Page 36 of Ace of Spades

I stack a few chips just to have something to do with my hands.

“Yeah, and she’s—” Joey licks his finger and touches his hip with a dramatic sizzle. “Hot.”

Kim rolls her eyes and Carter stops dealing completely and stares at me.

“Wait… this isn’t the girl from Halloween, is it?. The one who slashed Jeremy Briggs’ Audi tires?”

I don’t answer.

Carter laughs, tossing his cards on the table.

“Oh shit. Sheishot.”

“Enough,” I snap. “She’s Brody’s daughter.”

“Good for King. Her mom must be a smoke show,” Carter says, unbothered, as he starts dealing again.

“That’s what I said,” Joey adds with a grin.

Neither of them have any idea about the girl in question or that she no longer has a mom.

“I said enough.” I glance around the table. “We playing poker or chatting like the local book club?”

“I happen tolovethe local book club,” Benji says, setting down the tray of rum shots. “This month, they’re reading a steamy little pirate number written by someone from the island.”

Kim perks up. “A local?”

“A local,” he confirms, nodding like it’s a secret worth keeping.

He slides everyone but me a shot.

Carter smirks. “Think she’s one of King’s past conquests too? This author?”

“Wouldn’t put it past him. The man might have a limp but it just gives him more swag.”

Joey rises.

“To Brody King, and his swagger that never quits,” Carter lifts his shot and the rest of the crew clink theirs before hitting the table and shooting them back.

Joey gets up, after slamming his empty glass down.

“I’m grabbing a beer. Anyone want anything?”

I shake my head, muttering, “Playing poker with this crew is like herding wild ferrets that had too much to drink.”

“Wild drunk ferrets are the best kind of ferrets,” Joey says, tipping his ballcap. “So I’ll take that as a no?”

“No.” I motion to my soda, then flick a loose chip toward the pot.

Joey grins. “That’s right. Sober Steele. How about you, drunkard Steele?”

Carter salutes. “I’ll never turn down a hoppy beverage.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” Joey says, and slips out.

"Is he even legal yet?" I utter to Benji, now sitting next to me.

"Turned twenty-two this summer," Benji says. “But don’t worry. I’ve got my eye on him.”

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