Page 99 of Against the Clock
“If I win, I get to take you to the Beaver Ball. I’m giving a speech, and I want you there with me,” Daniel announces, ignoring Ty, focusing all that intensity on me. I go hot beneath his scrutiny.
“I’m already going with Cameron,” I say.
“Cameron,” Jacob blurts, sitting up straight. “Cameron Brooks?”
“Yeah?” I momentarily forget the game as I focus on Jacob. His cheeks are flushed, his pupils dilated. “She’s my best friend.”
“Cameron Brooks is your best friend,” he repeats, his tone disbelieving.
“Do you know her?” I say rhetorically, because there’s no way he doesn’t, not with the hungry way he’s looking at me. “How do you know her?”
“She broke his heart,” Ty chimes in.
“Shut the fuck up, Ty. You don’t want me to start talking about your girlfriend, do you?”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Ty mutters, looking for all the world like a little whipped puppy.
“Are you… did you do something to her? To Cameron?” I half-stand, maybe a little more buzzed than I meant to be. Damn Darius cocktails. “She told me I had to be the anti-wingwoman between her and a football player there. Is it you?”
He hangs his head, his dark eyes sad, and I almost feel sorry for him.
“Cameron is brilliant, and so pretty, and she’s my friend,” I whisper shout, at least not drunk enough to forget the fact there are little kids trying to sleep in this huge house. “What did you do to her?”
“I fell in love with her,” he says quietly. “That’s what I did. I fell in love with Cameron Brooks, and she didn’t want to love me back.”
Darius clears his throat. “As enlightening and depressing as this is, folks, I am old and I want to get to bed soon. My kids wake up like clockwork at six AM, and if I don’t get sleep, tomorrow morning will be a bloodbath. With my blood. Let’s finish this up so I don’t have to kick you out.” He slaps a hand on the table and the alcohol in my glass sloshes with the impact. “The gentleman quarterback has raised your bet. Do you have an answering bet, Kelsey?”
The first idea that pops in my head has me covering my hand to smother wild laughter, and Daniel shoots me a semi-concerned look as I giggle.
“Well?” Darius prompts.
“I call. If I win…” I trail off, taking a deep breath, making sure this is really the bet I want to make. “I get to write your speech for the Beaver Ball.” I dissolve into fresh laughter because the speech already writing itself in my mind is completely absurd, as absurd as the fact they have a formal fundraiser for wildlife they call the Beaver Ball.
Did absolutely NO ONE think that through?
“Deal,” Daniel says, and extends a hand.
I stand up, reaching across the table to shake it, and Darius flips the river.
It’s an ace of spades.
I double over with laughter, tears starting to stream from my face. Ty reaches over for my cards, but I slap his hand away and do it myself.
“Royal flush, ace high,” I announce. It’s an impossible hand, the odds so ridiculous for me to get the ace of spades on the last fucking card that I’m choking on laughter. It’s the best hand, and the fact that I was betting on an okay hand only to end up winning is… hilarious.
“I am not gonna lie, man, I’d be pretty worried about whatever she has planned for your speech.” Ty scratches his beard, amusement clear in the crinkle of his eyes. “Kelsey, it was nice to meet you. I’ve heard nothing but good things from my… about you. From Daniel.”
“A royal flush?” Daniel’s still staring at the cards, and when he flips his, he has a good hand too, a straight, not surprising, considering what’s on the table, but my hand’s unbeatable. “Damn baby, I’m so proud of you.”
“And that’s what we call sportsmanship. Kelsey, you get all the candy.”
“Keep it,” I say as Daniel sprints around the table to wrap me in a huge hug. “I still have a bag of peppermint patties in my purse.”
“Yeah, and she’s already sweet enough,” Daniel says. I groan.
“Shara and I will be making a donation to the Beaver Ball in your name.”
“That’s amazing. Thank you… But seriously, does no one think the name Beaver Ball is hilarious?” I ask, my voice muffled in Daniel’s still enthusiastic hug.