Page 11 of Mischief Mayhem
At that, he pushed his entire pile into the center, clearly pulling the same move that Lore had just done. “I’m all in.”
I stared at him, waiting to see if he’d start talking. When he just sat there, blinking at me with a calm, stony face, I made my decision.
“Me, too.” I toppled my chips over, making a big pile, and he tucked his bottom lip between his teeth as he revealed his hand. He had a royal flush.
Holy shit, he had the hand of a century, and he’d beaten me. He’d . . . actually beaten me with a one-in-a-million deal.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“I guess you don’t have anything better than that, huh?” He smiled, and I’d never wanted to wipe that grin off his face more. I seethed while he collected his chips and put them in a nice pile in front of him, reveling in his victory.
“Fuck off,” I said with a small laugh, rolling my eyes as I threw my cards at him. “I hate you.”
“Yeah, I know.” He flashed me a Hollywood grin and winked. “It turns me on.”
“Does it?” I ignored the rush of hot lust between my legs. This was one of our games, the schtick between us where I insulted him and he love-bombed me and on the world spun. At this point in the night, I’d had a lot to drink and I didn’t pick up on the nuance in the way his eyes raked over my body. I just barreled onward with the joke. “I could hate you so much more than I do.”
He snapped his gaze to mine, raised an eyebrow, and smirked. “Really? How much more?”
“Ohhh, that’ll cost you, Hudson.”
His eyes lit up at my use of his real last name, the one I’d used since high school. “What’s your price?”
The game had escalated quicker than I’d planned and after several tequila shots, I couldn’t think clearly. My attention caught on the cards. “How about another hand? If I win, you give me the pot. If you win, I’ll hate you any way you want.”
He stayed quiet as he clicked two chips together between his fingers and considered my proposal. “What are the limits?”
Wait . . . is he taking this seriously? Am I?
I clung to my inhibitions by a thread, and if I’d been sober, I might have laughed in his face, stood, and walked away. But fuck it, right? Why not have a little fun? I put my elbows on the table and leaned in.
“We’re both wasted; we’re beyond consent. So you’re not allowed to touch me. I know about your celibacy thing, so I won’t touch you. Just about anything else is on the table.”
“Deal,” he said, barely letting me finish my sentence before speaking and grabbing the cards to shuffle through them again. My chest tightened, anticipation clenching in my gut. The boundary between us had only broken one time in twenty years, and he didn’t know that was me. He’d thought it was the side chick he’d been screwing that night, and I’d never had the ovaries to tell him differently.
Hollywood stared at me while he dealt the hand, and I started to feel hopeful when I received a king of hearts and a queen of spades. That optimism diminished, however, when he flipped over the next three cards.
I had nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Uh-oh,” he said, “that doesn’t look like a happy face.” Hollywood stuck out his lower lip, pretending to pout.
I sneered and gestured at him to keep going.
When he flipped over the rest of the cards, I took a deep breath and sat back in my seat, relegating myself to the fact I’d agreed to do whatever he wanted based on the luck of the draw, and today was not my lucky day.
“Well?” He grinned, raising his eyebrows. “Moment of truth.”
Swallowing against a dry throat, I flipped my cards over to reveal my big fat nothing.
“Oh no, little Montgomery.” His voice had dropped an octave, turning into a sultry purr that had me struggling not to tremble, and he flipped his hand over to reveal his hand: a full house. He’d beaten me by a landslide.
“Wow,” I said, almost refusing to believe it. “Did you cheat, Hudson?”
“How dare you accuse me of fraud.” Pretending to be offended, he grabbed his smokes and leaned back in his seat to light one, staring at me with a different glimmer in his dark gaze. Now, he looked like a fan meeting his idol for the first time, stars in his eyes and a big greedy grin on his lips. “Now, I think you said something about hating me any way I wanted.”
I shifted in my seat and cleared my throat, refusing to break eye contact. If I looked away first, he’d seize on that weakness and strike. I knew how these alpha assholes wanted it, and I’d agreed so long as he didn’t touch me. Now, I prepared myself for whatever would come out of that deliciously wicked mouth next.
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