Page 74 of Harrison's Wedding

“I call,” Sebastian says, resuming our poker game and pulling me out of my thoughts.

I pick up the deck of cards and turn over the river card on the table; it’s a king, which gives me a straight.

Sebastian’s phone pings with a text and he smirks at the screen, but doesn’t pick it up as he says, “Check.”

“I bet,” I say, making a small bet and keeping my face as neutral as I can.

“I raise,” he replies while looking at me intently.

I consider the best way to keep him betting, so I frown before I peer at the queen and nine that were dealt to me, then say carefully, “I raise as well.”

I raise him by the same amount that he raised me, and sit back to wait. He narrows his eyes at me, looks at the cards on the table, then back at me again. I keep my face impassive, but my heart is thrumming in my chest as I wait to see if he’ll call.

“I’m all in,” he says, and shoves the rest of his chip stack into the pot in the middle of the table.

I’m pretty certain he doesn’t have an ace and a king in his hand, and there’s no possibility of a flush. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s got a pocket pair.

“Call.” My heart is still racing as he flips his cards over and I grin when I see two kings. I show him my cards and announce, “King high straight. I win.”

“Ugh. I should’ve known you were chasing the straight.” Sebastian sounds disgusted.

“Don’t be salty just because you lost,” I tease him.

“It’s a stupid game. Let’s go play pool,” he suggests half-heartedly.

I laugh and shake my head. “Nope. You’re just going to have to deal with being a loser tonight, Seb.”

I’m packing away the poker set when Gabriel, Ariana, and Hayden knock on the door to Sebastian’s suite. There’s an immediate stiffness in the room when they walk in, and I have to wonder if Sebastian’s ever going to get over his anger at Ariana. At least he’s dropped the open hostility since he found out about her being stalked by a reporter.

I keep thinking about what he told me when we were out at Galena, and looking for some kind of signs that Ariana might leave. Some crack that might give, but their relationship seems completely solid, and I’m glad.

“Hey, guys,” he says and nods at them. “Does anyone want a drink?”

Greetings are exchanged while Sebastian gets everyone a drink. Gabriel and Ariana sit next to each other on the sofa, and I sit next to them while Hayden sits in an armchair. Sebastian hands out the drinks, then sits in another armchair.

By the time we finish the first round of drinks, everyone is talking amicably, and Sebastian has even smiled at Ariana a couple of times. I’m glad everything seems to be getting back to normal for us all.

My phone starts vibrating and playing a chime as the alarm goes off.

“Heather should be out of the rehearsal,” I tell them with a big grin on my face when everyone looks at me.

I dial her number and it rings a couple of times before she answers, “Hi, honey, how are you doing?”

Just the sound of her voice makes me feel at peace, but I can hear the tension in it.

“Good, angel. Are you nervous?” I ask her, already knowing the answer.

“Not as much now that I’m talking to you,” she tells me.

I smile at her words, glad that I’ve been able to help calm her down by calling her.

“What time are you guys leaving for the event?”

“It starts at seven, and it’s just downstairs, so we’re all chilling and waiting to head down,” I tell her, wishing that she was with me, even though I know that doing the show is going to be great exposure for her.

“Hi, lover! You’re going to be the sexiest cameo that SNL has ever had!” Sebastian calls out and I grin at him.

Heather laughs and asks me, “Am I on speaker?”

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