“I fold.” He sighed, running a hand through his thick, black hair.
“You haven’t even done the swap yet,” Toby scoffed.
“I want to play more than three rounds. I’m not wasting my money on a bad hand. Know when to fold ‘em.” Max nodded, wincing at his no doubt late decision. His indecisiveness, and probably Seth raising the stakes, had already cost him two bucks.
I grinned at Max and saw the relief wash over his face as he put his cards down.
Toby looked to Seth.
“One.” Seth threw his card onto the table as Toby set the top card aside and threw him a new one. I watched Seth’s face as he slipped it into his hand. His lips pursed to the side, a slight frown marring his features. I pulled his mask back up and noticed he was smiling. That little trickster.
Dad asked for two cards and his expression rose with confidence. The exchange obviously improved his hand.
I held my breath and threw in my four of hearts and king of spades and got back a five of clubs and a two of spades.
Well, not quite the straight I was looking for, but at least I had two pair. Admittedly they were pretty low pairs, but they were something.
Toby exchanged three cards and his frown deepened. Oh man, he had nothing.
A second round of betting ensued. Seth sat confident in his position, raising the bet by three dollars. Dad twitched a little then folded while Toby and I met the bet and then Toby went on to raise again. What an idiot! He had nothing.
I put his mask back in place and noticed his confident smirk. From the worry shimmering on Seth’s face, he was obviously buying into Toby’s bluff. Man, I wanted to say something so bad, but I couldn’t.
Seth’s lips twitched as he gazed down at his chips. Toby had brought the bet up to nine dollars, which was nearly half his chips. If he lost the round, he’d be out of the game pretty damn quickly. Being the sensible man he was, Seth quietly folded against Toby’s smirk.
I narrowed my eyes and picked up two more chips.
“Call.” I threw them into the pot and looked at Toby. My brother’s head tipped to the side, uncertainty whistling over his expression as he stuck his chin out.
“You sure about that, sis?” His eyes narrowed.
“Oh, I’m sure.” I grinned.
Clearing his throat, he laid his cards down with a sigh and I whooped with laughter as I laid down my two pair.
“What!” Seth looked at Toby’s nothing hand then glanced at mine. “Aw, man! I had two pair, as well. Nines high. I would have won.”
With a giggle, I pulled the chips toward me and neatly started stacking them. “You’ve got to have faith in your hand, Seth.”
“If it wasn’t for Toby’s stupid smirking over there, I would have.”
I laughed. “You should know better than to believe your little brother.”
Toby gave me a glare and mumbled, “Beginner’s luck,” throwing his cards at Max. I pushed my cards toward Max, who collected them and began to shuffle the deck.
Sitting back with a grin, I rubbed two chips together and waited for round two to begin. The game was definitely improving my mood. I was going to relish cleaning Toby out of every last penny.
4
Eric
Mom’s house was quiet as I approached. I knocked on the door and let myself in, praying they weren’t in bed or something gross. Thankfully they were sitting on the couch, watching TV. Cliff’s legs were perched on the coffee table and Mom was draped against him, her head resting on his shoulder.
“Oh, hey.” Mom grinned at me. “What are you doing here?”
“Family thing at Caity’s place.” I pointed over my shoulder, inching into the room and flopping onto the one-seater adjacent to the television.
Cliff smiled at me then turned back to the screen, obviously not that interested in striking up a conversation. I eyed him carefully. I did like the guy; he seemed nice. I just really hated how much he reminded me of my father.
Why did Mom always go for men like that—long and lean with shaggy hair like mine?
I resisted the urge to openly scowl and turned back to Mom. Her eyes were bright, her dark hair shiny. Her fine features and high cheekbones made her beautiful. She always looked young for her age. It helped that, lately, there were no bags under her eyes and she actually looked happy and relaxed. I felt my shoulders loosen.
“Where are the girls?” I listened out for my little half-sisters, surprised they were in bed so early on a Friday night.
“They’ve moved in permanently with their father now.” Mom’s voice was tight, her lips pinching into a line.
I suddenly regretted my decision to leave Caity behind. I could have done with a read on my mom right then. She obviously didn’t love the fact she’d lost the girls, but I couldn’t help wondering if there was more to it. Maybe she felt like she’d failed them or something.
“When did that happen?”
“Just last week.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
She shrugged, a tight tense one. “Their daddy’s a strong man and he really wanted them full-time. His new wife is all nice and sweet so, you know, it’s probably for the best. You don’t come by hardly at all, so they had no reason to stick around.”
I frowned at her snarky tone, but chose not to say anything about it. “When do you have them next?”
“This weekend. Their father’s dropping them off tomorrow morning.”
“Make sure you tell ‘em I said hi. Give me a call if you like. Caity and I can take them to the beach.”
“Don’t trouble yourself.” She turned back to the TV, resting her head on Cliff’s shoulder.
I swallowed, not enjoying the guilt trip. I used to pop home all the time when I first started college, and if I was honest it was purely for the girls. After their dad moved back to town, I didn’t feel the same sense of responsibility. They had started spending way more time with him and I wasn’t really needed anymore. I hadn’t realized Mom was feeling it so badly. To be honest, I thought she’d barely noticed. But now that the girls were gone too...
I pressed my lips together, swallowing down my sigh. Looked like I needed to start making more of an effort again.
“How’s work?” I decided to go for a neutral topic.
“Oh, you know. Nails are nails.”
“Still enjoying it, though?”
“For now.” She shrugged.
Mom didn’t have to worry about money. Her job was just to stop her from getting bored, and she’d always been into beauty stuff. She worked at a pretty nice place and had even done Caity’s nails a couple of times.
She’d had a trust fund set up years ago, when her parents died, and she basically lived off the interest, gifting a portion to me every year, which I stuck in a bank account and only used when I had to. The fund also paid for my college education and it’d meant I hadn’t had to work and study, which I was grateful for. I had no idea how long that money would keep coming to me, though. I guessed once I graduated and got myself a job, I’d be looking after myself.
I was running out of polite conversation. The main purpose of my visit was to check Mom wasn’t being beaten or downtrodden, and that the girls were safe. Looked like that was the case. It was a huge relief.
“Well.” I stood from the chair. “I better get back. I just wanted to check you were okay.”
“Thanks.” She forced a small smile and part of me wanted to tell her I loved her, just to get a proper grin, but it felt false.
I mean, yes, I did love my mother, but we definitely didn’t have the kind of relationship where you said that stuff out loud. She knew I didn’t agree with many of her relationship choices and when I started challenging her on them a few years back, something between us kind of died. She pulled back and I didn’t feel like I should apologize for speaking the truth. So we settled for nice talk with an underlying knowledge that we may not see eye-to-eye, but we’d always be mother and son.
I bent down and kissed her cheek. “Have
a good night, Mom.”
“You too.” Her gaze softened with a real smile.
I squeezed her shoulder and headed back out the door. Breathing in a lungful of air, I shook the awkward nerves off my shoulders and headed back to my girl.
Caity was right. Of all the people in my life, her and Gramps were the only ones I couldn’t do without. It made me sad to honestly admit that, but it was true. Mom and I would never be close.
I knocked and let myself back into Caity’s house. Closing the door behind me, I heard murmurs from different areas of the house and then a loud, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Turning for the dining room, I spotted Caity laughing as she pulled a pile of chips toward her.
Toby groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “I don’t want to play with you anymore! No one ever calls my bluff!”
Caity shrugged. “Maybe if you didn’t play it so often, it wouldn’t be so easy to call.”
His glare was dark with irritation. Collecting the one chip left in front of him, he tapped it on the table with a low growl.
Caity’s father burst with laughter and squeezed his daughter’s shoulder. “Nice going, Peanut. You’ve taken us all by surprise.” He glanced up and noticed me. “How much poker have you three been playing down in San Diego?”
I chuckled, approaching the table and kissing her cheek. “My Gramps loves the game.”
“Are you here to pick her up?” Toby snatched up the cards, tapping them on the table before breaking them apart to shuffle them. “Can you take her, please?”
“You don’t want me to keep playing?” Caity gave Toby a cheeky smile while the rest of the men at the table laughed.
Sliding the chips towards her father, she waited for him to add it up and hand her eighty dollars.
I raised my eyebrows. “Impressive.”
“This girl is a poker magician. I don’t know how, but she plays like a pro. Your grandfather must be a pretty good teacher.”
I swallowed back my chuckle, knowing exactly what made my girl so amazing. “He is.” I cleared my throat and grinned.
Caity stood, folding the notes and sliding them into her back pocket before bending down to give her father a kiss.
“See you guys later!” she called into the living room.
“Good luck on Monday, sweetie. I hope it goes well,” Caity’s mother called back.
“And stay out of trouble!” Layla added. “No more involvement with the police this year.”
Caity rolled her eyes at me, her cheeks heating with color.
“I’ll make sure of it,” I called back, squeezing Caity’s hand and pulling her out the door.
The night air felt great against my skin. Being outside always did my soul good. Wiggling my fingers out of Caity’s grasp, I patted her back pocket. “Putting your powers to good use, I see.”
Her grin was sheepish as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
“I know I shouldn’t cheat, but I just really wanted to put Toby in his place.”
“Don’t feel bad.” I unlocked the jeep and held the door for her. “The look on Toby’s face when I walked in was so worth it.”
She chuckled. “I think it’ll be permanently burned in my memory. Cleaning him out was the best feeling ever, babe.”
I closed her door with a grin and ran around to my side.
“I probably should have rigged it so the others were left with some cash, too.” She bit her lip.
“Maybe next time.” I winked and gave her knee a little squeeze. “Fancy a detour on the way back to my place?”
“Sure. Where are we going?”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “Let’s make love in the moonlight tonight.”
The look in her eyes made my insides simmer. Without another word, I started the engine and spun the car around, heading for the private little cove we discovered over the summer. The perfect spot to show Caity how much I loved her, in the purest place I knew.
5
Caitlyn
I shouldered the door open and slumped into my dorm room. It was Monday and I was already tired. We’d only been back at UCLA for one full week. Although I was determined to start the year off better than the one before, it didn’t look like the workload would be any easier. I dumped my binder onto my desk, slid the bag off my shoulder and fell face-first onto the bed.
There was no hurry for me to shower or anything. Eric had a late lecture on Mondays and tended to head home straight after that. I’d see him Tuesday night.
I twirled a curl around my finger, wondering how I would spend my evening. I really needed to get on with my readings. If I got behind in the first couple of weeks it’d be a mad catch-up around exam time, and I wasn’t sure I could cope with the pressure. I grimaced; the thought of study didn’t thrill me. I sometimes wondered if I was cut out for college life, because I certainly wasn’t inspired by it.
The door burst open, making me jolt.
“Caitlyn, this is huge.” Piper, my gorgeous roommate, swung the door shut behind her, throwing her bag on the bed and spinning in a circle before perching on the edge of my bed. “This is epic. This is epically huge.” Her petite hands spread wide.
Perching up on my elbows, I looked at her dancing green eyes. “I take it you have some good news.”
“Yes!” She lightly slapped my leg.
My eyebrows rose in expectation and she did a little happy jiggle. “Matt’s decided to quit college and move back to Utah. I have no idea why, BUT...”
And pause for effect.
“But...?” I pushed my chin forward, waiting for more.
“Hello! Caitlyn!” She slapped my leg again. “There’s now a room available at the guys’ house. A room we can have!”
My head shot back into position, my pulse accelerating as the news sunk in. “You want to move in with Scott and Eric?”
“Ya-huh!” She jumped from the bed and moved to her side of the room, unzipping her bag and pulling out her textbooks. “This is going to be so amazing. I can’t wait!”
Piper got distracted by her makeup kit, pulling out her gloss and running it over her lips. It was like a habit she couldn’t break. The girl had the world’s shiniest lips, I swear.
I sat up, swinging my legs over the bed. “That’s kind of huge, isn’t it? Moving in with our boyfriends?”
“Why?” She popped the stick back into the tube and twisted it before turning to face me. “I’m going to be living with Scott eventually anyway.”
“You seem pretty certain.”
She shrugged. “After all the crap I went through in high school and then the whole near rape thing my junior year, Scott and I took things real slow. In fact he said he wouldn’t sleep with me until I was sure I wanted to marry him.”
My mouth dropped open. “He knew he wanted to marry you in high school?”
Piper shrugged. “Apparently he’s been in love with me since moving to Palm Springs, but I was just too stupid to notice. That night he busted in and saved me from that mondo creep…” She shuddered. “It was like destiny or something. It seriously did not take me long to work out we’re meant to be together. We’ve already talked about it. I know we’re not officially engaged yet, but we will be one day.” She dropped the gloss back in her makeup purse and zipped it closed.
She glanced back at me, her glowing smile faltering. “Caitlyn, I can’t believe you’re not all over this.”
“It’s just, you guys are so young.”
Perching on her bed, she leaned forward, her expression taking on a quality I hadn’t seen before. I was tempted to peel her mask away and see what was behind it, but it was too beautiful. I didn’t want to ruin it.
She gave me a soft smile. “I may not have decided my major yet. I might have seven different careers before I finally retire, but I know no matter what my future holds, I’ll be with Scott Ferguson. He’s my constant and the only thing I am completely certain of. Why should I hold off moving in with him because of what other people might
think? I don’t care. They can say whatever they want.” Her smile grew, her eyes matching Christmas lights as she gazed at me. “I just...I know, Caity. I know with every fiber of my being that I’m supposed to be with him.” She shrugged. “Scott’s my one. Don’t you feel that way about Eric?” Her head tipped to the side, confusion wiping that pure, love-struck look off her face.
I sat back and thought for a second, not wanting to be flippant with my answer. Nibbling my lip, I looked to the ceiling, picturing my boyfriend and unable to stop a smile forming. “I can’t imagine being with anyone else, ever... but it does seem really soon to move in with him.”
“You’re not moving in with him. You’re moving in with me.” Piper winked. “He’ll just be around.” She waved her hand in the air.
I chuckled at her cheeky grin.
“Oh, come on!” She squeezed my knee. “You have to come with me. Besides, it’s not like you’ll be sharing a room with him.”
I tipped my head, giving her a dry look. “You’ve seen Eric, right?”
She bit her lip with a grin.
“I’d get nothing done. Like study would never happen.” I paused, actually loving the sound of that, but knowing better. I pressed my lips together. Oh, man, the proposal was so damn tempting. Move in with Eric. Live with a great bunch of people, off campus. It would be epic! But...
“Look, you’ll be fine.” She flicked her hands in the air. “You can study in the library.”
I frowned, still not sure why I wasn’t buying into this.
Would Eric be cool with me moving in?
Would my parents?
I couldn’t imagine it. That conversation would no doubt end up being a big talk about my future and if I was really old enough to settle down with someone.
“I’ll be your sex police.” Piper’s comment snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Excuse me?”
“You know, like, you can’t do it until your homework is done.” Piper laughed then jumped up with a squeal. “Caitlyn, this is going to be so awesome! We can move in next weekend! I’m so excited I can barely stand it.” Spinning around, she reached for her purse, checking her wallet and phone were inside. “I’m heading to Student Services now to let them know my change of plans. Do you want to come?”
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