“Will you sing?” I asked her.
She blushed. “No. I told you, I don't sing in public.”
“It's not in public Rose. It's me, and them.” I jerked my head towards the guys. She shook her head. I shrugged and stood up. “Then I guess we'll have to wait until you will sing in public.” I teased.
"Do you want something stronger?" Ash called out to me.
"No." Ash glanced up at the sharpness of my tone. "I'm okay with beer," I added, forcing a smile. The truth was, I hadn't had a sip of anything stronger than beer in three years. Too much of my life had been consumed by scotch. I'd lost count of the number of times I'd woken up, remembering nothing of the night before with a random woman in my bed. What scared me the most was ending up just like my father; old and alone, drinking until he was unable to feel his emotions. Three years ago that was exactly where I'd been heading.
"Okay, who’s up for poker?" I asked, ready to forget the last half hour had happened. Rose, now next to me, had followed me back over. I could tell she was annoyed that I didn't play for her. A little smile escaped my lips.
"I'm always up for taking your money, Jack," chuckled Ash. He grabbed the poker chips and threw them on the table. I glanced at Darcy and Benj, who shrugged and nodded.
"How about you guys?" I said to Alex and Rose. Alex nodded, setting down his glass. Rose made a face.
"I've never played before. Why don't I watch?" she suggested, shooting me a smile.
"You can spend the first few games watching me, then." I shuffled closer to her, trying to ignore the shortness of breath I was experiencing as I breathed in the scent of her shampoo. Coconut and Lime? Or maybe orange? I closed my eyes and breathed in. Definitely lime.
It was official; I could not have looked like any more of a psycho if I’d tried. I moved away an inch, trying to get my head clear from the spell she seemed to put me under whenever I got close to her. I pretended not notice the way she swept her hair over one shoulder, or the way she played with her nails when she was nervous. Or that cute little smile that appeared when someone said something funny.
I grabbed the two cards Ash had dealt me. I placed them flat on the table, and flicked up the edges so that only Rose and I could see. A king of hearts, and a ten of diamonds. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote down the order of winning hands.
“Keep this next to you. A pair is the lowest winning hand—well, technically you can win with no pairs and the highest card. The best possible hand is a royal flush. You'll get the feel for the cards the more you play, and trust me, working here you will play a lot. The aim is to get the best hand, or have your opponents think you have the best hand. You can have the worst possible cards, but if you can convince your opponents you have something good by betting high then you’ll probably win.” I explained, then motioned for Ash to start dealing.
"So the way it works is the dealer deals two cards to every player. The key to a good poker hand is pretending you have a good hand, even if you have the shittiest combination possible, okay?" I asked, glancing up at her. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she nodded. I chuckled. She looked as confused as hell.
“From what I hear, Jack thinks he’s pretty good with his hands,” chuckled Ash, his eyes on Rose.
“You hear that from your sister, hey?” I shot back. Everyone laughed.
I turned back to Rose. "So, what we have here isn't a bad hand. You don't have to play every game, and if you're dealt something like a three and a seven off suit, then folding is probably your best bet. So after the initial two cards around the betting takes place. It's at this point you decide whether or not you want to play." I picked up two chips and placed them neatly in front of me.
"So now more cards will be dealt?" She asked uncertainly, glancing around the table.
I nodded. "That's right. The dealer will burn a card, and then placed three cards upright on the table."
"He burns a card?" Disbelief filled her voice.
I chuckled. "Not literally. In poker, burning simply means tossing aside." She blushed and I chuckled again. This girl was...I couldn't even put into words what I was feeling. I pushed aside those thoughts and forced myself to focus as Ash placed the three cards face up on the table. "So now there will be another round of betting. You don't have to raise, but if someone else raises you need to match their bet in order to stay in the game."
"Yeah, and Jack's always raising," Ash smirked, winking at Rose. Laughter followed his comment, only I wasn't laughing. I was too busy giving Ash a death stare. "What?" he asked innocently, his blue eyes twinkling. "It's true. You like to raise don't you?"
I threw three more chips in front of me, ignoring his comment. "We have a pretty good cards so it makes sense to raise. If you have a good hand you can hold off raising and let everyone think that they are holding shit. The beauty of this is that someone, probably Ash,” I said, glaring at him, “will try and bluff their way into buying the pot. Buying the pot means they will go in with a big bet to scare everyone into thinking they're holding something really good."
"And then I can match that bet?" Rose asked, her brow creasing in concentration. She was so damned cute. I reached over to the cards she held in her hands partly because I’d forgotten and partly because I wanted another excuse to touch her. My hand overlapped hers, until she lifted them high enough for me to see.
“Nice hand,” I whispered in her ear. She turned to me and grinned.
“I’m going to assume you’re talking about the cards.”
“Them too. You can raise. If you're feeling really confident, you can put him all in." Ash snorted at my comment. I glared at him. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked. "I mean, what are you, twelve?" laughter erupted around the table.
"What can I say? Words like 'raise' and 'all in' make me horny," he teased. He grinned at Rose, who shook her head and rolled her eyes, clearly not falling for his oh-so-smooth attitude. My heart was pounding so loud it was all I could hear. I was glad she wasn't falling for Ash's charms. He was a good-looking guy, and he knew it. Ash was me three years ago. A different chick every night and everything was about fun. The thought of Rose falling for that—for him—made my stomach turn.
She never would have fallen for me three years ago.
"Save your sweet talk for tomorrow," I growled at Ash