Page 18 of Fortuity

“We’re both seniors at Southeastern Florida State,” Dillon answered. When I glanced at him, he gave me a small shake of his head. I figured he didn’t want me to mention his mom was the one getting all the donations for the foster kids who were also students at our school. The kids already knew about it, but I hadn’t mentioned the name of the woman behind it all so he was clear on that front. I understood his desire to keep that fact to himself, and I gave himanod.

“And Dillon is a genius at math, so I thought he could work with those of you who need some help in that area onSATprep.”

A chorus of groans echoed around the room, the usual response to the mention of anything relatedtomath.

“Hey, now,” Dillon chided. “Math isn’tthatbad.”

“Good luck convincing them of that,” I laughed before getting him setup at a table with the group of students who were scheduled to take the SAT next month. Then I joined the other kids and looked over the progress they’d made on their college applications. It took about an hour to answer all their questions and work through any issues they had. After I sent them on their way, I walked over to where Dillon was still working with the othergroup.

“Thanks for the help, man. You should be a teacher or something. I learned more in an hour with you than I did all year long in math class,” Ian told Dillon as he shoved his stuff into his backpack. He was a basketball player who hadn’t gotten a scholarship to a division one or two team and thought that meant he had no chance at a college education. Now that he knew he could get his tuition covered by the state, he was hoping to get accepted to at least a DIII team so he could get some time on the court while he earned his degree. “But I still gotta say it; I don’t see how any of it relates back toreallife.”

“C’mon, dude. You said you play basketball,right?”

“Yeah.”

“You might not realize it, but you use a ton of geometric concepts while playing the game.” Dillon leaned forward, his dark eyes gleaming with excitement. “The dimensions of the court, diameter of the hoop and ball, and length from the three-point line to the hoop are all standard measurements for any basketball court. Then there’s the path the basketball will take when you take a shot, which is dependent on the angle at which it’s shot, the force applied, and the length of the player’s arms. Geometric principles are why you need a smaller angle when you shoot from the free throw line than a field goal. And statistics are essential for analyzing a game and determining individual strengths andweaknesses.”

“I love basketball, but it ain’t exactly real life unless you’re drafted into the NBA and making millions,” Ianpointedout.

“Are you still gonna play, even if you never getdrafted?”

“Hell yeah, I am. My foster mom likes to joke that I was born with a basketball in my hand, and I’ll probably be buried with one in it too.” Ian chuckled, shakinghishead.

“Then it’s real lifeforyou.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But that’sjustme.”

“Okay. But if you look hard enough, you’ll probably be able to find math in most things. Take me for example.” I took a step closer, curious about what Dillon would choose to share with the kids about his personal life. “I’m a fan of blackjack, which is allaboutmath.”

He pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket and laid them face up on the table. “It’s based on conditional probabilities. What you’ve already seen affects what you’re going to see. If an ace is dealt, that’s one less available.” He pulled an ace out of the deck and set it to the side. “Knowing how the cards are going to be dealt works to a player’s advantage because asking for a card is one of the only decisions that’s entirely up to us. But the dealer doesn’t have the same freedom. They have to take one if the total of their cards is below seventeen, and they can’t take one if it’s between seventeen and twenty-one. So lower value cards favor the dealer because it’s less likely they’ll bust.” He pulled out an assortment of twos, threes, and fours. “The opposite is true for picture cards. They favor the player because the more of them left in the deck, the more chances there are for the dealertobust.”

Ian asked the question I figured we were all thinking. “Dude. Are you talking about countingcards?”

Dillon shrugged his shoulders, shuffling the cards together before putting them back in his pocket. “Unless you have a photographic memory, you can’t count all the cards because casinos typically use six to eight decks at a time. But some players develop techniques to help them keep track, and they use math to do that too. They might keep a running tally by assigning a value every time they see a card. Plus one for cards two through six. Minus one for picture cards, aces and tens. No change for seven through nine. A high tally would favor the player because it means more face cards remain than lower value ones, and they’ll place their betsaccordingly.”

“Okay.” I walked around the table and placed my hands on Dillon’s shoulders, absently noting how muscular they were. “I think that’s enough math lessons fortoday.”

Dillon twisted his neck and flashed me an apologetic grin over his shoulder. Unwanted butterflies swirled in my belly, and I quickly yanked my hands away from his shoulders and took a step backwards. His eyes flashed with male satisfaction and his grin grew wider. Determined to ignore the impact he had on me, I shifted my focus to the students. “Your test date is coming fast, so you’ll need to squeeze in as much extra study time as you can without neglecting your regular coursework. Maybe set aside some time during Thanksgiving break when you don’t have as muchhomework.”

“Ugh. Studying over break sucks,” one of the girlscomplained.

“Yeah, but you guys are in the homestretch. This test score is one of the last things you need to get into college. Trust me, it’ll be worth the extraeffort.”

“I guess if you could get into college while recovering from a transplant, then the least I can do is a little bit of studying over a holiday break that isn’t even that big of a deal since I don’t have a family to celebrate it withanyway.”

The other kids nodded in agreement, and I snuck a peek at Dillon while everyone finished packing up. His brown eyes were wide with shock. I quickly looked away before he could ask me anything, and focused on saying my goodbyes as the kids all headed out. We both kept quiet—for which I was incredibly grateful—as Dillon helped me clean up the room. When we were back on the road, I turned to him and asked, "Were you really teaching my kids how to countcards?”

His lips tilted up at the edges. “Maybe just alittle.”

“It’s a good thing none of them have any money to gamble or else they might learn to enjoy blackjack as much as you do.” His lip tilt turned into a full-fledged grin, and I glared at him. “I don’t know why you’re grinning at me! Look at what your affinity for gamblinggotyou.”

“What?” He pointed at his face. “Theblackeye?”

“Yeah, forstarters.”

His grin grew into a blinding smile. “It wasworthit.”

“What?Why?”

“Because it’s the reason Imetyou.”

Shit.Those damn butterflies took flight in my stomachagain.

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