Seven Card Stud (Stacked Deck Book 7)

by Emilia Finn

  I burst out in little piggy snorts and press my forehead to his chest when he stops close enough. I don’t bother looking back over my shoulder, I don’t bother counting the eyes. I believe him. “You’re relatively safe, so long as my coat stays zipped and you don’t disrespect me too loudly.”

  “I won’t disrespect you at all,” he murmurs.

  He pulls back and studies me for a moment, frowns at the hair that hangs in my face from the biting wind and my flight into his arms, then dragging in a long breath, he lets it out on a gust that blows the hair aside and I’m left staring into his chocolate brown orbs.

  “You might’ve broken my heart if you’d decided to grow bangs this summer,” he whispers. “If you come back to Stacked Deck next year with hair permanently covering your eyes, I might cry for real.”

  “You like my eyes?”

  He fingers the hair away from my face, and nibbles on his bottom lip. “They were the second thing I noticed about you.”

  “Yeah?” I place my hands on his hips and keep him close. “What was the first?”

  “Your legs,” he grins. “Dancer legs. Got me in my gut. It was like, pow pow, legs, then eyes. And then the final strike. You spoke, and you weren’t meek.” He presses a hand to my chest. “It was like lightning.”

  “Can I ask you a question?” I tilt my head to the side and consider him. “And get real answers?”

  “Sure.” His eyes flicker between mine. “I’m an open book.”

  “Do you believe the shit you spout off about love?”

  I laugh when he looks affronted. “For real, do you believe it? Or did you do drama club in high school?”

  “I believe everything I say. Even if it comes with a little extra oomph for dramatic effect.”

  “So you truly, honestly fancy yourself in love? Really?”

  He lowers his chin for a moment and seems to put genuine thought into his answer. “I think that there’s something here. I don’t know what it is, and I can no more read the future than you can. But I’ve never been hit by lightning before. Not until the day you walked in.”

  “You’re basing your ridiculous behavior over the last year on what could have potentially been acid reflux?”

  He snorts. “Maybe. Maybe not. But why the hell not? Why not explore it?”

  “Because I live someplace else. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but long-distance relationships suck.”

  “So… you’re saying you’d be willing to be in a relationship with me?” He presses a gentle kiss to my jaw. “You’re willing to try?”

  “No.” I grin when he pulls back. I’ve offended him twice in as many minutes. “Long-distance relationships are lies. They’re phone calls and longing, they’re hopes and dreams and what-ifs. But they’re not real, and they’re not happiness. And hell, I already have so much longing and wishing in my life. Why the hell would I invite more in?”

  “Long-distance relationships aren’t easy, but they’re a stepping stone,” he murmurs. “A bridge. At the moment, we’re two strangers who live in two completely different places. But if we decided to try the relationship thing, then maybe we’ll still live in different places – for now – but we won’t be strangers anymore.”

  “You think I’m going to be okay with spending time with one man when I only see him a week a year? Do you honestly think I’m going to walk through summer after summer, beach weekends, bonfires, parties with my friends, potential surfing lessons with hot surfer dudes… and be happy to be alone, all for the sake of a week before Christmas every year?” I shake my head and sit further back on the hood. “I’m the only one being a realist here.”

  “So why are you down here, huh?” He looks up to my room. Then back to me. “Why come outside at all?”

  He’s got a point, I have to admit to myself. A valid point. So I sit back and study his eyes. “I don’t know why I came out, except to say that you made me smile today. Smiles are like hundred-dollar bills in my world.”

  He frowns for a moment. Thinks. “Rare?”

  “Extinct,” I correct. “I don’t remember holding a hundred-dollar bill. Ever. Similarly, there isn’t a person on this planet, except my brother, that makes me smile. You made me smile today, so it makes sense I would want that again. Even if it means coming outside at eleven at night.”

  “But… a week of smiles,” he prods. “You admit you never get to smile, and now that you’ve found them again, you’d just walk away after a week and forget I exist?”

  “I won’t forget.” I take his hand and bring it up to cup my cheek. “Never ever will I forget. But that doesn’t mean I’ll take you home with me. It’s just…” I shake my head. “Everyone says to play the hand you’re given, right? We’re all dealt one way or another, and it’s up to us to play the hand we have. But you and me… we come from different stacks. My hand this week includes you, and I’m sitting right here, ready and willing to play with what I’ve been given. But there’s no denying we have an expiration date. So if you think a week isn’t enough…”

  I trail off as his hand drops away and pain slices through my gut. As heartbreak bounds forward, too soon, too potent, and forecasts what’s coming. It’s not a matter of if, but when.

  “I won’t be mad if you walk away now,” I whisper. “I don’t wanna break your heart.”

  “And yours?” he murmurs. “What of your heart?”

  My lips curve up into a small smile. So rare. So coveted. “I’m going to enjoy what I have right now. Just like you said. I’m going to be, I’ll live in the moment. And a week from now, I hope to be thankful for the time we spent together.”

  For a full minute, Jamie’s hands remain off of me. He stands between my legs, but away. A whole foot of space sits between us, while his jaw clenches, and his eyes scan the space behind me.

  “Jamie?” I reach up and take his arm. It pulses with adrenaline. Grows with rage.

  A year apart did things to his body. It helped him grow, and the training he put in for this year’s tournament means he’s hard all over. We might be kids compared to most of the other fighters when it comes to age, but his body is all man.

  “Jamie?”

  “Okay.” Finally, his sparkling eyes come back to mine. “Alright.”

  “Alright what?”

  “A week.” He ducks in fast, too fast, and presses a kiss to my lips. “One week. One amazing, magical, unforgettable week, and at the end…”

  I swallow my nerves.

  “At the end, I’m going to try really hard not to be bitter when you drive away again.” He cups my jaw, and grins as he draws me forward until our lips feather together. “What’s your middle name?”

  “Um…” My heart comes to a complete stop for a moment. “What?”

  “It’s like speed-dating.” He steps in closer until his hips touch my thighs again. “We have a lot of ground to cover. Middle name?”

  “Er… Eloise.”

  He pulls back with a scrunched nose. “For real?”

  I shrug.

  “Okay. Any pets?”

  “No dogs or anything; they’re expensive, and impractical when you move as often as we have. But I had a turtle when I was six, his name was Rocky. And yes, I named him that because I couldn’t call him Cuff without getting a second and calling him Links. Do you have any pets?”

  “Not personally, but everyone around me does, so it’s kinda the same. I grew up with my uncle’s Labrador. And now Smalls has Cass and all the puppies. My sister has basically claimed one, so he’s kind of ours now. And I have my eye on one too.”

  “What happened with your sister tonight? She ran, then that’s the last I heard.”

  He draws a heavy breath, then lets it out on a sigh. “It was fuckin’ brutal. My dad isn’t talking to my sister, and that’s…” He shakes his head. “That’s literally never happened before. He broke her heart, she broke his, and now my entire family is falling apart. All because of Kyle fucking Baker.” His eyes flicker over my shoulder and prob
ably stop on the very man he speaks of. “But we have ways of taking out the trash. I’m less concerned about Kyle’s whereabouts, and more worried about my sister’s heart. Favorite color?”

  I pause for a moment. Try to switch gears. “Whose?”

  “Yours.” He wraps his hands into my hair and grins. “We only have a week.”

  “Oh… um… okay. Green. Forest green.” Ha! I didn’t lie this time. “I love the color of moss in the forest around here.”

  “You don’t have forest where you live?”

  “Nuh-uh.” I slide my hands onto his hips and hold him close. “I live in an urban jungle. And outside that…” I choke out a laugh. “Desert.”

  “Have you explored the forest here since being in town?”

  I shake my head. “I only see what we pass on the way in and out of town.”

  “I’ll take you,” he promises. “I was raised in these forests. I come from a long line of feral forest dwellers, remember?”

  “You’re being dramatic again,” I drawl. “And okay.”

  He snorts. “Favorite food?”

  “Sushi.”

  He pulls back with a scowl. “Seriously?”

  “Mmm. Yummy. But it’s not cheap, so I don’t get it very often anymore. Usually only for my birthday.”

  “Ya know, I’m not sure we even have a sushi place in town.” He looks genuinely sorry, because I know, if there was, he’d be adding it to this week’s itinerary. “We have an Italian restaurant that does nice seafood soups. Would that suffice?”

  My shoulders bounce with muted laughter. “Sure, basically the same thing.” Not. “What’s your favorite food?”

  “Pizza.” He says it so quickly, so matter-of-factly. “I was raised on pizza. Also, when is your birthday?”

  “October twentieth. I just turned eighteen two months ago. If you went to college, what would you have studied?”

  My question pulls him up short. His eyes flicker over mine. “Huh… Ya know, I’ve never truly thought that through, since I’ve always only wanted to be in our gym.”

  “But if the gym didn’t exist…?”

  “Maybe veterinary school?” He says it like a question. “It would be kinda cool to work on animals.”

  “Not a human doctor?”

  “Most humans are assholes,” he laughs. “Nah, I’d rather work with animals. You?”

  “I concur. Humans are assholes.”

  He snorts. “I meant, apart from your work in the supermarket, what would you do?”

  “Dance.” I sigh. “I would choreograph massive shows. Then I would sit front row and center to watch what I created.”

  “Do you think you’ll ever get to do that?” He leans closer so the tips of our noses touch. “Will you ever take the risk and do what you love?”

  I lift a single shoulder, and turn my face away so he can’t see into my eyes. “Unlikely. That kind of thing isn’t for a girl like me.” I look back up and meet his gaze. “Despite the fact you’ve called me bitter already, I honestly try not to be. I try to think about the things we do have, and not grow too bitter about what we don’t. Because, honestly? Shit could be worse for us. It has been, and we’ve clawed our way out of that mess. So why the hell would I be sad about the freedoms we fought so hard for?”

  “Cameron!” Will’s voice booms from our room door. “You’re done.”

  Jamie’s eyes flicker to the balcony, then back to me as his grin creeps up. “Your curfew has been called.”

  “Probably best,” I murmur. “I was about to start humping your leg.”

  His eyes turn from laughter to lava. From fun, to fury. “That would be an abomination.”

  “Cam!”

  “I’m coming!” I turn just my head and meet Will’s shadowed eyes. “I’ll be up in a sec.”

  “One more question,” Jamie whispers. He draws my face back around, studies me with flickering eyes. “Have you ever had a boyfriend?”

  It’s funny that he’d ask it that way, when we both know he’s asking if I’ve ever had sex. I could lie. I could come up with a story complete with details and sound effects just for his benefit. Hell, I could make him believe it, because I’ve been training a long time for moments like this. But I don’t want to lie. I don’t want to tell that falsity.

  So I shake my head. “No, I haven’t. I was saving that for someone special.”

  Silence falls down upon us like a warm blanket. But at the same time, snow falls… like a blanket. I remain sitting on the hood of Jamie Kincaid’s car, the engine cooling beneath my thighs, but my stomach warming as he slides his thick, calloused hands to my neck and cups my jaw at the exact angle he wants.

  He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment, a tease, a temptation as my eyes flicker to the movement. Then he inches forward and presses a gentle, intoxicating kiss to my lips until I sigh and he swallows my air down.

  “Jamie…” I whimper.

  Pulling back just an inch, he presses his forehead to mine and breathes heavily. “Goodnight, beautiful Cam.”

  My heart races in my chest and slams against my diaphragm. My pulse flickers, and my blood swirls with intoxication. “Goodnight.”

  “You have to go now.”

  He smiles when I don’t make a move.

  Stepping back, he takes my hands and gently tugs me from his hood. Then he throws an arm over my shoulder and holds me close when the freezing breeze picks up. “I’m gonna see you tomorrow, okay?”

  “How do you know?” I lean against his side and wrap my arms around his stomach. “Maybe I have plans tomorrow.”

  “You do,” he chuckles. “With me.”

  “You’re supposed to be training for your tournament.” I look up as we walk toward the stairs. “You’re kinda busy this week.”

  “I’ve been training since I could walk,” he retorts. “If I don’t know how to do it by this point, then an extra week before fight night won’t change anything.” He stops us at the bottom of the stairs, spins me so we stand toe-to-toe. Then staring into my eyes, he cups my face and pulls me up so I stand on my toes. “Now give my wallet back.”

  I snort and reach back to retrieve the leather from my back pocket. “I was only looking at it.”

  “Mmhm.” He takes it from my hands and slides it into his back pocket. “See you tomorrow. Sleep well,” he murmurs. “Tell me what you dream about.”

  “Cameron. Fucking. Quinn.” Will’s bootsteps stop at the top of the stairs. “I’m gonna count until three.”

  Silly schoolgirl giggles escape my chest. “Aaand our night is over.”

  “One last kiss. Because fuck, I’ve waited a lifetime for our electricity.” Jamie leans forward, unbothered by our security detail, and slides his lips over mine.

  It’s not indecent. In fact, our lips remain closed, our hands clearly visible to anyone who cared to look. Then he pulls back and allows me to lower back to flat feet.

  Turning away after a moment, and stumbling my way up the stairs, I meet Will at the top and let him lead me past our hotel neighbors. The Bakers stand at their door; Kyle’s face is bruised and sore, while his brother merely watches me with a smirk. We pass Miles Walker’s room. And another, a guy I know by sight, but not name.

  I don’t turn back and look for Jamie as Will leads me into our room, but I press my back to the door as soon as we’re in. I lay a hand on my heart when Jamie’s engine starts. And I sigh as he slowly leaves the parking lot and Will stomps his way across our room in a bad mood.

  “Will…”

  “Nope. I can’t hear it. I can’t do it.”

  “There’s something there,” I sigh. “There’s… I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t know what it means. But how do I explain that I know there’s something, even if I don’t know what the something is, or how it got there?”

  He flips the bathroom light on with an angry smack of the wall. “You don’t explain it. You don’t force me to hear it. Because you’re mine, not his. And I’m not okay
with this.” Pipes rattle and thump in the walls, then a moment later, water hits the basin and Will begins brushing his teeth. “I said he’s cool. But he’s testing my leniency, Bubbles.” He pokes his head through the door and glowers, even with white foam on his lips. “That boy is testing me.”

  “He’s testing me too.” I step away from the door and slowly start unzipping the coat I’m wearing. “I was so intent on hating him.”

  “Yeah yeah.” He spits into the sink and chases it with more water. “But there’s something. I know. You already sang about it.”

  “I’m going to spend the week with him.” I toss Will’s coat aside and, darting across the room, I close the bathroom door so I can quickly shed my jeans and switch them out for pyjamas. “I’m gonna try to be free about it, ya know?” I open the door again as soon as I’m dressed. “I’m going to dive in and enjoy it. Because next week, I’ll be back at Han’s, and life will be back to its dreary, black and white self, and I know, I know,” I press a hand to my heart, “I’ll wish I cherished it more in the moment.”

  “Don’t make bad choices.” Will wipes his face on a towel and turns to stand over me. “Swear to god, I need to know your brain is gonna be working at all times. Because if you can’t make me believe, then I’m not letting you out. I can’t risk you.”

  “I’m gonna spend the week falling in love,” I sigh. “And it’s gonna be okay. I know what I’m getting into. And I know the pain I’ll feel next week when it’s over. I’m walking into this with my eyes open, and still…” I step in and wrap my arms around his body. “I want to do it anyway. I want to know what it’s like. I want to know how it feels to love someone that isn’t you. I want to know how it feels to be loved by someone that isn’t you.”

  “It’s a different kind of love,” he grumbles. “And it’s addictive. Men have killed and died for that kind of love.”

  “It’s time I got to experience it. I’m not a baby anymore.”

  “You’ll always be my baby.” Folding his neck, he presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I’m never gonna let go.”