“Aye now. Don’t go picking favorites just yet, princess. You haven’t seen my handsome poker face.” Jamie raises a brow and tries making a sultry face, but it just sends a shiver up my spine in a slimy way.
“Welp.” Henry stands, blocking the others’ view of me. “Shall we go play some cards, gentlemen?”
“Are you in a hurry to be annihilated again, Donner?” Peter asks before tossing the rest of his drink back.
“I’m always interested in taking your daddy’s money.” Rollins smirks as he struggles out of his seat.
I see Henry’s fists clench at his sides, but he stays calm, like always, and leads everyone downstairs into the billiard room.
My eyes close, and I soak in the silence. I didn’t realize my heart was beating so fast until it was quiet enough to hear it. After a few deep breaths and sips of my drink, I feel clear-minded enough to get up.
Marta catches me as she comes out of the kitchen, offering an extra apron and a sweet smile. “I’m going to make some cookies. Do you want to help?”
I’m elated. I’ve spent enough time in my room today, and I wasn’t the least bit tired.
We spend the next couple of hours mixing batter, rolling out dough, and shaping cookies. The house is filled with the aroma of freshly baked cookies—probably more than anyone can eat—and I only have a dusting of flour on the side of my dress. Impressive.
After eating a cookie—or four—I shed my apron, dust myself off, and head downstairs to see how the game is going.
The air has a smoky haze to it as I enter the room. Henry’s resting his head in both of his hands as Baylor throws his cards down on the table, folding.
Rollins lets out a deep belly laugh as Henry quickly turns over his cards like he’s ripping off a Band-Aid.
“Fuck,” Henry shouts.
“Maybe you should go back to playing Go Fish, boy,” Rollins quips as he rounds up the chips in the pot.
Luke must be dealing because he starts shuffling the deck for a new game.
“I almost had you,” Jesse says, shaking his head. “I think I’m out, guys.”
I see the defeat on Henry’s face and decide to have some fun.
“Hello, boys.” I saunter over to the round wooden table. “Who’s winning?” I bat my eyes at Rollins, already knowing the answer from the massive pile of chips in front of him.
Rollins raises his chin. “That’d be me, sweetheart.”
Baylor swivels his head to look at me, and I do my best to ignore him. Something tells me he’s not going to like this.
“You want a drink, Aspen?” Jesse offers.
“Please,” I reply, looking around the table to see how everyone is doing.
Jamie and Baylor seem to be doing okay but have nearly half of what Rollins has. Peter runs his fingers through his last stack of chips but looks to be pretty optimistic. And Henry is almost out.
“Hey, princess!” Jamie waves a hand at me. “Bring that ass over here so I can rub it for good luck.”
I watch the muscles in Baylor’s bicep flex beneath his shirt.
The chair behind me creaks before a smack ensues.
Baylor is out of his chair before I even feel the fire on my ass cheek.
I have to bite back the instinct to give Peter the same sting across his face tenfold. Though, from the looks of it, Baylor has plans to do much worse to my assailant.
I crane my head and look at Peter. He has his hands in the air, like Baylor has a weapon drawn on him.
“Oh, come on. He’s just a little drunk and having some fun.” The cigar in Rollins’s mouth bobs as he speaks.
