“Are you sure? I don’t want to clean you out completely.”
“Come on,” I niggle. “What’s the worst that could happen? Maybe I’ll get lucky.”
“All right.” He deals the cards, his hands flying. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I peek at my cards and have to hide a smile. Decent hand, but it doesn’t matter—I’m going to win this regardless.
He bets moderately, clearly not wanting to be too aggressive against his struggling student.
I look at my cards again, then at him, then push all my remaining chips forward. “All in.”
He blinks in surprise. “You sure?”
“Sometimes you have to take risks, right?”
He studies his cards. “All right, I’ll call. But Lithia, don’t feel bad if?—”
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” I interrupt sweetly.
He flips his cards over with a slightly apologetic smile. “Sorry. Full house.”
It’s a very good hand. Any normal player would be devastated.
I look at his cards, then at mine, then let my expression shift from nervousness to something else entirely.
“That is a good hand,” I say, my voice completely different now—confident, amused. “But not good enough.”
I flip my cards over with a grin that’s pure shark.
Royal flush.
His jaw drops. He stares at the cards, then at me, then back at the cards. “That’s…”
“The best possible hand in poker,” I say sweetly, dropping the innocent act entirely. “Also known as unbeatable.”
“Wait…” His eyes narrow as understanding dawns. “You hustled me!”
“Yep,” I admit, unable to suppress my grin. “Dane and I used to clean out half the pack during the winter months.”
“You absolute—” He leans back in his chair. “You’ve been playing me this entire time.”
“Have I?”
He throws a raisin at me, which I catch easily. “I was being nice to you!”
“I know. It was very sweet.” I laugh, delighted by his outrage. “You have to admit—I had you completely fooled.”
“For a while,” he concedes grudgingly. “But I should have known. Nobody’s shuffling is that bad naturally.”
“That was a nice touch, wasn’t it?”
We sit there grinning at each other across the table.
“Your brother sounds like trouble,” Kier observes, shuffling the cards once more. “Teaching his sister to hustle the pack.”
“He is. Was. Still is, actually.” I laugh, watching those deft fingers work. “But he’s my trouble.”
“Family’s complicated.”
