Rollins and Baylor fold and Henry soon after.
“She’s got nothin’.” Jamie drops his eyes from me and glances at his hand for the fourteenth time.
Peter is getting worse at hiding his enthusiasm with each finger of bourbon he polishes off and makes his worst decision of the night. “I’m all in, fellas.”
Jamie shakes his head at his colleague and calls, pushing his tower of chips in with Peter’s.
The room is silent as they all wait for me to take the final move.
I call too.
Peter is already reaching for the money in the center of the table after Jamie lays down a lower hand than his, and then I lay down mine.
Peter freezes.
“This is good, right?” I tilt my head.
Henry eyes me with an amused expression on his face.
“Holy shit,” Jesse says.
“A ROYAL FUCKING FLUSH?” Luke erupts.
Jamie’s jaw nearly unhinges. “You had that this whole time?”
“You hustled us.” Baylor’s mouth tightens into a prideful grin.
“You bitch! You fucking bitch!” Peter points an angry finger at me.
“Aye! Watch it!” Baylor snaps.
Rollins slams a fist on the table. “Is this your idea of a good time, Donner? Bringing a shark to a friendly game of poker?”
“This hasn’t been a friendly game from the moment you all disrespected her,” Henry tells him.
Rollins scoffs. “I didn’t come here to be hustled by some blonde whore you dragged out here to pass around to all of your friends.”
Glasses clink behind the bar as Jesse shouts, “Hey!”
“Speak to her like that again, and I’ll rip your fucking tongue out,” Baylor snarls.
Henry gives Baylor a look.
Rollins laughs at what he thinks is a futile threat until Baylor rises from his seat. His ego slowly diminishes. “Fine. We’ll take our money and go. Don’t think I won’t fill your father in on this little trick you played, Donner.”
I’m torn between letting him go and finishing what I started.
“Are you saying I didn’t beat you fairly?” I ask teasingly.
Rollins pauses from his leave. “Don’t test me, girl. It wasn’t an honorable game, and you know it.”
“Why? Because you lost?”
He purses his lips. “Listen here, sweetheart. They call me King because I’m the king of poker. I don’t lose. So, the fact that you depleted me of half my chips can only mean one thing: I was cheated.”
“Bull-fucking-shit!” Henry shouts.
“She beat you fair and square, old man,” Luke adds.
