His glare gets more intense. “I need some sleep.”
“You didn’t need to wait up for me.”
Our eyes remain locked for some time, almost as if he’s debating if he should say anything else. Finally, he shakes his head. “I know I didn’t.” And then he walks down the hall and shuts his door softly behind him, making me wonder how a night of fun turned into a night of me feeling more unsettled than before.
Chapter 9
Henley
Blackjack and a Heart Tattoo
“Hell yeah! Twenty-one, baby!” Fletcher lifts his hands in the air after Rhonan deals a five, making his cards total the magic number you want to see in a game of blackjack.
Elliot grunts, draining his third beer before reaching for a fresh one. “At least someone is getting lucky tonight.”
Fletcher bounces his eyebrows up and down. “Oh, I’ll be getting lucky in more than just blackjack, man.”
Rhonan glares at him. “Please refrain from making any innuendos about your extracurricular activities with my sister. You know the rules.”
I stifle my laugh behind my hand as Fletcher tsks. “Sorry man,but it’s true.”
“Again, at least one of us is getting lucky,” Elliot grumbles as Rhonan cleans up the cards on the table and passes the deck to Elliot for his turn to deal.
It’s a Tuesday night, which is why Fletcher is back in town for a few days, and his request was a night of blackjack to catch up. The NFL season is underway, so there will be few times between now and February for him to venture to Blossom Peak for more than a day or two.
My boys and I became obsessed with the game after Rhonan’s dad showed us the movie 21 with Kevin Spacey. He played a college professor that recruited genius students of his to count cards and run a ring that traveled to Vegas, winning a shitload of money. We never planned on developing our own card counting group, but we still learned how to play the game and have done so since we were in high school. Now our games are few and far between, but we still make it a point to play when we can.
Elliot, Rhonan, and I share a look because we’re all still single.
“You’re telling me you haven’t been out trying to drown your sorrows in women instead of booze?” Fletcher asks Elliot.
Elliot’s eyes drop to the table. “I can’t yet…”
Rhonan rubs his shoulder. “Take your time, man. Ellis was almost three before I finally felt like I could stand the idea of sleeping with someone that wasn’t my wife, and it still took me six months after that before I finally did.”
“I fucking hate her,” Elliot grates out. “She ripped my fucking heart out—”
“Tori was not the person you were supposed to be with,” Fletcher says, cutting him off. “Because if she were, she never would have gotten involved with you while she was in a relationship with her boss.”
“I just can’t believe I didn’t see it.”
“People can be blind when feelings are involved,” I say.
“Are you talking about you and the way you look at your nanny, or Elliot?” Rhonan’s knowing smirk irritates me instantly.
“Fuck you.”
“No thank you. I’m partial to women.”
Fletcher’s eyes bounce between all of us before landing on me. “What did I miss?”
Rhonan lifts his drink to his mouth as Elliot begins to deal the next hand of cards. “Henley has the hots for his new nanny but is too chicken shit to admit it.”
Fletcher raises one eyebrow at me. “Clark, is that true?”
“I don’t have the hots for her. I mean, is she attractive? Yes. But she’s also annoyingly cheerful and way too young for me. A few nights ago, she went out with Dilynne and didn’t come home until one in the morning.”
Fletcher’s brow creases. “Did you give her a curfew or something?”
