The Gamble

by Kristen Ashley

  “Fuck,” Max muttered and his arm wound around my waist, pulling my lower body tight to his.

  “I think she did,” Mindy whispered, her face again pale and she was watching me closely likely uncertain whether to jump across the table and hold me down or jump into the fray with me.

  I looked at Shauna and told her, “You just called Max ‘honey’.”

  “I’m sorry, Nina, this’ll only take a minute,” Shauna said, having decided that she was not a cold, heartless, cheating, she bitch from hell but, tonight, she was sugar sweet on the surface, however still unsuccessfully hiding the heartless, cheating, she bitch from hell she was to her core.

  “No, it won’t take a minute, Shauna, because in one second you’re going to walk away.”

  “Nina, honey,” Max murmured.

  I threw out a hand my eyes glued to Shauna and declared grandly, “I got this.”

  Max’s arm tightened and he said, “Shauna, Nina’s unpredictable when riled. Do yourself a favor, take off.”

  “Max, seriously, this is important,” Shauna replied.

  “Let’s go back to you calling Max ‘honey’,” I suggested.

  “Nina, again, sorry but I really need a word with Max,” Shauna pushed.

  “I might have been willing to allow that had you not called him ‘honey’ right… in… front… of… me. Now you’ll get one over my cold, dead body,” I retorted.

  “Baby, calm down,” Max said on another squeeze.

  “It slipped, habit,” Shauna said, the ice queen frosting her features for a second before she could hide it, her words meant to remind me she’d enjoyed Max, even if just for awhile then she fought it back and said, again low and fake sweet, “Sorry, really.”

  “Apology accepted,” I declared magnanimously. “Now please, we’re nearing dessert, the best part of the meal. Don’t ruin it.”

  She looked back at Max and said, “Max, you know I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important.”

  “Spit it out, Shauna, and go,” Brody ordered, sounding impatient.

  She didn’t pry her eyes from Max. “It’s private. Max, please.”

  Max’s mouth got tight as he tired of her game and stated, “We don’t share anything private, Shauna.”

  “Max,” she begged and Max’s patience slipped too.

  “Honest to God, Shauna, Brody’s in town and we’re tryin’ to have a nice meal. What the fuck?”

  She realized she was getting nowhere so she changed tacks and announced, “I’m pregnant.”

  The air at our table went static.

  I was watching Max, my lungs burning due to the fact I was not breathing, wondering when he “scraped her off” and if there was a possibility this child was his as I watched him blink slowly.

  Then he growled in his now lethally dangerous, deep, gravelly voice, “Come again?”

  “Can we talk privately?” she repeated.

  “No, Shauna, why are you tellin’ me this shit?” Max asked.

  “Because it’s Curt’s.”

  “Holy crap,” Mindy whispered.

  “Jesus Christ,” Brody muttered.

  “Oh my God,” I breathed.

  “What the fuck?” Max clipped.

  She squatted at the table beside Max and looked up at him.

  “Max, you have to talk to Bitsy,” she entreated.

  “Why in the hell would I do that?” Max asked.

  “Because this is Curt’s baby. Because Curt would have taken care of me, of the baby. He told me so. And because, now, Curt’s gone,” Shauna explained.

  “You have got to be shittin’ me,” Max bit out and I could tell he was beyond angry, he was building up to enraged and it was my turn to put my arm around his waist.

  “Can we talk about this privately?” she asked again.

  “No, Shauna, fuck, I don’t wanna talk about this at all. I don’t even wanna know this shit.”

  She shuffled closer and put her hand on Max’s knee and my eyes honed in on it as she begged, “Curt would take care of me, you know it, you know he would. I can’t afford to raise a baby by myself.”

  “Are you mad?” I asked and her eyes sliced to me.

  “What?” she asked back.

  “Mad? Insane? Crazy? Nutty? Bonkers? Round the twist? Mad?” I explained, my voice rising.

  “Of course not,” she snapped.

  “Then first, get your hand off Max’s knee,” I snapped back and her hand shot away like Max’s skin burned. “Second, trot away and find someone else who might be heartless enough to help you try to fleece Bitsy out of money. You have got to know Max would never do that.”

  “It’s Curt’s child and that’s Curt’s money and Max knew Curt and knows Bitsy and everyone knows Max is fair.”

  “And you were sleeping with Curt when he was married to Bitsy,” I retorted. “Hard knocks but you live by the sword, Shauna, you must be prepared to die by it.”

  Her eyes narrowed and the frost started setting in. “What does that mean?”

  “That means you played with fire now you’ve been burned. Live with it. Now, honestly, just go away.”

  “This is none of your business,” she snapped, standing, the mask slipping completely, now she was staring ice daggers at me.

  “Sorry? I’m sleeping in Max’s bed. They were my jeans Max’s hand was down tonight. But it was you who called Max ‘honey’, you who put your hand on him right in front of me and you who walked up to our table, interrupting a lovely evening and laying this rubbish on us. So I’m making it my business. Go away.”

  “We’re talkin’ about an innocent baby here,” Shauna returned.

  “We’re talking about you still digging for gold even though the vein has run dry and having the sheer gall to walk up to Max in a nice restaurant and try to drag him into it!” I shot back.

  “What’s happening here?” a man asked and I looked over Max’s shoulder with hopes of seeing a manager or someone of that ilk but Harry was standing there.

  “Fuckin’ A,” Brody mumbled.

  Max slid out of the booth. “Everything’s fine, Harry, Shauna was just leavin’.”

  Harry ignored Max and stared at Shauna, asking, “Why’re you botherin’ Max and Nina?”

  “Harry –” Shauna was back to her fake sugar sweet pleading tone.

  “Thinkin’ you can fuck Nina over like you fucked over Bitsy and me?” Harry asked loudly and I studied him somewhat drunkenly, thinking he was a lot less goofy when he was angry.

  “Can we go somewhere private?” Shauna asked demurely.

  “No, everyone in the restaurant already knows you’re a fuckin’ slut, why would we need to be private about it?”

  “Fuckin’ A,” Brody repeated on a mumble and also stood. “Harry, man, seriously, let’s you and me take a walk.”

  “Yeah,” Harry answered. “We’ll take a walk, when Shauna takes a hike.”

  “Harry,” I called. “Why don’t you pull up a chair, have a drink with us?”

  Harry glanced down at me then his eyes cut back to Shauna. “I’d like that, Nina, and I’ll be happy to oblige, soon as Shauna slithers away.”

  “Is there a problem, Shauna?” the man who was having dinner with Shauna was now there.

  “Yikes-o-rama,” Mindy whispered and I gave her a wide-eyed look.

  “It’s fine, Robert,” Shauna replied.

  “You should calm down and sit down,” Robert unwisely advised Harry and he did it in a somewhat threatening way.

  “Yeah? I should?” Harry asked, still loud. “She fuckin’ you now? ‘Cause you should know, a week ago she was fuckin’ me, Curtis Dodd and God knows who else.”

  “As I said, you should calm down,” Robert repeated, stepping forward and Brody brought up a hand to hold him back.

  “Boys, this needs to go outside,” Max ordered, getting closer to Harry.

  “Fair warning, Robert,” Harry declared. “She’ll suck your dick great but, bein’ a woman and able to multitask and all t
hat shit, she’ll have her hand in your wallet while she’s doin’ it.”

  I gasped. Mindy giggled. The manager approached way too late because Robert shook off Brody’s hand and advanced, swinging, connecting with Harry’s jaw and Harry went flying.

  There were some shrieks as Harry landed on a table, taking it down to its side, glasses, plates and salt and pepper shakers going flying. He righted himself, turned and charged, bent double. He hit Robert in the belly with his shoulder and took him back six feet into another table. Glasses spilled, plates crashed and the patrons jumped away as Robert landed then pushed up. Harry couldn’t find his feet, wrapped his arms around Robert and they both went to the ground, wrestling around, grunting and cursing at each other.

  I got up to my knees in the booth to watch them as did Mindy.

  This didn’t last long. Max and Brody waded in, Max taking Harry by the back collar and jeans, lifting him up to his feet and pushing him off. Brody did the same with Robert, pushing him in the opposite direction.

  “Dumbass, motherfucker!” Harry yelled, steak juice, ketchup and horseradish sauce and what looked like wine, butter and sour cream too on his shirt, Max’s hand in his chest, pushing him back toward the front door.

  “Cool it, Harry,” Max clipped still pushing at his chest, Harry shuffling backward, “outside.”

  I watched until the door closed behind Max, Harry turned jerkily toward the front steps, Max’s hand came to his upper back and they walked out of sight. Then I looked the other way and Robert and Brody had disappeared out a glass door that led to a back patio. Shauna, too, had vanished from sight.

  “Wow,” Mindy breathed and I looked at her then she smiled bright. “Neens, babe, you’re a totally fun date.”

  I grinned shakily at Mindy, something caught the corner of my eye, I lunged to the side, grabbed our scuttling waitress by the wrist and asked, “I know you’ve got clean up but when you get a chance can I have an Amaretto on the rocks? A big one.”

  “Sure,” she muttered distractedly.

  “And you have one too,” I told her. “Put it on our bill.”

  Her eyes focused on me and she said, “Hey, thanks.”

  I waved my hand, got off me knees and sat on my behind. “No problems,” I muttered, took a deep breath and looked at Mindy. “You think we’ll ever go out without the night ending in men fighting?”

  “This one was more fun than the last,” Mindy commented.

  “Yes, this is true,” I agreed.

  “Still, it might get old,” Mindy said on a smile.

  “This is true too.”

  “I’ve never had Amaretto. That isn’t a big seller at The Dog. Should I try one?”

  “You have to taste Amaretto before you die,” I informed her, my words dramatic but they were also true.

  “Then that’s a yes.”

  I smiled at her. She smiled back.

  * * * * *

  “My favorite part…” we were all standing beside the Cherokee, me swaying slightly and Brody was reminiscing about our night, “was when Nina told Shauna she was in your bed and your hand was down her jeans. That was fuckin’ awesome.”

  “Say goodnight, Brody,” Max ordered.

  Brody grinned. “Just sayin’.”

  “I liked it when Nina came up with all those words for crazy,” Mindy added, also feeling like waxing poetic about our fun filled evening. “I didn’t even know there were that many words.”

  “I forgot barking,” I informed Mindy.

  “I so have to live in England. You all talk killer,” Mindy exclaimed.

  “And barmy,” I went on.

  “Cool!” Mindy cried.

  “And loopy, batty and crackers,” I carried on.

  Max opened the passenger side door and his hands went to my hips. “Say goodnight, Nina.”

  “’Night!” I called when Max’s hands turned my body toward the door and then lifted me up so I had no choice but to crawl in.

  “’Night, Neens!” Mindy called back.

  “Yeah, Neens, later. Max, bro, be safe,” Brody said.

  “Always,” Max muttered and slammed my door.

  Max disappeared from the window but suddenly Mindy was there. I smiled at her through the window then saw her flatten her hand on it. I lifted my hand and flattened it against hers. She gave me a funny, little smile that I didn’t quite understand before her hand disappeared and she walked away.

  I hummed while I fastened my seatbelt and Max got in beside me. My mind was on Mindy being so very sweet as well as the baked, marble cheesecake I most recently consumed, washing it down with Amaretto.

  “In a good mood?” Max asked, starting the truck.

  “I love Mindy,” I announced.

  “Figure she loves you too, Duchess, you’re a match made in hell.”

  I didn’t really listen to his words, I just kept talking. “That cheesecake was yummy.”

  “You blitzed?” Max asked, his hand on the back of my seat, his torso twisted to look out the rear window to pull out.

  “I’m tipsy, not blitzed.”

  Max twisted back and pulled into the road. “What chance I got you won’t pass out on the way home?”

  I waved my hand in front of me and declared, “Oh, I’ll be fine.”

  “Right,” Max muttered.

  “Can we listen to music?” I requested and Max turned on the music.

  Five minutes later I was dead to the world.

  Chapter Eight

  Concoctions

  “Oh… my… God! I love your house!” I heard my mother cry.

  I blinked away my weird dream into the morning sunlight shining into Max’s loft and I saw his empty pillow. Why I was dreaming about my mother, I didn’t –

  “And you’re gorgeous!” she exclaimed.

  My heart stuttered and my eyes went wide.

  “No,” I whispered, threw the covers back and stopped dead when I saw my body. I was naked except for a pair of white, lace panties.

  My mind flew back to last night, waking up in Max’s arms as he carried me from the car to the house. Me telling him I’d be okay to walk. Him putting me on my feet at the foot of the spiral staircase. Me stumbling up, taking off all my clothes but my underwear and my shoes and falling face down in bed.

  And that was it.

  Oh.

  My.

  God.

  “I love it here!” my mother shrieked, the sound jerking my mind from my dismaying thoughts and my body into motion. “Steve, I want to move here.”

  I heard male mumblings but I’d located Max’s shirt from last night on the floor and snatched it up. I shrugged it on, buttoning it at the same time I was running across the room and down the stairs.

  I hit the bottom and saw Mom standing, looking out the window, her arms up and straight out at her sides as if she was calling to the Mountain Sun God to shine his blessing on her. Max was standing a few feet away from her smiling, wearing nothing but his pajama bottoms. Steve was standing as close to her side as he could get with her arms spread wide, also smiling. Steve’s smile was indulgent to Max’s entertained.

  “God’s country!” Mom declared loudly.

  “Mom, what on earth?” I asked, walking toward them and Mom whirled.

  “Neenee Bean!” she screeched and rushed up to me, throwing her arms around me and giving me a fierce hug.

  I forgot to be shocked by Mom’s surprise visit when I felt her arms around me. Mine went around her and I hugged her tight.

  “This feels good,” I whispered into her hair.

  “Oh yes, sweetie, the best,” Mom whispered back.

  I felt her hands gather up my hair and she pulled away, holding my hair at the back.

  “I like your hair this long,” she observed, her eyes doing a Mom Scan.

  “Thanks, you look good,” I observed, my eyes doing a Daughter Scan, seeing Mom looked fit and healthy, her skin tan, her hair perfectly dyed the blonde she declared she’d never let go and pulled softly bac
k in an attractive, mature-lady’s ponytail at her nape. Her turtleneck and slacks were trim, neat and fashionable.

  All pure Mom.

  “Swimming three times a week, gardening, golf and a good diet. And you have to moisturize, Neenee Bean, day and night. Don’t forget.”

  “I don’t.”

  “I know, sweetheart, your skin is flawless, always was. Though, Nina,” she admonished, her eyes narrowing on my face, “you shouldn’t go to bed with your makeup on. If I taught you nothing, I taught you that.”

  “You wanna let the big, bad stepdad get a hug in or are you gonna keep her all to yourself?” Steve’s rumbly voice asked from close and I stepped back and looked up at him.

  Steve was big and tall, had gone only slightly soft, not losing his lean physique or his broad shoulders. His hair was all gray and he didn’t care most likely because it was a thick, silvery gray and it suited him. Unlike Mom, who was dressed for lunch with the girls, Steve was wearing jeans, comfortable walking shoes and a flannel shirt. He’d been a maintenance engineer and before he retired he’d supervised a complex of eight buildings.

  He was also a lovely man.

  “Hi Steve,” I said and slid into his arms for one of his deep, tight, bear hugs.

  “Good to see you, doll,” he said to the top of my head.

  “You too, Steve.”

  “Oh!” Mom cried and Steve let me go so we could turn to her but he kept an arm around my shoulders. When we faced Mom, we saw she was addressing Max. “We get to know each other I’ll get to hug you.”

  It was then I remembered to be shocked by Mom’s surprise visit. And at that moment, I added horrified.

  “Mom!” I snapped and Mom turned to me.

  “I get to do it when he doesn’t have a shirt on too. I’m calling it now,” Mom declared.

  “Speakin’ of that,” Max muttered, grinning broadly but heading to the stairs. “I’m gonna get dressed.” He looked at me when he passed and said, “Babe, can you start coffee?”

  “Um… yes,” I replied.

  His eyes dropped to my shirt and I caught them darkening before he turned his head away and went up the stairs.

  “Nina, sweetie, this house, that view, that man. My God!” Mom cried.