Page 52 of Chips & Checks
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An hour later, Viktor has lost every hand of cards he’s played. He’s holding most of the cards out of four combined decks.
“You guys are cheating,” he grumbles.
“Yup,” Knova deadpans. “That’s the only possible explanation.”
Cam gets to his feet. “Okay, this is too pathetic. I’m leaving before I have to watch Viktor make any more of an ass of himself.”
Viktor whines, but he allows Knova to drag him upright. In ones and twos, people start clearing out. It’s almost midnight when I can finally collapse onto the couch, with only Violet for company.
“What a night,” I groan.
“It was fun, though. I haven’t spent time with the group outside of work in a while. I should do that more often.” Violet moves around the room, collecting paper plates and glassware.
“Hey.” I bend my knees to make room for her on the sofa. “Come sit with me.”
“No, no, I should get home. And I don’t want to leave you with a mess.” She carries an armload of empty glasses to the kitchen.
“Just for a minute. I’m an adult. I can clean up. You’re still a guest, you know?”
Violet returns to the living room and scrutinizes the empty end of the couch. “Just for a minute,” she decides.
She sits down. As the cushions give way beneath her, I wish there was a casual way to turn around and lay my head in her lap. I’d like to feel her fingers in my hair. Or maybe she could curl up against me. I bet she’d make a great little spoon.
Violet looks like she wants to say something, but she’s not sure what that would be. A chime from her phone distracts her. When she reads the message, she grimaces.
I scoot back against the armrest until I’m partially upright. “What’s wrong?”
“Fucking Chad.” She rubs her forehead. “Apparently, he’s knocking on my front door, and he wants to know why I haven’t answered.”
I jolt forward. “Of yourcondo?”
“Yeah. He was in the car when Viktor dropped me off after work one time. My car was in the shop, and…” She shrugs.
“Tell him you’re with me,” I blurt.
Violet bites her bottom lip and closes her screen. “I don’t owe him an explanation.”
“No, but isn’t this the whole point of our fake-dating ruse? This is why we’re letting everyone see us together, right?” I wish I could call the cops on Chad right now, but I know that no charges would ever stick. They never do, especially to a guy like Chad, until something actuallyhappens.Maybe not even then.
“Should I tell him I’m spending the night?” Violet asked.
I should say no. I should tell her to lie, to say she’s crashing at Knova’s or with her mom or anywhere that doesn’t involve me. But the thought of her going home alone—of her locked in that condo while he’s out there, watching, waiting—makes my skin itch and my heart seize. And worse? The idea of her choosing to stay with me flips a switch I’m not ready to deal with. Because I want it. Not just for safety, but for me. I want to wake up with her hair on my pillow. I want to hear her voice in my kitchen. I want to pretend, just for a night, that this is real. That she’s mine. And that’s a dangerous fucking want.
“I mean, I do have a spare room.”
She chuckles and tucks a shining curl of her lustrous chestnut hair behind one ear. “Would you really make me sleep alone?”
I suck in a breath as a bolt of arousal shoots through me. “Of course not.”
Violet sets her phone aside. I have no idea if she actually texted Chad, and at this point, I don’t care. I sit up and let one leg drape off the edge of the couch so that I can reach out and cradle Violet’s face between my hands. Her eyelashes flutter as I bend forward and press my lips to hers.
The smallest sigh escapes her as she melts into my touch. Her lips part for me. She grabs the front of my shirt in her fists and holds on tight.
I love how her body remembers my touch. I love how she sucks in a breath whenever I touch her just the way she likes. I love—
No, Ienjoythose things. I pull back from the kiss and take a moment to catch my breath. This is just attraction. I’m good at keeping emotions and physical desire safely compartmentalized. Or at least, I used to be.
