Page 21 of Gambler's Fallacy

“I’m old enough to be in here legally,” Seven says, also sounding irritated. “And I’m old enough to be dating your brother.”

“Of course, of course. Like I said, I don’t care. I only worry for my brother. I don’t want him to land in jail because of a misunderstanding!” Connie turns her attention to me. “I guess now I know why you were too busy to take my calls lately.”

“Connie, can we have this discussion later?” I ask, squeezing Seven like he’s my emotional support. “We’re almost done eating. Do you want dessert? Seven? They have great churros here.”

“Oh, I don’t want to impose. But you’ll send me the thirty-five hundred?” Connie gives me a dazzling smile.

“You said three k,” I tell her, scowling back at her.

“No, I’m pretty sure I said thirty-five hundred.” Connie meets my gaze, and I know how this will play out. She’s not leaving without her money, and she won’t hesitate to pull out the big guns in front of Seven.

“All right,” I tell her, pulling out my phone so I can get to my bank app. “But Connie… This is it. Okay? After this, we talk about the casino job?”

Seven looks between the two of us, brows slightly raised, but he doesn’t interrupt.

“There’s nothing to talk about! My business will be booming.” Connie gets up and kisses my cheek. “Thank you, Sebby. I love you!”

I get up so I can hug her. “Yeah, you too,” I say. “Good luck, Connie.”

“You too?” Seven repeats after she walks away.

I give him a look. “What?”

“You don’t say, ‘I love you too’ or whatever?” he asks.

My cheeks heat up again. “She knows what I mean.”

“You sure you’re not just too manly to tell her you love her?” Seven needles me.

“It has nothing to do with being manly,” I reply. “Now what are you doing down here?”

“I got bored,” Seven says.

“How did you even find me?” I ask, then shake my head. “Never mind. Did you want dessert?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t wanna get fat.”

Blinking at him, I try to think about the last time I’d seen him eat dessert. It’s not something we talk about often, but I don’t think he’s ever asked for it. “You’re not going to get fat off a couple churros,” I say.

“Nah. Let’s go upstairs. You can tell me more about your sister.”

I wince, then get up. “No, that’s okay. I’ve talked enough about my sister for one day.”

“You haven’t talked much about her at all, actually,” Seven points out, getting up as well.

“I know,” I tell him, my voice sharper than I’d intended it to be.

Seven flinches, and he falls silent. “You don’t have to talk about her,” he says quietly.

On one hand, I know that if I ever want him to tell me about himself or his family, I need to share as well. But on the other hand… He wouldn’t understand.

“I think I told you she’s ten years younger than I am,” I say. “I’ve been taking care of her for a long time. She’s…” I try to figure out how to describe Connie to someone who doesn’t know her.

As much as I love her, she’s becoming a constant source of exasperation.

“Not very nice,” Seven mutters.

I stop in my tracks. It’s not that he’s wrong, but she’s still my little sister. “She didn’t mean anything by it,” I say defensively.

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