Ansel beams. “Does that mean I get to keep the money?”
I nod, and he reaches forward, collecting the giant pile of cash in the middle of the board. I watch his ass as he moves, my cock twitching in anticipation.
When he straightens, the money sitting near his side of the table, I see Dalton stand up and make his way over to us.
His hand extends in an offering, and Ansel shakes it.
“Good game,” Dalton says amiably, and the tone of his voice makes something inside of me sit up.
“You too,” Ansel replies, trying not to gloat. I wish he would. I wish he’d put my brother in his place. Then, he does just that. “Even trying to cheat, I still kicked your ass.”
A laugh explodes out of me, and Dalton frowns.
“I wasn’t cheating,” he protests, but Ansel just raises an eyebrow in disbelief. I told him to be wary, and he was. Not many of us actually catch Dalton sneaking cards or cash off the table, but we have a few times. We know how he works.
“Give him his bracelet back, Dalton,” I grunt warningly.
Ansel blinks down at his bare wrist. “Wait, did you just take that off of me?”
Dalton sighs, pulling it from his pocket and putting it in Ansel’s palm. “I would never do that. It just slipped off.”
Ansel glances at it and fastens it back on his wrist. “I didn’t even notice.” He runs his fingers along the bracelet and then meets Dalton’s eyes. “Can you teach me how to do that?”
Dalton perks up slightly. “Sure can. Let me know when and where.”
Ansel looks positively giddy at the thought and talks about it the entire way back to our room, the cash cradled in his hands, his mouth moving a mile a minute.
“Do you think Harley is going to need to go to the doctor for swallowing the iron?”
“Nah, he’s done shit like that before—pun intended. It comes out one way or another. He’ll be fine.”
“Samson won’t be though, will he?”
“No, he’ll never look at the iron the same way.”
Ansel giggles, and the sound makes something flutter inside of me. “Oh, and tell me all the tea about Dalton and Jackson. There’s something going on, I just know it.”
I hum. “Maybe something’s up on Jackson’s end, but Dalton isn’t into him. He likes older men.”
Ansel sighs. “Well, poor Jackson then. How tragic.”
“He’ll get over it. He’s young. There are many fish in the sea.”
Ansel peers up at me, happiness in his gaze. “There are so many fish, but when you find the right one…”
I lean down and kiss him fiercely, claiming him with my tongue. When we finally break apart, Ansel seems almost dazed.
“You made me forget what I was going to say,” he murmurs, running his tongue along his teeth. “Oh yes. Matthias and Wyatt. They seem so romantic, so in love. I saw it at dinner, but tonight it was almost palpable.”
I push the door to the bedroom open. “They are obsessed witheach other. It was a long time coming too, but they finally found their way back to each other.”
Took a fake marriage and a breakup to get there, but I don’t go into all that now. It’s not my story to tell.
Ansel sets the money on the dresser with a small chuckle. “I still can’t believe you play Monopoly with real money.”
“Sometimes we do. Tonight, you got lucky.”
He eyes me coyly. “Am I going to get lucky in another way tonight?”
