I blink several times then look to Penn. His lips twitch in what might be his attempt at a smile. “Your turn to deal.”
“Right.” I clear my throat and glare at D-Low, who has started chuckling under his breath. “Me and you, shoot-out before practice tomorrow.”
“Why wait?” He tips his head to the corner of the basement where a hockey net is pushed against the wall. “I’ll beat you now.”
“Let’s finish one beating before we start another,” Penn suggests.
“There’s no beating. I’m about to have a comeback.” I deal the cards and scoot my chair closer to Hannah. I lower my voice and speak close to her ear. Her hair tickles my nose. “Please tell me you’re good at poker?”
Her laughter has me swallowing another dozen butterflies.
“I’ve only ever played strip poker, but I did manage to keep my panties and socks.”
She’s fucking with me, I think, but it has my pulse racing. “Good to know.”
When Ruby returns with the champagne, Hannah passes. “No thanks.”
“Worried about losing control around me?” I tease.
“I have to be at the gym early tomorrow,” she says.
“It’s okay. I know living with me must be torture. I’ll try to be less irresistible.”
More of that sweet laughter.
“You’re actually a pretty good roommate,” she says as I deal the cards out.
That pleases me more than it should probably. “You too.”
We’re staring at each other and smiling when the other guys start tossing in their chips. The sound brings me back to the game.
“All right, roomie. Let’s see if you’re any good at poker without the fear of disrobement.”
It takes only two hands for me to determine that Hannah is as unlucky as I am. I refuse to think of myself as bad at anything, so it has to be chance.
“I’m sorry. I really thought we had it this time,” she says as Penn rakes in the pot—including all that remained of our chips. We bet big and lost bigger.
“Nah, don’t be. I haven’t won a game in…”
“Nine months, at least,” D-Low fills in for me. He’s so helpful.
“I don’t like social games where you have to spend the entire time strategizing. I inevitably get caught up in conversations and forget what I’m doing,” she says.
“Right?” I never could have put it into words but it’s exactly how I feel. “Thank you. Yes. If I wanted to strategize and do mental math, I could have stayed home and finally cracked open my high school calculus book.”
Her smile stretches higher. She gets this cute little line on the right side when her lips pull up high enough. Without thinking, I reach out and drag my thumb along the spot.
She freezes. “Do I have something on my face?”
“No.” Slowly, and with some effort, I let my hand fall away. “Should we leave them to it and find something less mentally stimulating?”
“Oh, no,” Ruby protests. “I was promised answers to all my questions.”
“Did I promise that?” I lean back in my chair and drape an arm along the back of Hannah’s chair. We’re done playing but she hasn’t moved her chair away from me.
“Yes, you did,” Ruby says pointedly.
“Fine. What do you want to know?”
