Adam turned his attention to Trent. “I guess you go to MSC also?”
“Yes. I’m finishing my master’s and then Professor Nelson is going to help me with my doctoral thesis.”
“And you’re single and heterosexual?” Adam probed.
Derek spit out his swig of beer. Luckily, his head was turned away from the table.
“Really, Adam? You’re going to make him leave,” Tim said, taking Adam by the hand.
“It was just a question. For years everyone thought I was the only square peg in my family until my cousin Jake came out of the closet. He was a big-time football player. So you see, you never can tell.”
“It’s cool. Yes and yes,” Trent answered as he placed an arm on the back of my chair. I would have glared at him, but I was in the process of taking Derek to the cleaners.
All the signs were there. Derek was so easy to read. I was just about to lower the boom when Trent’s fingers grazed a small patch of my shoulder. My breath left me and my hands jerked forward simultaneously, sending my chips flying and my cards to the table, faceup.
“I fold,” Derek said after seeing the two queens I had been holding.
“That’s cheating,” I snapped at Trent, who had withdrawn his hand from my shoulder.
“What?” He feigned innocence.
The others cleaned up the mess on the table as they watched us like we were part of their favorite reality show. No one noticed what Trent had done, but they were enjoying my reaction immensely.
“Isn’t this fun?” Adam asked with merriment. “I believe it’s your deal, Tressa darling.” I glared at him, tossing a card in Trent’s direction.
“It was just a tap.” I looked at Trent to see if he’d argue.
“That’s right. Nothing but a love tap,” he said. His look was unwavering. When did he become so self-assured?
“Love tap,” Derek snorted. He moved his cards to cover his smile when I shot him a death glare.
“This one is a keeper, Tressa. No doubt about it,” Adam commented. He was finding great joy in the situation.
Each of the guys received my death glare as I finished dealing the cards. With Adam’s encouragement, Trent appeared oblivious to my mood. His arm remained on the back of my chair whenever he wasn’t placing a bet. I could have made him move it, but that would only have enlisted more razzing from the guys. Every once in a while, his fingers would brush against the bare part of my neck, presumably by accident. I showed no reaction and managed to hold on to my cards those times.
As the night progressed, I found myself more and more comfortable with the feel of his touch. It was nothing but a stroke of his fingers, and never lasted longer than a couple seconds, but definitely made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. And caused goose bumps on my arms. Everything inside me hummed with awareness. I shifted in my chair, hoping to encounter his hand so it would remain on that small, lucky patch of skin that had every other part of me envious. Who knew it was possible to be jealous of your own skin? His hand always seemed to be just beyond my reach. If it had been anyone else, I would have said he was deliberately toying with me, but this was Trent. I’m sure he had no idea what he was doing.
Even though my concentration was shot to hell, I eventually cleaned everyone of their money, with the exception of Trent, who turned out to be a decent player. Derek, Adam, and Tim grumbled about being hustled and then scooted their chairs to the side so they could watch Trent and me face off against each other. Taking the game more seriously than I had all night, I moved my chair to the other side of the table, which Derek had just vacated.
No more innocent touches. I was in this to win.
Adam agreed to deal as Trent leaned forward on his side of the table. We’d decided this would be the winner-take-all hand. I insisted on five-card draw, so there would be no up cards to see.
“You ready for this, Geek Squad?” I asked, holding my cards close to my face. I was feeling pretty cocky. I was sure I had figured out his tell and this hand would prove it. “I’ll have fun spending all the cash I win tonight,” I taunted.
“You sure your mind is in the game?” His eyes glistened with confidence. My eyes narrowed as he smiled wickedly.
“Don’t worry about me, Spock.”
“Oh, I liked him in the new Star Trek movie. Very cute,” Adam interjected.
“Not now,” I said.
Trent’s smile widened as the others giggled like hyenas. They all deserved a knee in the nuts or, better yet, something that involved honey and fire ants.
Ignoring the trio of grinning idiots, I turned my attention to the cards in my hands. I had the worst hand imaginable. What the hell was I going to do with a six of spades, a two and four of clubs, and a five and nine of diamonds? Talk about a colossal bank-busting hand. Deciding I had nothing to lose, I kept the two clubs. I placed my bet, accepting my three cards. I waited to look at them until Trent took his turn. That fact that I discarded three cards was a pretty good indication that I had a crap hand.
Trent looked me in the eyes. He indicated he needed no new cards, that butt licker. I was screwed. He looked away before placing his bet. That was his tell. Or so I thought. Of course, I could be way off and he could be holding four kings.