“Poker’s all about faking it, Finn. After eight years being married to Steven, you’ve got plenty of experience with that.”
“Very funny.”
“No? Then what about Nick?”
“I definitely didn’t have to fake it with him.”
A laugh burst out of her as she maneuvered through the crowd. “I wasn’t talking about the sex. I was talking about everything else.”
She wasn’t wrong. The list of secrets I was keeping from Nick was getting longer every day. Soon, they’d be as impossible to hide as the chips inside my jumpsuit. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep lying to him,” I said, smoothing them down.
“The way I see it, you only have two choices: you can fold—and probably go to jail—or you can go all in and take a gamble on yourself. You want my advice? Stop worrying about the cards you’ve been dealt. As long as you don’t give anything away, no one else can see your shitty cards but you. Fake it ’til you make it, Finn. Your odds of winning might be better than you think. Besides,” she added, “if you tell your detective boyfriend everything, you’re not going to prison alone, and I refuse to wear a polyester onesie. Though I admit, that one doesn’t look half bad on you.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“Don’t mention it,” she said, pausing to lean against a craps table.
“What now?”
She sighed as she stared longingly at the lumps in my top. “Put your chips on the bet line.”
“How many?”
“All of them.”
“All of them?” I shielded my pockets.
“If you want to look like a queen, you’ve got to gamble like one.”
“What if we lose it all?”
“How else do you think we’re going to get their attention? Hurry up. We’re wasting time.” Vero pried my hands away, reaching down the front of my jumpsuit and emptying the last of my chips onto the felt. The croupier raised an eyebrow as she pushed a set of dice toward us. Vero took them, her gaze flicking to the nearest security camera as she passed them to me. “Give them a blow.”
“Why?”
“For luck.”
“You said we were supposed to lose all our chips.”
“Why do you think I askedyouto blow on them?”
I glared at her as I blew into my hand and tossed the dice across the table.
The croupier called out a number and the other players clapped.
“What just happened?” I asked as chips were passed around the table. Vero’s mouth fell open as the croupier plunked a thick stack of them in front of me. The players beside me offered congratulations as the dice were pushed toward me again.
Vero frowned. “Blow harder this time.”
I blew hard on the dice and tossed them across the table. The croupier called out a number, and this time everybody cheered.
I whooped, unable to contain myself as more chips were piled in front of me. “That’s good, right?”
“Yes… I mean, no!” Vero’s eyes were wide as she stuffed a handful of my winnings into her pocket. “Maybe try a little less enthusiasm this time.”
A hush fell over the table as I rolled again.
“Eleven!” The table erupted in victory shouts as the croupier doled out our winnings. A waitress set two free drinks between us as a crowd of onlookers formed. Vero’s fingers grew clammy around mine. She stuffed another handful of chips into her pocket, leaving a teetering pileof them behind on the bet line. Her laugh was slightly manic. “One more time couldn’t hurt, right?”
