“I predict Max will fold very quickly,” Sophie says.
Joe scowls.
Sophie is right. Max folds before I do, which is highly suspicious and earns him lots of groans and eye rolls. However, Joe doesn’t win because it turns out that Addy has a killer hand. It’s unfortunate for Joe because he was so confident in his win that he’d gone all in. He doesn’t have a single chip left, and Addy has a small mountain.
“Cheaters never win,” Sophie says.
“I didn’t cheat!” Joe protests.
Stephen grabs Max’s cards. Max tries to stop him, but Stephen is faster.
“You could have won with these!” Stephen says, revealing them to us all.
Max shrugs. “What can I say? Joe made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Stephen grabs a handful of popcorn and throws it at them both. “Cheats!”
Soon, everyone is laughing, and there’s a lot of popcorn on the floor.
“Are you going to shuffle the cards, Fitzy?” Joe asks as if this is allmyfault instead of his.
To be fair, it made a change for Joe to be the one getting teased rather than me, plus he deserves it.
We play until around midnight and then call it a night. As usual, Addy and I end up on the sofa. Not that I mind. Instead of immediately spooning, I lie facing Addy. He wraps his strong arms around me so there’s no chance of me falling off.
“I’m sorry if my family is a bit much,” I say.
“They’re amusing.”
“You were kind of quiet.”
Addy arches an eyebrow. “I’m always quiet unless it’s just the two of us.”
I kiss him tenderly and then snuggle against his chest. “I can’t believe Joe tried to cheat.”
“I wonder what he promised Max.”
“I’m not sure I want to know.”
Addy shrugs. “They could probably give us some pointers,” he muses.
“Max already has. Sort of. I talked to him when he helped me out at the shop last week. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not.” Addy kisses my hair.
He rolls onto his back and pulls me on top of him. His hands come to rest on my back. It’s a nice place to be, although I’ve come to realise over the last two weeks that I prefer him on top of me. He really is like a calming weighted blanket. I kiss him and stroke my fingers through his beard.
“Did Max suggest anything fun?” Addy asks.
My cheeks heat up. “Frotting.”
“Thatisfun. Anything else?”
“One of us sliding our cock between the other one’s thighs or…” I bite my lip.
“Or?”
“Arse cheeks.”
