A rueful grin appeared as he took my card and handed me another from the top. He looked at his cards once more, before exchanging three cards for himself.
“Three, wow,” I muttered, purely working to get under his skin.
Again, that smile. My own smile, once again, threatened to break across my face, but then I pinched myself, forcing myself to remember just what was at stake. To give myself further encouragement, I glanced at the thick, comfortable cotton sweats dangling on the back of his chair. He wasn’t even using them. He just kept them there to make me miserable. For a second, I wondered how quickly I could snatch the pants, run to my room and lock the door before he could catch me. Then I remembered he played football and I frequently played a game I liked to call, ‘I’m not athletic and I fall down a lot.’
“You’re up, Blister. What’s your bet?”
I stared at my coins. Forty-six cents in pennies and nickels remained, and a button, which we had deemed worth a penny. Win or lose, I had no other option but to play this out. And I had to sell it, hard.
Since we were only betting once, I pushed my whole stack to the middle of the table. A low whistle met my ears, before he added the same amount from his mountain of coins across the table. “I guess I can spare a couple quarters.”
“Shut up.” I shook my head, my smile finally breaking free.
Sitting up in my chair, I fidgeted in my seat, holding my breath, as if I were trying hard to contain my excitement. Chase watched me carefully.
A smile crawled across his face as he shook his head. “Nice try, Blister.”
“What?”
“You’re a lot of things, but I can spot when you’re bluffing a mile away.”
I held strong. “Well, this should be fun then.”
“This will be fun. My back’s been feeling a little sore today.”
We sat for a moment, staring at each other, hard and challenging, until it became something different entirely, both of us fighting back smiles. But then he blinked, and his face softened the tiniest bit. His eyes were still on mine, but the glint had disappeared, and in its place was something that had my heart beating faster. I cleared my throat and shifted back in my seat, breaking our eye contact, and also breaking the mood, or whatever that was.
“Let’s see ‘em.”
My eyes shot to his. “What?”
He looked at me and said slowly, “the cards. Show em.”
“Oh. Right.” I drew it out, placing each of my cards on the table slowly, starting with my pair of fives, then my sevens. I held off a bit, building up the anticipation. The last card I had drawn had been a ten of spades, not helpful in the least. Now, I could only hope and pray that he had nothing in that hand of his.
“Ouch,” he said. “Bet you were really hoping for a full house, huh?”
I smiled. “Nah. I’m happy to beat you with two pairs.”
“What was our bet again?”
“Quit stalling and play your cards.”
He sighed. He laid down a three of spades. Then a four of spades. His next card was a five of spades. My heart sunk. Two more cards in a row and he would have a straight flush. He laid down a six of spades. My breath caught. No way. He couldnotbe this lucky. I shot my eyes up to meet his, daring to hope. Then he smiled at me and tossed his card toward the middle of the table. I stared at the Jack for several seconds before I realized what it meant.
I had won.
I screeched as I leapt from the table, my hands shooting straight into the air as I hopped around in a ridiculous victory dance. The moves from my high school poker night victory days came back to me in a rush.
The gray sweatpants hit me in the face. “Alright, settle down hot shot. What’s your other pick?”
“How’d you know I wanted these?”
“The drool running down your face was a dead giveaway.”
“Shut it.”
“What’s your next pick? You better hurry, my offer only lasts for another thirty seconds.”