She throws her hand up. “What are you doing?”
“Uh, I’m cleaning up. I figured you were tired.”
“Yeah, tired of my brother. Not too tired to beat your ass one more time before bed.”
“Oh, really?” I take a seat, my heart swelling when I notice her bump as she sits.
I’ve spent the last four weeks hiding my feelings. From not kissing her lips every morning to not touching her body at night.Hiding the way she makes my heart feel like it might burst. How she makes me laugh and challenges me to be the best version of myself.
I can no longer hold it in. I need to claim her tonight. If she says no, that’s her choice. But I am not going down without a fight. I will fight like hell for her love.
“You going to deal the cards anytime soon?” she asks smugly across from me.
I return her quip with a smirk. “Sure thing.”
I deal each of our two cards as I wonder if I should just blurt it out right now.
Before we look at our cards, she pushes in forty dollars’ worth of chips. I match her bet.
I could just stop this game. It doesn’t matter. Not right now. Not with the weight of the words that I need to speak rising in me.
Still, I keep going. We glance at our cards, and she adds twenty. I match.
Then I lay out the three community cards.
She raises me twenty which I match. I watch her face, studying the cards intently. She’s so enthralled in the game. I smile.
It somehow eases my tension.
I suddenly know what to do. I need to throw her off her game, and I know just how to do it.
My back straightens with a sudden burst of confidence.
I have a ten of hearts and a nine of spades. There’s an eight of diamonds and six of clubs in the community cards. If any of the next two hands is a seven, I will have a straight.
The odds aren’t great, but the prize is worth it.
I lay the next card—a three of spades. Dammit. She passes on betting more. I look down at my cards. It’s risky. I could lose everything or win it all.
“I was just thinking maybe we should make it more interesting. Play for something other than money.”
She cranes her head to the side. “What? Sexual favors? Are you trying to turn this into strip poker? I hate to burst your bubble, but my body might not be at its finest.”
“I was thinking something more valuable than that. Something I would treasure for the rest of my life. Something that is worth more than anything I’ve ever had in my life.”
Her eyebrows lift in confusion.
“Your heart.”
She takes a noticeable gulp. “My what?” she whispers.
“Your heart. If I win this, you give it to me. You take a chance on a man who is so head over heels in love that he wakes up in awe every day, knowing he has you in his bed. You give me a chance to show you that I can be the type of man who deserves your trust and love. You stay here with me, and we’ll raise this baby together … as a family. Your heart is the only thing in this world that I want.”
Her eyelids flutter rapidly as moisture forms. She looks away for a moment, then back at me. “You want … me?”
“Forever.” I look down at our cards. “So, what do you say? Are you willing to go all in with me?”
She smiles, then chokes on a laugh. “Uh, yeah. I’m all in.”