Page 30 of Cool for the Summer

“You’re sweet,” Kingston says, pulling me into a half-hug. “I like you, Beckett.”

“You know, he goes by Beck.” Donovan leans in the doorway, hand on his hip, looking at where Kingston’s arm is wrapped around my shoulder.

“Oh, pardon me.” Kingston grins at Donovan and then turns to me and bows exaggeratedly. “Forgive me, youngBeck.” He picks up the pile of silverware and flounces out of the room.

“Nothing to forgive,” I say to his back, shoving the napkins at Donovan since he’s just standing there staring at me. How long was he listening to us? I pick up the stack of plates. “Let’s go eat.”

TWELVE

DONOVAN

“The game,in honor of my new friend Beckett—sorry,Beck,” Kingston says with a nod in my direction, “is Texas Hold ‘Em. Ante up.” He gets Beck to cut and deals each of us two cards.

I glance at Sergio to my right, who looks a little lost. “Put a chip in the pot. Price of admission to play.”

“Right,” he says, following my lead and dropping a chip in the center of the table. “I’m not really a poker player.”

“We’ll talk you through it,” Kingston says cheerfully. He’s to my left, which means Beck is across the table from me. He takes a brief glance at his cards, but his face doesn’t change. Which is weird. I’ve gotten to know a lot of Beck’s expressions over the past week. He doesn’t usually hide how he’s feeling, but maybe he has something else on his mind.

Kingston lays the first card face up on the table. “Beck bets first.”

“Check,” Beck says calmly.

“What’s that?” Sergio asks.

“We’re just getting warmed up, so you can say check,” Kingston explains.

“Check,” he says obediently.

I look at my cards for the first time. Ace of diamonds and four of clubs, with a king of hearts on the table. “Check.”

“And I check,” Kingston says. He lays the ten of diamonds next to the king.

We all check again. The third card Kingston lays down is the ace of spades. Now we’re talking. I’ve got a pair of aces, which isn’t amazing, but it’s better than nothing. Beck drops two chips into the pot.

While Kingston explains to Sergio what his options are, I watch Beck. He’s ostensibly paying attention to the action on the table, but again he seems subdued. I wonder if Kingston said something to upset him when they were in the kitchen earlier? I went in search of the plates in time to see Kingston putting his arm around Beck and call him sweet. Was that some kind of pass?

Dinner before the game was friendly enough, with Beck asking Sergio all sorts of questions about the house he’s putting up for sale. Beck seemed particularly interested in getting real estate agent recommendations from both Kingston and Sergio. Which seems strange.

“You know what? I fold,” Sergio says. I tune back into Beck laughing lightly and realize this is going to be a long game if we have to hold Sergio’s hand through every play.

“I’m in,” I say, because why not? We’re not playing for real money. I’m a decent player, but I know Kingston takes his game pretty seriously. We’ll all stay friends if it’s just for fun.

“I will stay in as well,” Kingston says, matching Beck’s bet. We get a four of hearts on the turn. Now I have two pair. Beck studies me for a moment before he starts off with five chips. He could have pocket pairs of something on the table and beat me with three of a kind, but what do I have to lose? I stay in. Kingston looks at his cards and considers for a moment, then folds.

The river card is the two of diamonds, which is no help. Beck stays steady, dropping five chips in the pot. I’ve gone this far, so I call. “Let’s see what you got.”

“Oh, just a straight,” Beck says modestly, showing me his queen of spades and jack of hearts. Matching up with the ace, king, and ten, he’s got my two pair beat handily.

“That’s a good hand, right?” Sergio says.

I laugh. “I’ll say. Beats me.” I reveal my ace and four while Beck rakes in his chips. “Nice job.”

He grins. “You, too. Thanks for staying in.”

Kingston hoots. “This is going to be a more interesting game than I thought. I should have known you’d be a ringer.”

“Lots of hot summer days growing up in Texas—we had to pass the time somehow,” Beck says with a shrug.

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