“Okay, boys, I think it’s time to make this interesting,” Steve said, but Taylor wasn’t really listening; his mind was on the dark-haired beauty he’d been unable to get out of his head since that morning. “Roy, I’ll see your ten and raise you another twenty to make it a nice round number.”
The sound of poker chips landing in the middle of the table filled the room, but he was busy brooding over the strange place he found himself in, so it didn’t register that it was his turn. “Hey Gordon, are you going to sit there the whole night staring at your cards, or are you going to play?” Steven demanded. “If the pot has gotten too rich for you, all you have to do is fold, just don’t keep us in suspense.”
The elbow that landed in his ribs a second later was enough to chase Emily Torres out of his mind, and he looked down, surprised to find only a small stack of poker chips in front of him. He almost groaned out loud when he saw the cards he was clutching in his hand, but managed to keep his face completely neutral as he tried to remember how he’d lost most of the money he’d come in with. When he realizedthe entire night had been a blur, it was clear that it was time to call it a night and retreat with his tail between his legs.
“You know, Steven, I think you might be right. The pot is a little rich for me tonight,” he said, slapping his cards face down on the table. “I’m going to sit the rest of this one out. I think I need some air.”
Leaving the rest of his chips behind on the table, he opened the sliding glass door that led to the backyard of Dakota’s house and stepped outside, closing it behind him. Wondering if he was losing his mind, he looked up at the stars; his fascination with Emily Torres was so unlike him. Until now, he’d always been completely in control when it came to women. But she’d found her way under his skin—the first woman who ever had—and he had no idea how to deal with it or how to extract her from his thoughts and dreams.
He was still contemplating the stars when he heard the door slide open and closed again. A few seconds later, Dakota stepped up next to him. “Hey kid, it’s been a rough night,” he said, then paused for a second. “You haven’t been yourself since you got here. It’s like you’re not all here. I wouldn’t normally say anything, but I like you. You remind me of myself when I was your age.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind, but it’s something I can handle,” he said. “Sorry my head wasn’t in the game tonight; it won’t happen again.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Dakota asked. “Sometimes it helps, and I’ve been around the block a few times, I might be able to help.”
Taylor’s first instinct was to politely thank Dakota and change the subject. He made it a practice not to let anyone but his fraternity brothers too close, but he realized in the next instant that this might be the opening he needed. Dakota couldbe his ticket into some of the bigger games, tables where the pot reached into the thousands of dollars instead of the measly hundreds like the games he’d been playing. His palms already itching when he thought about the zeros in his bank out stacking up, he decided it was time to take his friendship with Dakota to the next level and hoped in the process he’d create enough trust to get the invitation he so desperately needed.
“This has never happened to me before,” he said, with a bit of an exaggerated sigh. “My head is all messed up because of a woman, and it’s not like me at all, but I can’t get her off my mind. I can’t concentrate on anything else; it’s driving me crazy.”
Dakota looked over and smiled, then gave him a manly pat on the back. “I wondered if it was something like that,” he said, then shook his head. “Oh, to be young again, to feel with that much…”
“You don’t understand, this isn’t a good thing,” he interrupted. “I don’t want anything to do with this woman; she’s abrasive, stubborn, opinionated, and if that isn’t bad enough, she’s got to be at least three years older than me.”
“Oh, that does sound serious. An older woman can be a real handful,” Dakota said, a grin on his face, then saw the look on Taylor’s face. “Okay, I’m sorry, it’s just so much fun to tease you.”
“Glad I could entertain you,” he growled. “Guess there’s no good advice to go with it.”
Dakota was silent for a second, his face serious. “Well, let me see, if you haven’t slept with her, that might help,” he said, then looked over at Taylor, shaking his head vigorously. “If that’s not the answer, then I’d try to stay away from her or distract yourself with another woman, that works sometimes.”
He was a bit disappointed Dakota hadn’t come up withsomething better. “I don’t want a woman, period,” he said. “I’ll just have to stay away from her.”
“Now see, don’t you feel better?” Dakota said, slapping him on the back again. “Why don’t you come back inside and play a few more hands? I’d like to see you knock Steve on his butt; he’s been a pain all night.”
It was tempting, and he did feel better. “Okay, you’re on,” he said. “But I’m down to almost nothing. I may not be able to pull it off.”
“Kid, I’ve been watching you, you’re a natural,” Dakota said, his face serious again. “I think you could go professional with just a little more practice.”
The thought was tantalizing, and a smile spread across his face for the first time in days. “That’s a tempting picture, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “I would have to move up to higher stakes games. I don’t even know where to start making those kinds of connections.”
“How about you let me worry about that?” Dakota said, a big grin on his face.
***Emily***
Friday morning found Emily sitting next to Valerie waiting for class to start, dividing her time between watching the door and looking at the clock on the wall. Taylor hadn’t been to class all week, and she was starting to think that she was going to have to track him down to apologize and try to get on his good side. It wasn’t something she was looking forward to since she didn’t know how her body was going to react to him this time. If her dreams were any indication, she would have to figure out how to make herself immune to…well, she wasn’t sure what attracted her, only that it wasn’t his personality.
Just as the clock chimed the hour, both Taylor andProfessor Whitmore came rushing into the room, and she sighed in relief. “What’s wrong?” Valerie asked. “You’ve been acting weird all morning.”
“I’ve been waiting for Taylor to show up so I can apologize for acting like a jerk earlier this week,” she said. “I was afraid he wasn’t going to show up today.”
“You’re going to apologize?” Valerie asked, her eyes wide. “I haven’t known you for very long, but I have a feeling that’s not something you do very often. What brought this on?”
“I realized that I overreacted,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, unable to tell her new friend the truth so she didn’t break her cover. “Besides, there aren’t very many of us; I got to thinking it might not be a good idea to make enemies of my classmates.”
Valerie studied her for a second. “I guess that makes sense,” she finally said. “Can I come with you when you apologize? I’ve always wanted to talk to him.”
“He’s not a celebrity, he’s just a student like us,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And no, you can’t go; it’s going to be bad enough doing it. I don’t need an audience.”
Valerie opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Professor Whitmore started talking. “Well, isn’t this nice? We have a full class again,” he said, focusing on Taylor. I haven’t seen you in my office yet, Mr. Gordon, but the good news is there’s time after class.”
