Page 7 of Big Balls
She drops my hand and flings herself at her father. “Daddy,” she squeals as he lifts her up and spins her in a circle.
Once they’ve had a minute to snuggle, I smile at a job well done and figure it’s time to head for the elevator and back to the cheap seats I belong in. I wave at Katy, where she’s tucked into the curve of her daddy’s shoulder.
“Wait,” she chirps, and gestures to me.
Ethan Alexander pulls her away from his ear and eyes me warily as I approach.
“What’s up, Katydid?” I give her my hand, and she grips onto it for dear life. Cute, but it’s time for me to go. I can tell by the way Big Balls is giving me that cold, suspicious look that I need to get out of here and let him have some space with his little girl.
“What about next time? Who’s going to help me then?” Her little bottom lip pokes out in a pout that cannot be resisted. I’m almost certain it’s actually physically impossible to say no to a face like that.
I reach into my purse and find the pad of notes, and hand it over to Katy. “You don’t need anyone else to help you. You are a self-rescuing princess.”
She beams up at me, pure sunshiney happiness pouring out of her face. “You’re the best, Auntie—” She pauses. “What’s your name again?”
Her infectious happiness causes my entire body to respond in kind, an easy smile spreading across my entire face. “I’m Zoe. Now you two take care.” I pull my hand out of her little pincer grasp then wave at them both, desperately trying to avoid Big Balls’s hard stare as I head down the hall.
Her little voice rings out as I round the corner, “Daddy, I didn’t know you have a girlfriend.”
I press my fist to my lips to stifle my response, something between a scream and a laugh. And yes, I am definitely telling this story to my friends as that one time when I was Ethan Alexander’s girlfriend for all of five minutes.
Even if they never believe me.
3
Ethan
My eyes slideto the men sitting around the table. Katy dangles from around my buddy Tate’s giant neck, giving him the most massive set of heart eyes a little kid like her can have.
“Check.” Sebastian purrs the word out then flashes a smile at Jackson.
Jackson’s extra toothy smile flashes at us. “I’ll raise.” He shoves a handful of poker chips toward the pot.
Tate sighs heavily. “What do you think, my little princess? Does Uncle Jackson have good cards, or is he just messing with me?”
Katy snuggles into the lion’s mane of his hair. “He’s bluffing if he’s putting up that many chips before the flop.”
My little card shark in training sends the entire room into laughter. Because here’s the thing: she may only be six, but she knows her poker better than most of the amateurs losing their moneyin Vegas right now.
Jackson wipes away a small tear from his face. “Don’t ever change, Katydid. You’re perfect just like this. But you’re also wrong. Betting aggressively is the modern way of playing. We can’t all be fuddy-duddies like your pops.”
Katy squints at him. “We can’t all be winners like my daddy, either. Especially when you’re trying to buy yourself a pot you won’t win otherwise. Right, Uncle Jackson?”
Tate guffaws, raises again, and tilts his chair back onto the rear two legs. “She just sold you out, brother. Are you sure you need another one like this in your life?”
I wince. Even for Mister Bitter Tate, that was beyond harsh. Everyone knows Jackson’s girlfriend broke up with him recently after more than two years of living together, and even if we all hated her for what she did to him, most people at least have the decency to pretend that the truly shitty exes never even existed.
Jackson’s face shutters. “No comment.”
Sebastian looks over at Tate then doubles the pot. A lazy smile curls its way across his mouth, and I can definitely see why he’s the heartbreaker out of all of us. The man is vicious, with a positively reptilian gaze, but somehow that undercurrent of smug superiority that accompanies everything he does suits him perfectly.
Jackson folds his hand and drops a few choice epithets.
“Hey,” I bark at him. “Language.” I point toward Katy, who is still dangling from Tate’s neck like a little spider monkey.
Tate snorts. Then he musses up Katy’s hair with one giant hand. “She’s heard worse.”
Katy nods, very unhelpfully. “Nana said she’s never met a young lady with a mouth like mine.”
