Page 27 of Playoff

“If I had to learn, you had to learn,” Connor tells her.

So my gut was right; poker isn’t really her game.

She only plays to be social.

For some reason, I like that I still know her.

Bristol and I go at it until the end, and she beats me with a royal flush.

“What the fuck?” I ask, laughing when she shows her hand. “On the first hand?”

“Beginner’s luck,” Connor mutters.

“Just because I’ve never played withyoubefore doesn’t make me a beginner,” she says, gathering the cards and beginning to shuffle. “I’ve been playing my whole life. My mom used to be a dealer in Vegas.”

“A dealer?” Bodi gapes at her. “For real? How cool is that?”

“Eh, not as cool as you might think. But I can shuffle the hell out of a deck of cards.” She does a few fancy moves, handling the cards like they’re part of her. Then she deals the next round.

Two cards face down.

Four cards face up.

One final card face down.

Christ, my hand sucks and I shake my head.

“I’m out.”

“Me too.” Connor folds as well.

Rowan is chewing her lip, staring at her cards intently, as if she’s not sure what to do. And it’s killing me not to help. Now that I know she hasn’t been playing long, I don’t want the more experienced players to take advantage of her. It’s a friendly game, but still. She probably doesn’t need me to interfere, and I know I’m risking pissing her off, but I do it anyway.

“You need help?” I ask quietly.

She hesitates but then shows me her cards; she has five hearts.

“Is this a good hand?”

“Stay in,” I murmur.

She nods and puts another penny in the pile.

“Hey, no cheating!” Bodi says to us.

“I’m out—it’s not cheating.”

“And I only learned how to play like two months ago,” Rowan adds.

“Show me what you got,” Coach tells her.

She turns over her cards.

“A flush.” Coach groans. “You win. I’ve only got two pairs.”

“Look at me, winning a hand!” Rowan says. “Thanks to you!”

She gives me a smile that almost paralyzes me with…excitement? Arousal? I’m not even sure what I’m feeling when she smiles at me like that. All I know is that I feel seventeen again. And it’s kind of nice.

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