by Sara Hess
I grabbed my bag and pulled out the cloths I’d brought for the party. A nicer pair of second hand jeans that didn’t hang on me and a soft light blue, slightly oversized sweater that fell just past my butt. The blue sweater had been an atypical purchase from my normal dark colors but the color had just called to me. My ensemble was a lot different than Amanda’s skinny black jeans with almost knee high black boots, and a long sleeved soft pink wispy shirt…that didn’t hide her butt.
I was pulling on my socks and boots when Amanda came back.
“Ooh, I love that color on you. You have the most amazing blue eyes and that color makes them really pop.” She flicked her fingers in demonstration.
I stood and my five foot five frame, in boots, was petite compared to Amanda’s five foot nine in heeled boots.
“I want to try something and if you hate it don’t worry about undoing it.” She bent down and cuffed my pants legs up over my boots. She straightened back up. “What do you think? It gives you a more carefree look.”
I chuckled at her remark. I bent to look at my feet and my hair flowed forward obstructing my view. Sweeping it to the side I examined the change.
“It doesn’t make me look shorter?” I asked.
“No, your boots are high enough that it actually accentuates you height.”
I shrugged and smiled. “Okay.”
“I’m sure Nic is biting at the bit so let’s go put him out of his misery.” Amanda joked with a snicker.
I followed Amanda down the stairs and from the increase in noise level it sounded like more people had shown up. At the bottom she hooked her arm in mine and some of my anxiety settled at her show of support. We stepped around the corner to a roomful of about twenty guys and ten girls. Several gazes looked our way as we entered. The rest stayed glued to whatever was playing on the television. A couple of the girls smiled and waved to Amanda while several just stared. Anxiety coiled tightly in my belly at the attention.
Nic was standing behind the couch and he had looked over immediately at our entrance. I smiled shyly but I’m sure my expression read ‘please rescue me’. Yet, he just stood there staring at me, and I swallowed feeling uneasy. Why was he just standing there staring at me? He’d done that the first time at the restaurant.
There was a girl standing beside him; a very pretty girl in an extremely short skirt with a very low cut blouse. She reached out and touched his arm. He blinked and looked down at her with a frown. Then his gaze came back up and he sidestepped around her to walk toward me. There was so much heat in his gaze that my insides quivered. He had almost reached me when another body blocked his path.
“Hi, I’m Brody.”
I stared up in surprise at the tall smiling male in front of me. He had sandy brown hair and really dark brown eyes.
“Uh, hi.” I replied.
His gaze roamed over my body and I took a step back reflexively the quiver in my belly bottoming out. I was never comfortable when guys looked at me that way. The next second Nic was beside me, his arm around my waist. Leaning over he kissed my forehead and the quiver in my belly was alive again.
“Brody.” Nic’s voice was friendly but there was an underlining edge to it. “This is Carrie, she’s with me.”
Brody expression twisted. “Of course she is.” He said in resignation looking me up and down again. I leaned in closer to Nic. “Although, I have to say she looks a little too sweet for you, not your usual type.” He remarked with cynicism.
Nic squeezed my side and gave me a smile. “Well, she’s my only type now.”
My entire body warmed at his words.
Brody’s expression morphed into astonishment. Nic ignored him and turned to Amanda who was watching the whole display with a huge smile. As Nic turned he situated me in front of him so that he covered my back and wrapped two arms around me loosely. I felt surrounded by him, but safe.
“Thanks for helping Carrie, Amanda. I appreciate it.” Nic rumbled from above my head.
Amanda grinned widely. “Oh, no problem, no problem at all. “ She replied. Noah snuck up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist, only tighter. A stab of longing hit me wanting to feel Nic’s arms tight around me like that. I must have shifted unconsciously because Nic’s embrace constricted and his face rubbed my hair. I heard him inhale and a shiver overtook me.
Noah gave me a smile. “Carrie, you look great. If Amanda didn’t have a death grip on my balls I’d give Nic a run for his money.”
I gasped a laugh out. Nic groaned. Amanda’s just grinned.
“You know it, baby.” She said winking at me. Turning in his arms she kissed him. “Now let’s go get me drunk so you can take advantage of me.”
“Oh yeah.” He exclaimed with a salacious grin as he pulled her away.
“Do you want to get something to drink?” Nic whispered in my ear. Tingles erupted everywhere.
I swallowed and croaked. “Just some water, please.” I’d never had alcohol and wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I know I didn’t want to initiate myself at this moment.
As we turned to leave I noticed that almost everyone in the room was watching us with varying degrees of astonishment, and the girl who’d touched him was scowling heavily. I was glad we were going to another room.
Nic enfolded my hand in his and pulled me after Noah and Amanda. He leaned over and breathed in my ear. “You look beautiful.”
My cheeks heated and I tipped my head down. Having my hair loose had some advantages. “Thank you, Amanda did it.”
“No she didn’t, you’re always beautiful, and not just on the outside.”
The genuineness and meaning of his words hit me in the chest. Did he really see me that way? I had the urge to hug and squeeze him tight. I settled on leaning into his side further.
We walked into the kitchen, a huge kitchen, with a large dining area attached. Located in the center of the dining room was a table sitting six, filled with guy’s playing cards. Two of the card players were Nic’s roommates; Seth and Landon. I hadn’t been officially introduced yet, but they weren’t difficult to identify from what Amanda had told me and having met them before. There were also several men and women milling around watching the guys play cards, eating pizza and snacks from bowls on the counter, and getting drinks from big garbage pails. One pail held water bottles and the other held sodas.
“Water, or would you rather have a soda?” Nic asked, maneuvering us around everyone.
I examined the soda offerings and decided on a Squirt, Nic grabbed water. He walked over to several large stacks of pizza boxes and slipped two slices on a paper plate and then led me over to the dining table pulling up two folding chairs between Seth and Landon. Everyone at the table stared at us as we sat down. I smiled hesitantly at Seth and Landon but avoided the others eyes.
“Carrie, you remember Seth and Landon, my roommates.” Nic sat me next to Seth and himself by Landon. They moved to make room and Nic slid the pizza plate in front of me. I gave him a grateful smile; I was pretty hungry.
“Carrie.” Seth grunted with a crooked smile before looking back at his cards.
I couldn’t help smiling at Seth’s grunt. He’d acted the same at the restaurant. His crooked smile revealed a flash of a dimple on one side that was absolutely endearing on his rough features.
“Seth,” I rumbled back. His lips quirked but his eyes remained fixed on his cards.
“Hey, Carrie.” Landon said, bringing my attention over to him. He was staring at me looking both bored and curious at the same time…weird.
“Hi, Landon.” I acknowledged cautiously.
The other guys at the table were staring at me with avid interest and my face burned in discomfort. I shifted in my seat and played with my plate.
Nic leaned back and stretched his arm over the back of my chair. “These other knuckleheads are some of my other teammates; Jeff, Roman, Greg, and Jax.” Nic growled, pointing at each one as he introduced them. I don’t know if it was Nic’s growl or the pointing, but it
broke their concentrated stares. They all said a quick ‘Hey’ and returned their attention to their cards. They still sent plenty of looks my way, but I was able to breathe a little easier.
“You guys played a great game today.” I congratulated, hoping they’d get into some big discussion over it and forget about me.
“Hell yeah, we did,” Jax exclaimed with a victorious smile.
Just as I’d hoped it set off an avalanche of lacrosse chatter and trash talk. I ate one slice of pizza listening in avid interest. It was quite funny watching them praise each other in offensive ways.
Nic’s hand began rubbing my back at one point. It was warm and relaxing, but the warmth spread to other areas of my body that made it not so relaxing. Then he brought his arm forward and settled his hand on my leg just above my knee. I tensed up at first but his hand just rested there and I calmed after a while, but remained extremely conscious of it.
I tried distracting myself by paying attention to the card game the guys were playing. The dealer would distribute two cards to each player and then lay some out in the middle. Everyone would ‘ante in’ some chips into a pile, and the dealer would then pass out more cards. If someone wanted to remain in the game they would have to ‘ante in’ more chips, or if they didn’t they folded. Each chip had a separate denomination. The person with the best hand at the end won the pot. I heard phrases such as; two of a kind, three of a kind, full house, and straights.
I leaned over toward Nic. “Are they playing Yahtzee, but with cards?” I asked quietly.
The noise level had been rising steadily in the house as more people arrived, but I must have been louder than I thought because the whole table snorted and laughed at my question. I flushed.
Nic chuckled. “In some ways it’s like Yahtzee. It’s called Texas Hold’em. It’s a poker game.”
Landon snorted again and said condescendingly. “And this ain’t no child’s game.”
I bristled at his tone. “Well, that was a double negative with an improper contraction, and it looks like a game of chance which is the definition of a child’s game.” I commented.
A couple of ‘Oohs’ came from the guys and Nic and Seth laughed.
Landon scowled and looked at me in utter seriousness. “This is a game of strategy. It takes skill to know when to hold’em, and when to fold’em.
There was some shaking of heads, groans of ‘ahh man’, and ‘lame’ exclaimed around the table.
I looked at Nic. “Was that some kind of quote by some famous poker player?” I asked grinning.
Landon interrupted before Nic could answer. “The most famous of gambling men.” Landon asserted in scornful amusement.
“I’ve been watching and it doesn’t look that hard.” I stated just as scornfully, holding back my amusement.
Landon quirked an eyebrow at me and then looked at Roman. “Deal her in; I’ll cover her. Nic, no helping.” Landon set a handful of his chips in front of me. Everyone sat up a little straighter all of a sudden.
Nic straightened up beside me. “I’ll cover her.” He grumbled forcefully.
I sat up straighter at the sudden intensity emanating from everyone. “Cover me for what?” I asked confused.
“The money that you bet.” Nic answered. He grabbed a slip of paper out of the wall table behind him and began writing on it.
Crap! “Money! I thought it was just for fun. I’m not going to spend your money.” I squeaked.
Nic grabbed my knee and squeezed making me jump. He gave me a wicked grin. “It’s not much, and I want to see what you can do?” He set the slip of paper next to me with all the possible hands in their winning order.
The cards were already being dealt. Everyone put their ‘ante’ in the pot after a quick glance at their cards. Nic relaxed back in his seat, and I stared down at the two cards laying face down in front of me in nervousness. Taking a deep breath I looked at my two cards; a two of hearts and a five of clubs. I put a happy grin on my face and then cleared it quickly and looked back at everyone. They were all watching me intently.
“So now the dealer puts cards down in the middle, right?”
“Yep.” They all replied.
Three cards were placed face up; a seven of spades, jack of hearts, and a three of diamonds. I stared at the cards in interest and then back at my two cards. All the guys placed their bets and then waited on me. I threw my chips in. Another card was placed in the middle; a jack of diamonds. Another round of bets went around the table. I frowned and looked at the list next to me, and then at the cards on the table, and back at my cards before placing my bet. The last card was then placed; a four of clubs. Betting than became serious. Jeff, Greg and Seth folded. Roman bet and Landon raised by a lot. I studied my list and then the cards again very carefully making sure to stare hard at Landon’s two cards. Then I folded too.
Roman ended up having two pairs, but Landon had three jacks so he won. I picked up my cards again and compared them to the list before throwing them on the discard pile face down.
Landon laughed. “Did you throw away something good? Got to have the balls to go all the way.”
“Landon,” Nic growled.
“Nic, it’s okay.” I patted his knee. He tensed up at my touch and I flushed at what I’d done. I went to pull away but his hand slapped down on mine stopping me, holding my hand in place on his knee. I looked back to see him giving me a heated look.
More cards were dealt and Nic released my hand so I could play. We played several more hands. I folded two more hands that I pretended were really good. Bet low and won on a mediocre hand that I shouldn’t have won. I lost a few hands and folded a couple more hands, but made sure everyone saw my cards. I got a really good hand but kept my betting low and won it. After throwing away two more hands a perfect one came up.
It was a potential straight flush with a six, seven, and eight of clubs, but there were also two kings.
Everyone was still in and had been betting high, and the pot was substantial. I restrained my giddiness and kept looking at my cards and the list and when the final bet came up I hesitated briefly before pushing most of my chips in. I felt a nudge and looked behind me. Nic gave me a head nod. I smiled and pushed the rest of the chips in. Everyone groaned and folded.
“I was folding at her second call.” Jax complained.
“Yeah, Nic; you didn’t have to make her throw all in.” Landon complained.
Nic laughed uproariously. “It was a hand that required an all in bet.”
I threw my cards on the table; a two of diamonds and a queen of hearts, and grinned widely. The guys stared at my cards in disbelief. Seth started chuckling but then it turned into a full belly laugh. Other people had been standing watching the game and they all laughed too, except for a few girls who scowled heavily at me.
“You bluffed. I can’t believe you bluffed.” Landon stared at me in amazement.
I raked the chips toward me. “I’m done boys, because you need to know when to walk away and when to run.” I said chirpily.
Everyone’s mouth dropped, Landon’s the most. Nic and Seth were laughing so hard they were having a hard time staying in their seats. I was grinning so widely that my face hurt.
“I was conned; conned by a girl.” Landon lamented.
“Hey; I didn’t con you.” I said with an affronted grin. “I’ve never played this game before in my life, but I did bluff about not knowing those Kenny Roger’s lyrics. It used to be one of my favorite songs.”
Landon’s head dropped on the table. “That’s even worse. I think I’d rather be conned then taken in by a complete novice.”
“I warned you Landon.” Nic laughed. He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulled me close, and kissed my cheek. I blushed at the public display because everyone was watching. “Honey, you just raked in a load of cash; what are you going to do with it all?”
His ‘honey’ made my heart swell. “We’ll, I have a bookie I have to settle with first.” I sighed glumly.
“That’s right, you do.” His expression turned grave. Standing up he pushed my chips in Seth’s direction and led me away from the table. “And his interest is astronomical.” Nic whispered in my ear on the way out of the kitchen. I shivered…in anxiety…or anticipation?
Chapter Fourteen
NIC
I had sat at that table watching Carrie play poker with my teammates barely controlling myself from lifting her onto my lap and staking a clear and undisputed claim. The way my teammates had stared at her had set my teeth on edge. I’d wanted to punch a few of them in the face at the obvious interest in their gazes. Even Seth and Landon’s eyes had lingered over her.
I’d had to settle for fierce scowls and proprietary touches to her person, touches that had caused me more than a little discomfort. Although, that discomfort had initially reared its head when she’d stepped into the room with Amanda; all that glorious midnight hair loose around her face and falling down her back. Her face alone was striking, add in the hair and she was stunning.
This was the first time seeing it loose and it was having an extremely visceral effect on my body. I’d wanted to take her back upstairs and bury my hands and face in it, but there had been thoughts of burying other body parts into her as well, and unfortunately, we were taking it slow.
Leading Carrie out of the kitchen area I blanketed her body from behind and bent down to murmur in her ear. “That was pretty tricky back there.” A shiver ran through her and it reverberated through me causing my cock to quiver. I shuddered in response.
Her voice was husky when she answered back. “Hey, you nudged me on there at the end.”
I forced a chuckle past the ache in my balls and guided Carrie through the horde of people in the hallway. It seemed like every single guy checked her out as we walked past. I sent a glare back at each one. “The look on Landon’s face when he’d realized you’d bluffed that hand was priceless, and then when you said that line from the song; it was like a cherry on top.”
“There’ll be no lasting scars though, right?” Slight apprehension bled through Carrie’s teasing remark and I realized she was worried about how Landon viewed her actions.