I shut my eyes for a moment and will myself to loosen. Poker is the ultimate game of bluffing, and I sure have enough practice. I ping my eyes open and smirk at Trent across from me.
His brow lifts slightly in challenge, as if to remind me he’s always been able to read me. Right from the beginning.
Grandpa deals the cards, grinning. He knows where this is heading.
The oldies all gather around taking bets on who’ll crack first.
I blow a sigh up my face. “What’s the buy-in?”
Trent says dryly, “If I win, we do another Polaroid. Just you and me.”
Grandpa sighs. “Trenty, you could’ve wageredanything.”
Yes, anything. He could have wagered me to renew my license, or to answer any question of his honestly. He could have wagered something to make my bones tremble, to make me fear, to give this game the highest stakes it could have.
But he wagered another picture.
And he’s telling the oldies that the picture earlier didn’t develop. That his bro is the hardest to get in front of the camera, and that it’ll be nice to get a shot of just us. Brothers. For Grandpa’s wallet.
I stare at his mouth, the words coming out of it. How many of them does he believe? How much is he aware of his own bluffing?
Why do I dislike every one of his words, and yet like them for protecting me?
We play.
I bluff hard. Trent plays tight.
The oldies eat it all up.
I have nothing, but I raise aggressively.
Trent calls me every time. Calm, measured, letting me dig my own way to the Polaroid camera.
The turn.
Grandpa whistles low.
The river.
Trent knows I’m overplaying my hand. He raises.
I push all in, looking right at him. “Afraid?”
Trent murmurs, holding my gaze, “Of the moment of truth? Yes.”
My breath hitches. I hesitate.
It feels like a disaster. My pair of twos. His full house.
I’ve been obliterated.
I face the camera again.
Trent leans in for the photo just like before. Shoulder to shoulder, light casual smile.
But his thumb brushes mine at our sides. Barely there. But there enough.
I bare my teeth. The camera can’t tell the difference between that and a smile.
