath catches at the old nickname, remembering when he used to call me that as a kid. Dad always called me his Bluejay and hearing Axel use his modified version again makes my chest pang.

“That a threat?” Christopher says, eyeing Axel over the top of his hand.

Layla raises an eyebrow at me.

I jump in quickly. “Of course not, Chris. He’s just trash talking. Calm down, it’s just a game.” I pat his thigh, but my eyes are glued to the little smirk on Axel’s face.

“Yeah, Chris. I think she knows what I mean,” Axel says lazily, shuffling his cards in his hand and not looking up. Layla slaps his knee under the table, but the noise reaches us above it. My heart rate picks up, but I can’t tell if my blood is pounding from panic or the tone of Axel’s voice.

Axel glances at the floor beside him, picking up a draw four and holding it up. “Told you she cheats.” He faux glares at Layla, the earlier tension seemingly pushed aside. “Cough up the rest, sis.”

Layla blushes, pulling another card out of her sweatshirt sleeve and slapping it down on the table. I laugh as she sulks. “How are you cheating and not closer to winning?”

“Don’t rub it in,” Layla grumbles.

I smile, laying down a red seven. “Uno.”

Layla glances at her cards, then stares at the one in my hand. “You have a blue, don’t you?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know, do I?”

“She has blue,” Christopher says, leaning back over after checking my card from behind me while I’m looking at Layla.

“Hey, everybody stop cheating!” I glare at Christopher, betrayal twinging in my chest.

Layla frowns, looking at her cards again. She plays a blue seven, looking at Axel and Christopher in turn. “One of you needs to change the color, it’s the only card I can play.”

“I can change it,” Christopher says, picking a card out of his hand and holding it, ready to play.

Axel looks through his cards, expression never changing as he picks out and lays down a blue skip. Layla smirks and Christopher’s head whips up toward him.

“Sorry, man. Only card I can play,” Axel says, staring Christopher down.

“Bullshit,” Christopher hisses. “You have a million cards!”

Axel shrugs and I throw down my blue three. “I win,” I say, grinning at Layla and trying to ignore the little smile that Axel throws my way.

Layla groans, throwing her hand down. “I want a rematch!”

Christopher’s phone rings and I see his dad’s face on the screen when he pulls it out and checks who’s calling. “I have to take this,” he grumbles, getting up and going into my bedroom. The door shuts behind him.

“I have snacks. You guys hungry?” I get up, going to the kitchen while Layla starts gathering the cards and shuffling again.

I pull a container of French onion dip out of the fridge and open the cabinet to grab the chips I bought for tonight.

“Want some help?” Axel’s voice startles me, and I jump, whipping around to face him while my heart tries to beat out of my chest. “Sorry,” he says, holding his hands up and biting back a grin. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You’re good,” I say, rubbing my hand over my chest as I try to soothe my nervous system. “Just didn’t hear you come up behind me.”

“Did you want some help?” he repeats, smile peeking through this time. I stare at his mouth for a minute, heart stuttering again.

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