Page 31 of Hell or High Water

“Yep,” Than replied.

“Fucker,” Gathe muttered. “Well, at least your pockets are padded. You’re gonna need it.”

Than divvyed out the cereal pieces, and I thought about asking for some, but decided to wait. I kept my hand, although it wasn’t a good one, and Than won with two aces, king high. The next hand I also kept and could have won, but Gathe had a full house. I folded two aces the third hand, sliding my cards to Gathe face down.

After I watched Than win five hands and Gathe win three, I decided to join the betting.

“Can I have some of the, uh, chips, please?” I asked Than, who had the box of cereal beside him.

His brows drew together. “No.”

Sighing, I glanced at Gathe and smiled. “I think I’m ready to bet, and I have more money in the room.”

Gathe looked torn. He didn’t want to tell me no, but since I’d lost every hand so far, he didn’t want me losing money.

“Don’t look at him. He needs money, and he’ll take yours,” Than warned me.

Gathe shot him an annoyed glare. “Shut up.”

“Just a couple of hands?” I asked. “It looks fun.”

Than stared at me, then grabbed the box and poured some out. “You can bet, but I’m not taking your money.”

I smiled at him, and he paused for a moment as he looked at me. Then he blinked and jerked his gaze off me and back to the box of cereal.

What had that been all about? It had been weird.

“I won’t take your money either,” Gathe told me, leaning closer. “Just his.”

“If I lose a hand, then it’s only fair if you do.”

Gathe winced. “Yeah, well, we’ve been placing some steep bets.”

I was aware. I had been paying close attention. They used the yellow pieces more than any other piece.

Than slid over my allotment of cereal. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” I told him, and he gave me a small nod.

“All right. Still no big or little. Just betting before the flop,” Gathe said.

“He means that no one will be designated to bet. We will all bet before we see the first three cards on the table,” Than explained.

“Okay,” I replied.

Gathe dealt out our first three cards, and I looked at mine, then waited.

“Than was first bet last hand. You start this one,” Gathe told me.

I studied my pieces of cereal, then took a yellow one and put it in the middle before looking at both of them. “Y’all seemed to always use this one to start.”

Gathe chuckled. “All right, big spender,” he said.

He put a yellow piece with mine, and then Than placed his.

“You’d better hope those dimples can keep him from taking your money,” Than drawled.

I looked over at him. “If I’m a six, then I doubt my dimples will do much good.”

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