by Ruby Vincent
“Fuck outta here,” he cried, laughing. “Save your damn self.”
My shoulders shook, melting away the tension. “For real, Jaxson. I wouldn’t want anyone else at my back.” I turned to leave. “I’ll be home before midnight. Check on Adam before you go to bed.”
Jaxson saw me off at the door. He ceased convincing me to stay, but his haunted gaze took up the task just fine. I understood why he embraced Val’s resolution to return to normal. He just came off an intense year. Normal is what we all wanted.
We can only have that if Aiden allows it. Waiting around while he decides isn’t an option.
I blasted Val’s playlist on the drive. Listening to her songs made me picture her hunched over the computer, tongue poking out, and forehead wrinkled in the most adorable flipping way. It had been one week and I missed her like a limb. The scent of her sweet shampoo lingered on my pillow, and it messed me up something serious every time I climbed into bed.
The argument could be made that my boys and I were the kings of assholes. Sultans of insufferable shitheads. The pharaohs of pricks.
Ezra sized people up by what they could offer him and discarded those who came up wanting. Jaxson was as blunt as a pool noodle. He’d tell saps what he thought of them straight to their crumpling face. As for me, I didn’t have many words to spare, and I gave none to people who weren’t worth my time.
But none of us would ever compare to Ryder Shea.
Why?
Because he whisked Val away for two damn weeks and left us sitting here wondering why we didn’t think of it first.
I spent the remainder of the ride cursing one of my closest friends in the world.
Turning onto the final street, I saw straight down the road to the once again dark house. Beside it, Sally house boasted more life. Lights flickered through the gossamer curtains of the living room. Three floors above, the outline of a woman rocked before her window.
I left behind their relative normalcy and climbed the stairs for the Sam house. The door was left open for me again. Without invitation, I let myself into the basement.
“It’s Rick,” someone said. “Rick! Get down here, mate. I’ve got more scotch for you to try.”
A blanket of inky black swallowed me as I descended the stairs, flickering within it was a soft, warm glow. The boys had opted for candlelight. Why?
I stepped off the stairs and froze. Sawyer crowed about seven making perfect, but there were more than seven people here. Thirteen to be exact.
Winston leaned against the bar talking to a blonde back-of-the-head in a short pink dress. Nasir claimed the couch with two girls. His hands rested on both of their knees while theirs roamed under his shirt. Hayes posted up in the corner attempting to suck the organs out of a girl through her mouth. Aiden and the girl on his lap were at the poker table, and the final woman I recognized.
“Hi, Maverick.” Teagan closed the distance, taking my hand and drawing me in. “Glad you could make it.”
“Are we having a party?”
“Party?” Rowen snorted. “A party demands a hundred more people. Four times the alcohol and ten times the nudity. We’re here to play poker, man.”
I glanced at the girl on my arm. “Are you joining us?”
Teagan shook her head. “It’s fatally boring next door. I crashed for the booze.” She smirked at Sawyer. “And to see how long my man can hold out before taking me upstairs and entertaining me.”
“The answer is not long.” Winston rolled up on us, putting a drink in my hand. “We better get this game underway. But first”—he lifted his arm and the blonde girl magically appeared beneath it—“Rick, meet the duchess.”
It was incredible to say that Winston undersold her looks. The statuesque beauty in front of me took the silky tresses and cornflower blue eyes and paired them with a mischievous twist to her lips and a firm hand on Winston’s collar like she had every intention of reining him in. I was looking at a woman with means and the willingness to use them.
“Pleasure to meet you, duchess.”
“Phillipa, please.” She extended her hand in expectation of a kiss. “Lovely to meet you as well.”
“Now that Maverick is here, we can start,” Aiden announced. “Jasmine, if you don’t mind.”
The guys migrated to their original seats, leaving me to claim the chair between Sawyer, Winston, and Phillipa—who climbed on Winston’s lap and secured his arms around her waist. I was getting the feeling the only one not interested in the arranged marriage was the overly fashionable gentleman beneath her.
Aiden zeroed in on them as well. “Winston,” he said. That was it. Just his name.
“Phillipa,” Winston spoke up. “Grab us a drink, would you, love?”
“What do I look like? The maid.” Her voice was syrupy-sweet. Phillipa leaned in and nipped his nose. “Get it yourself.”
She spun, whipping his face with her hair, and flounced off his lap. Jaw clenched, Winston watched her go and then turned to me as if to say, see what I put up with?
“I like her.” Amusement laced my tone. “You two would make a good match.”
“How would you know? We met last week.”
“And yet I can already tell you need reining in.”
Winston laughed. “You and every shrink Winston Abernathy Junior and his consort have sent me to.”
“Guys,” Aiden broke in. “Let’s do this.”
Winston fell silent.
He shifted a look to Nasir. “Explain the rules.”
“All right. Maverick, we—”
I held up a hand. “You don’t need to tell me the rules. I know how to play.”
“We’re playing a different game.”
Looking from him to the poker table set up in front of us, I asked, “Are we?”
“It’s poker,” Sawyer said. “But we play it differently is what he means. You got the idea last week.”
“The idea of what?” I considered myself an intelligent guy. An observant one too. But what the fuck these guys were talking about and why they kept trading looks was escaping me.
“Whoever wins tonight is asked the question and provides the answer. If the majority supports your answer, you keep your winnings. If they don’t, you give it up—all of it.”
I said nothing. Sawyer must have taken that to mean I needed further explanation because he launched into one.
“Like last week,” he said. “The question was what is the function of laws. Aiden won the game, so Winston asked him the question. He offered up his car if he lost and would’ve hauled off Aiden’s winnings if he won. It came down to a tie which you broke. We won’t have that problem from now on.”
“If I win, you ask me a question,” I said slowly. “What about?”
“The guy who lost the most decides that,” Nasir explained. “The question can be on any topic, but it must be one that requires actual thought. Discussion. A stance. Don’t waste time with ‘who is the best Powerpuff girl?’”
“Blossom,” I replied without skipping a beat. “Obviously.”
“Obviously.” Nasir didn’t miss a trick. “That’s why we can skip that one.”
“What’s the point of this?”
“What’s the point of tossing chips and cards around the table?” Aiden asked. “Poker is a game of strategy. Foresight. Anticipation. But life is a game of chance. You survive it by knowing the measure of yourself and where you stand.” He spread out his hands. “We do more than mess around down here. The Sams are about more. If you don’t stand by your logic and convictions to the point you’d bet everything on it, then what’s the point of you?”
My expression wiped clean, giving nothing away besides a raised brow.
“Are you in or out?”
He’s not asking me to sacrifice the duchess on an altar of skulls and poker chips. If I win, I get asked a question. I can handle that.
“I’m in.”
Sawyer clapped me on the back, looking pleased.
If this was a
test—and it was becoming clear all of this was—I seemed to be passing.
The game got underway. The guys were no less quiet the second time around.
“How do you look behind the wheel of a Jag, A?” Hayes slung a playful punch at Winston.
“Like I was born in the backseat of one.”
“Probably conceived in the backseat of one,” Winston shot back. “Your mum still giving it up for loose change?”
“She was,” Aiden replied. “Had to quit because your mom was fighting her for johns.”
“You know us Abernathys always win.”
The Sams kept up the ribbing, jokes, and stories for the whole game. I let it go on unchecked. Their noise wasn’t preventing me from winning. Although, I questioned if I wanted to win now that I knew the outcome.
Who thought up this question and answer game? The Sams see themselves as the best this campus has to offer. But sitting around in a grotty basement and trying to turn a poker game into some intellectual gentlemen’s club? I’d say it reeked of pretention if they weren’t making fart jokes and implying their mothers went legs up in the backseat for cash.
“Darling.” Painted hands snaked around Winston’s neck. “When will this wretched game be over?”
The girls had been drinking and talking on the couch, and the duchess was over it.
Lucky for her I was about to bring the game to an end.
“Nasir?”
Ezra-like eyes glittered as he spread out his cards. “Four aces.”
The boys winced, sealing my fate.
I turned over my hand. “Straight flush.”
Just like that, the hisses morphed into whoops and a few curses courtesy of Nasir.
“All right. We have our winner,” said Aiden, “and our loser by the highest amount.” He inclined his head next to Rowen. “What are you offering?”
“This.” Rowen removed the white gold watch from his wrist.
“Hold on,” I spoke up. “That watch retails at forty-two thousand dollars.”
“I know. That’s why I’m throwing in my canary diamond cuff links.”
“You have to put up at least as much as you stand to gain,” Sawyer explained.
“Right,” I said. “So, he asks me a question. We both give an answer and whoever you guys agree with keeps the money. I’m the new guy. Why wouldn’t you all side with your friend and cheat me out of my winnings?”
“You gotta have more faith,” Aiden replied. “If you can’t, then I’ll tell you there’s no bullshitting. We have to back up an argument with one of our own. Using details and examples of why we agree or don’t, and we do that before we hear your answers. Teagan,” he called.
In a blink the Sally appeared with pens and paper. She passed it around to Sawyer, Aiden, Nasir, Hayes, and Winston.
“Satisfied?” he asked.
“What if we both agree? Rowen and I may vote for the same Powerpuff girl.”
“It will still come down to the better argument. But you can ask for another question if that happens.”
I wasn’t done yet. “And how do I know you didn’t decide your answers hours before I got here? It’s all well and good you writing down your answers before I give mine. Unless you already coordinated them.”
“Fuck’s sake.” Aiden laughed. “You’re a distrustful guy. Did you rub that off on Valentina or did you get it from her?”
“Leave my girlfriend out of this,” I hissed.
He put up his hands. “I apologize. That was below the belt. Fair enough, you’re suspicious. You don’t know any of us. What do you suggest?”
“I supply a list of random questions. He chooses one and we go from there. Deal?”
Aiden swept a look around the table. The guys nodded.
“Fine.”
Silence choked the room while I searched my phone for the questions. Even the ladies cut short their conversation. After a few tense minutes, I found a list of over three hundred discussion topics. No one could say I didn’t give the guy plenty of options.
I passed over my phone.
“Well?” Aiden prompted.
“Some good ones,” said Rowen. “Have to pick one I can defend. Give me a min— Wait. I got it.” Rowen sat up straighter in his seat. “Ready, boys? Rick?”
“Ready.”
“Go for it.”
I dipped my chin in reply.
“Does tribalism and our habit of separating each other into groups help or hurt society?”
“Ooh. Good one,” said Hayes. His pen was in his hand and flying across the page within a breath. The soft scritching of metal tip on paper tap, tap, tapped on my mind. Through it I held Rowen’s gaze, considering what I’d say.
It was an interesting question, and I had an inkling of which way he’d lean. Wealthy. Athletic. Healthy. Attractive. Sam. Claiming membership in those groups had resulted in an enviable life for Rowen Burke. To be fair, it resulted in one for me too.
Teagan collected the others’ answers and then turned on us. “First, Rowen, tell me if it helps or hurts.”
“Helps.”
“Maverick,” she asked me. “Does it help or hurt?”
“Hurt.”
“Good. We have a disagreement.” She squeezed my shoulder as she sat on Sawyer’s lap. “Maverick, you first.”
I launched right in. “Tribalism may be ingrained in us, but it can’t be denied that this habit is responsible for nearly every issue affecting our society today and societies past. Racism. Classism. Sexism. War. Genocide. Ethnic cleansing. Even something as small as which football team won or lost has resulted in fans rioting.
“This ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality has permeated every area of our lives and the damage has been recorded in our history books. It’s something we witness every day. I recognize at its core, it’s what brings us together as families, friends, and communities. Contributing and protecting each other, especially in the ages when we hunted with spears. Tribalism kept us alive to become what we are today. But when we measure the cost—weigh the genocide, chattel slavery, disenfranchisement, hate groups, terrorism, and poverty. To conclude that this has hurt society almost goes without explanation.”
“Well said,” Teagan praised. “Rowen. What do you got for us?”
“Ricky makes an excellent point and I don’t disagree with a word of it. Tribalism is at the root of all of those issues and, of course, it has hurt our society. But despite the bad that’s come with it, I say the good still outweighs, and it comes back to what Maverick said. Without those early humans coming together to feed and protect each other, Homo sapiens would’ve ended their short time on earth in a sabretooth’s stomach.
“But tribalism isn’t just community. It’s the smartest minds coming together to advance science, technology, and medicine. Rarely is a discovery made in a vacuum. It’s done through collaboration. We’ve committed terrible acts in the name of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ but we’ve also achieved new heights while working together to right those wrongs. How can we say the root of all we’ve become is bad, when nothing good would exist without it?”
Rowen punctuated his speech with a bow, soaking in the congratulations from Teagan.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” she continued. “Now I get the fun task of reading these answers. Yea or nay. Let’s see who is walking away with all of it.”
One by one by one, Teagan read the scribbled thoughts of my other five opponents. They each had plenty of examples in both directions, but their final decision was clear. Teagan announced the winner to applause from everyone in the room. Rowen and I stood up to shake.
“Does this mean your little game is over?” asked Phillipa. She sidled into Winston’s arm. “I believe I’m owed a lot more attention than you’ve been giving me.”
“You’re going to get more attention than you can stand.” Winston lifted a squealing Phillipa and tossed her on the table. He whipped her dress over her head with a speed that rivaled roadrunner, and flung it on the tower of chips.
“Finally.” The other girls slinked off the couch, rising up to meet the boys coming for them. In Sawyer’s case, Teagan swung around, straddled him, and began making quick work of his shirt and belt.
And finally I understand what these guys are about.
I hit the bottom step of the staircase as Winston’s pants hit the floor.
“Leaving?” Sawyer asked.
“Yes.”
“Course you are.” Aiden carried his naked date to the pool table. “Committed relationship. A kid, cat, and possible dog. This part isn’t for you, Ricky. But I like you.” He tried to point at me and his date snagged his hand and put it between her legs. “You’re in, man. See you next wee—”
That’s all he got out before she captured his lips. I got the gist.
Booking it upstairs, I sprinted out of the house like Val was hopping on a plane at that moment to come after me.
Thirty minutes later, I trudged through the front door. It was early enough that Jaxson was right where I left him—watching Die Hard in the living room. John McClane froze mid-shout.
“What’s up? How’d it go?”
“I lost over one hundred and forty grand in ten minutes is how it went. How was your night?”
“How the fuck did you lose that kind of money?”
I flopped on the couch. “I’m not even sure myself. These guys— These guys are— They’re Sams.”
“Am I supposed to know what that means?”
“No,” I said honestly. “I’m certain that no one is.”
Chapter Five
Valentina
“Let me get this straight,” I began. “You’ve been playing poker with public enemy number one behind my back—”
“I was letting you enjoy your vacation.”
“You lost over one hundred grand—”
“When you think about it, I only lost ten grand. I didn’t have the rest of the money long enough to get attached.”