Page 7 of Fear of Intimacy

“I am not standing up.” I said.

“You’re hiding cards under you, I know it.” He reached for me again. I slapped his hand once more and shook my head.

“You just can’t stand losing.” I reached for the stack of cards on the little table dividing us.

“I can handle losing perfectly fine,” Trevor retorted, making me snort.Yeah, right.

We’d been on the airplane for six hours already, even though it already felt like ten. Being in first class was definitely better than being in coach, though. Instead of being stuck in a small chair surrounded by people, I was seated in a pretty roomie area that offered more space to recline than I could imagine.

The first five hours weren’t bad. We all had seats by each other so we could easily talk. I spent most of that time talking to Josie and Mila while Lydia slept. Almost the entire time Trevor kept prodding me to play cards with him. Every few minutes, he would poke my arm or interrupt my conversation with the others until I finally agreed.

So now, an hour later, we were playing our seventh round of blackjack. I'd won six of those seven, much to Trevor’s dismay. With each hand I won, he grew more and more suspicious that I was cheating. Wasn’t my fault he just sucked…and had a horrible poker face. Every time he had a bad hand, the corner of his mouth would twitch. When he had a good hand, his fingers would tap the cards. It made him all too easy to read.

“We can play something else,” I offered, although I had no problem kicking his ass some more. I bet he was happy Ideclined putting money on the table. If I had, I would have quite the stash now.

“One more round,” he all but demanded.

“Fine by me.” I smirked, shuffling the cards in my hands.

“How did you get so good at cards?” Trevor asked, his eyes watching me shuffle. It was odd but the act of manipulating the cards soothed me. The sound, the feel of them in my hands.

“I had a lot of time when I was younger,” I answered. Trevor sat there waiting for me to continue. “My parents weren’t around much when I was little, and there was only so much TV or reading I could take. So, I learned how to play cards,” I said with a shrug.

“You played by yourself?”

“Yeah.” I avoided his gaze, knowing how pathetic it sounded.

I really didn’t have the right to complain or do the whole“woe is me”thingbecause my parents weren’t around. I still had everything I needed. Instead of giving me their time, though, my parents gave me everything else. Everything from the newest toys to a brand new car.

“Shitty parents are the worst.” Trevor’s response had my snapping my head up. He was looking at me with a knowing expression, like he knew what I was talking about. I opened my mouth to say something, but he stopped me. “What are we playing this time?”

He was changing the subject, and I found myself all too grateful for it. I didn’t like talking about my family, and by the sound of it, neither did Trevor. With the corner of my mouth tilted up, I shuffled the cards one last time and dealt them out.

Looked like Trevor and I had something in common after all.

“Can I get you anything?”the same voice that was just there five minutes ago asked. I resisted an eye roll. The same flight attendant had come by our seats at least three times in the last twenty minutes. Each time asking only Trevor if he needed anything while ignoring me completely.

“I’m alright, thank you,” Trevor politely declined.

“Just give me a wave if you do.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw her place her hand on his arm and give it a squeeze. The flight attendant slowly let go and walked away, but I knew she was still staring at Trevor. Once she was out of hearing range, I snorted into my book.

“What?”

“Nothing.” I kept my gaze on the book in my hands.

“Nuh-uh, you snorted. Why?”

I put my book down and glanced over the divider at him. “Are you blind?” The look he sent me had me holding back a laugh. “The flight attendant is flirting with you.”

“She’s doing her job.” He shook his head.

“Yeah, cause asking someone if they need anythingfourtimes is her job.”

“In case you didn’t know, I am quite a big deal around here.” He puffed his chest out and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“Known as the biggest dork? Yeah.”

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