Dirty Beginning (Dirty 0.50)

“You’re a pro player?” I ask Grant .

“Yep. I placed third in the World Series of Poker National Championship last year .”

“Impressive,” I say. I watch the next card played .

Another nine turns up, and I can’t help but smile. I turn to Killian to pretend I’m smiling at him, but anybody that’s paying me any attention would know why I’m smiling. Grant is the only one paying me much attention though, and his eyes are on my chest, not my face .

I glance at Killian and see his face has grown dark. His eyes look like they are going to shoot lasers right through Grant .

I place my hand on Killian’s thigh. “Relax,” I whisper to him before shocking both of us by kissing him on the cheek. It’s the most brazen I have been. I gently squeeze his leg, and I feel his muscles relax, if only a little, as I massage his thigh .

I keep my hand there long after he has relaxed. I like feeling his strong body beneath my hand. When I chance a glance down, I see a hint of an erection growing beneath his jeans .

I smile. If I move my hand just an inch, I could accidentally touch it and then pretend I didn’t mean to do it .

“Kinsley, what are you going to do?” Grant wakes me from my dream .

I quickly remove my hand. “I call .”

Grant calls before he says, “The trick to poker is paying attention. It’s math. It’s knowing your odds and how to read people .”

I smile at Grant trying to give me advice. I already know his hand isn’t worth shit. His face says it all, yet he still thinks he’s won with, most likely, a pair of face cards. And looking around the table, he probably would have .

Marvin flips his cards, showing high king, followed by Stephen with a pair of tens. Then, Killian flips over a straight, to my surprise. But it’s still not enough. Grant nods for me to flip my cards over .

“Four of a kind,” I say to Grant .

His smile drops as he flips over two aces, giving him three of a kind .

“I win,” I say shyly. “I’ll try to use your advice for the next hand though .”

Marvin pushes the chips to me while Killian chuckles softly next to me .

“Did your father teach you how to play poker, too?” he asks in my ear so that only I can hear .

I shrug and blush, and he chuckles again .

We play for another hour or so until the only players remaining are Killian, me, and Grant. I stay out of the conversation to my relief as the boys talk about sports and cars. I glance over at Killian. He won’t stay in the game for much longer though. He’s down to his last chips .

“How did you two meet?” Stephen asks as he brings me another beer .

I taste it, but it doesn’t taste as good as the one Killian ordered earlier .

I glance nervously at Killian. I’m not ready to share our story, but I suck at lying and don’t want to lie to a member of his family .

“We met three years ago .”

I choke on my beer when he says that. God, I’ve got to stop doing that. I turn to face him, trying to decide if he’s lying or telling the truth, but Killian has the best poker face I have ever seen .

“I was giving a speech to a business class at Yale. While I was there, I paid a visit to an old friend.” He doesn’t look at me when he says the next words, “Eli Stratford. You remember him, Grant. He was Charlie’s younger brother .”

“Yeah, I remember Charlie. I didn’t know Eli that well though. I didn’t know you were friends,” Grant says .

Killian shakes his head. “We weren’t really, but like I said, I presented in front of a business class, and Eli was there. He introduced himself afterward, and I agreed to meet him for lunch .

“Anyway, we were at lunch, and the most beautiful girl I had seen came walking into the restaurant. I considered leaving Eli alone right there, so I could go after the girl, but to my surprise, she walked over to our table and kissed Eli on the lips. Then, she asked for the keys to his apartment, so she could study there instead of walking back to hers across campus. And she left. That girl was Kinsley. She recently moved back into town after graduating, and I asked her out. And here we are .”

Killian still won’t look at me. Grant puts his arm around me, and I force a smile on my face .