“What do you mean?” I tilted my head, almost offended by his comment.
“Your eyes light up every time you get a good hand.” Ryker reached over and put his hand on mine. “And you tap the table when you’re nervous.”
“Staring at someone with no emotion on your face and betting everything when your cards are shit takes practice.” Cole lifted his cards to take a peek. “It doesn’t always work, either.”
“That’s a big part of actual gambling.” Ryker narrowed his eyes and his face darkened. “I can stare straight into someone’s soul when there’s money on the line.”
“Ryker could be sitting on pocket Aces or a hand that wouldn’t be a winner if he got two pairs on the flop—you’d never know it.” Cole nodded and smiled.
We played a few more hands and then decided to find something to wager so I could test my skills. We gathered up some items from the hotel room—everything from loose change to beer bottle tops, and ended up with enough for each of us to have ten items of equal value to gamble with. I quickly learned that I was not a very good gambler. I couldn’t read their expressions at all, and I struggled not to react when I got a good hand. After I lost everything, we divided the items and started over. That turned out to be the routine, as they won my items several times. I was learning, though. I managed to last a little longer each time the cards were dealt, and I actually won a few hands—I even managed to bluff once.
“All right, I think you’re ready for some real stakes now.” Cole leaned back in his chair and looked over at Ryker. “What do you think—is she ready?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Ryker nodded and smiled. “Paper Hold’em?”
“You know it.” Cole chuckled and stood up from the table.
“What’s Paper Hold’em?” I raised my eyebrows and looked over at Ryker.
“It’s a way of gambling without actually losing anything.” Ryker picked up the cards and started shuffling. “Basically, you write out your own stakes on a piece of paper, and that’s your chip to bet with.”
“Yep.” Cole walked over with the pad of paper provided by the Bellagio and started tearing each sheet into four equal proportions. “But everyone at the table has to agree that the stake is allowed and on the value. Most things are worth one point, but sometimes we have stuff worth five points.”
“Interesting.” I nodded and shrugged my shoulders. “Okay, so what kind of stuff do we write down?”
“Anything you want, as long as everyone agrees with it.” Cole picked up the pen. “Like, if I write down—Ryker has to clean my apartment for a month wearing a bunny costume.”
“Like hell I am.” Ryker glared at Cole and growled.
“Yep, see—that wouldn’t fly because Ryker would override it. But, if I just asked him to clean it one time…” Cole looked at Ryker.
“Without a bunny costume? I’d allow that.” Ryker nodded and smirked.
“So, now that chip could potentially be in the game.” Cole quickly scribbled it on the paper. “Ryker, obviously, wants to win this and keep it on his side of the table. If I end up keeping it, then I can cash it in.”
“But what if I win it?” I tilted my head with a perplexed expression on my face. “I don’t really want to make Ryker clean your apartment.”
“Right, so you could override it, since winning it does nothing for you—or modify it in some way.” Cole nodded and pointed at the piece of paper. “How would you change it so that it is valuable to you?”
“Hmm.” I leaned back and twisted my lip as I tried to think of something. “Well, I guess Ryker could clean the hotel room.”
“There you go.” Cole nodded and smiled. “So now the chip requires Ryker to clean something, so it has value to anyone that has it, including Ryker.”
“You can put some universal chips in too.” Ryker looked over at me. “They don’t all have to be about the other person. Like, I could write—winner can cash this in for a foot massage.”
“Oh, I like that!” I nodded quickly.
“Yeah, I’m going to veto that.” Cole shook his head. “I’m not touching Ryker’s feet, and I know he’s enough of a dick to make me.”
“Okay, well what if I change it to massage Aurora’s feet?” I smiled and looked at the two of them.
“I’m not wasting one of my chips on something to benefit someone else.” Ryker chuckled. “But you can make that chip if you want.”
“I will.” I grabbed the pen and wrote it down. “So, if I end up with this chip, I can cash it in with either of you?”
“That’s how it works.” Ryker nodded and smiled.
We laughed and started tossing out ideas, adding a few of them to the stack along the way. Most of the ideas were just jokes at first, but it didn’t take long for the chips to start taking a turn to the sexual side. I wasn’t even sure we would be able to cash them all in with the time I had left in Vegas unless we stayed in bed for the next few days, but there were a few I was definitely interested in winning. Once we were done, we had a lot more than ten on the table for each of us. I hoped I could actually put my skills to good use instead of just losing everything as quickly as I had during some of the previous games. I was having fun, and they both seemed to be as well—that was the most important thing.