Rory didn’t seem to appreciate the mention of her willingly giving out more IOUs that he had been fleecing the whole club out of.
Resolved to get the IOUs back from him, Jewell took no prisoners in the game. Tossing the hundred back to Rory when she won her first game, she snickered at him as she thumbed the two IOUs she had won from Tiny and Eagle.
Minutes clicked past, then hours, as Rory battled back and forth to win the poker games. The brothers would try their luck then gradually move away as the party took off, only to be replaced with more wanting to try to beat Rory.
The hardest game to win had been when Moon had played. He had bet a substantial amount of money, plus three IOUs she had given him. Jewell crinkled her nose when Rory won that pot, but she soothed herself when Lucky had shown up, and she won the hand with him, and he had four of her IOUs for babysitting. Willa isn’t going to be happy about that, she thought gleefully.
After Lucky lost and moved away, Jewell was left alone with Rory, everyone deciding to cut and run with what pride they had left.
Jewell raked her winnings across the table toward herself. “Come to Mama,” she cooed.
Rory watched her sort out her money and placing the IOUs in a different pile.
“You want to stop or keep playing?” she asked gleefully.
“Keep playing.” Rory started shuffling the cards. “It won’t be any fun betting you for money. How about we just stick to IOUs?”
Jewell folded her hands on the table. “Depends. The IOUs I wrote out have no value to me.”
“I could bet with my own IOUs.”
Jewell’s interest piqued. “Whatcha willing to bet?” This could definitely be interesting.
Rory continued shuffling the cards. “I really don’t need babysitting, housecleaning, or sexual favors; you’ll give them to me regardless, right?”
Jewell looked at his hands. Had she just seen them tremble slightly?
“How about we bet on something important?”
“Like what?” she asked.
“If I win, you move to Queen City. If you win, I stay in Treepoint.”
“Since you’ve agreed to stay in Treepoint, why would I chance losing?”
“Isn’t that the best part of a high-stake poker game? That you’re willing to risk it all?”
“True. Nickel!” Jewell called out, not taking her eyes off Rory. “Could you hand me the tablet and pen behind the bar?”
“Sure,” Nickel answered.
When Nickel brought her what she asked for, Jewell wrote out, “I move to Queen City,” before scrawling her name across the bottom. If she won, at least she would no longer feel guilty about convincing him to stay.
Jewell slid the paper tablet and pen across the table, watching as Rory wrote out his bet.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Always.”
As the game played out, she had to admire the way he played. Other than the only tell she had seen when he had been shuffling the cards, he showed no other signs of whether he was winning or losing.
Looking at her last card drawn, Jewell stared at it blindly.
“Well?”
She lifted her gaze to him before laying the cards facedown. Reaching out, she slid the pot toward him. “You win.”
The room went silent, showing they were aware of the importance of the lost hand.
“You’re going to give Jewell a chance to win her IOU back, aren’t you?” Nickel asked angrily.
“It’s okay, Nickel. You know I always pay my bets. When do you want to leave?”
Rory narrowed his eyes on her. “How’s Sunday?”
Jewell wasn’t surprised at his answer. It was the original day when he had mentioned leaving earlier.
“Works for me.” Reaching for the other cards, she shuffled all the cards back together before placing the whole deck on the table. “Are you ready to go to bed? I have to get a lot of packing done tomorrow. Table’s free, guys.”
“I thought you wanted to order a pizza? I can go get it,” Rory offered.
Jewell stood up. “Nah, I’m good. We can order one for lunch tomorrow.”
She was aware of the quietness within the room as she walked to the stairs.
Ember was standing by the foot of the stairs with Moon. Seeing the glint of tears in her eyes, and anger in Moon’s, Jewell reached out to give her a small, reassuring squeeze and a warning look to Moon as they passed to head up the stairs.
In her room, Jewell sat down on the bed to remove her shoes.
“Are you upset?” Rory watched her warily, still holding the IOUs in his hand.
“Do I look upset?”
“No.”
Jewell let her shoe drop to the floor. “You suckered me into that game.”
Rory shoved the IOUs into the pocket of his jeans. “I wouldn’t say sucker,” he hedged.
“I would.” Removing her other shoe, she let it drop next to the first one. “Who told you I couldn’t resist betting on poker?”
“It might have come across in a few different conversations,” he admitted.