Home Tears
Kate leaned closer to Dani. “She’s a piece of work.”
Dani didn’t comment. Jenny was annoying, but she was the least of her worries at that moment. Hearing giggling, she lifted her gaze again. Julia was next to Jenny, and the two were whispering together like best friends.
Julia wasn’t normally a giggler, but Dani caught the martini in her sister’s hands.
“Wonder who’s holding Kathryn’s hand,” Kate muttered underneath her breath. “Isn’t that the sole purpose of Julia’s life?”
Dani shook her head, changing the subject. “Of the two, who’s going to win? Jake or Boone?”
“That’s the guy?”
“That’s the guy.”
“Wow.” Kate was raking him up and down. “I didn’t realize it was him. I thought it was the other guy when we were at Mae’s Grill.” But she approved. Dani heard her friend’s appreciation. “He’s not as hot as Jonah, and I don’t know. Jake’s actually pretty good at poker, but your new guy looks pretty good, too. He looks locked down.”
“He’s not my guy, and he’s angry.”
“How can you tell?”
She remembered how cold he’d been upstairs. “I just know.”
“Judging by how he’s handling himself already, he looks like a contender. He could beat Jake. Too bad Jonah’s at the other table. I think the best table would be you against all three of them. You know their tells.” Her voice picked up. She was getting excited at the thought. “Do you know how to play poker? We could get you in. You come off as this nice girl, but you’ve got an unpredictable streak. Jake doesn’t know what you’re going to do from one day to the next, and I’m guessing neither does your ex. And Jonah—you have to be unpredictable for him to stick around as much as he has. Jonah likes challenges. I love the guy, but he gets bored with girls.”
“I’m not playing poker.” She didn’t know how, but even if she did, wild horses wouldn’t have been able to drag her there. She coughed, tugging at her shirt’s collar. “New topic, please?”
Robbie descended the stairs at that moment. “We can talk about my screwed-up life.” Kate glared at him.
He glanced uneasily around the room until his eyes settled on Kate and Dani. He didn’t move toward them. No one budged, and the crowd clapped as Boone won his first hand.
Jonah won at his table.
Aiden stepped next to Kate and Dani. Her face soured. “I could totally take some of those morons, but no—Jonah has to play tonight. It’s not fair.”
“Why don’t you play until you two have to sit together?”
“Because I’d want to go all the way, and we’d just meet at the championship table. It wouldn’t be good. Trust me.” Someone called her name, and she gave both a forced smile. “And I’m off, playing hostess again!”
“Toot toot.” Kate laughed.
Aiden brandished a hand over her shoulder. “Toot toot!”
Dani didn’t ask. She knew an inside joke when she heard it.
“Look.” Kate tapped Dani’s arm. “Jake’s going all out in the next move. I bet you twenty to nothing.”
And he did. The crowd oohed and aahed. He won the first pot. The loser left, and it was Boone, Jake, and a bearded older guy. There were another three rounds before the bearded guy was forced to leave.
Boone won the fourth pot.
A smattering of clapping and congratulations sounded from Jonah’s table. He was deemed the winner, and he stood to stretch. Dani caught his gaze. He looked from her to Jake and Boone’s table. She tried to read him, but nothing showed. He nodded to her, then headed up the stairs. Dani frowned, unsure if she should follow him, but she stayed. She was going home with Jonah. They could talk then. She wanted to see who won between Jake and Boone.
“Okay.” Kate stole Dani’s attention again. “You see this hand—Jake has to be bluffing. He’s coming across as if he’s got a pair of aces, but I bet that he’s got a pair of sixes. He has to. Your guy is cool.”
Dani gritted her teeth. He wasn’t her guy.
Kate kept talking. “I don’t know what he has, but it’s got to be better than Jake’s hand, and yet—Jake’s still pushing.”
“Why do you think he’s got a pair of sixes?”
“Because when they flipped over the first two cards, Jake tapped the table.”
“What’s the other card?”
“A king.”
“Jake’s got a full house,” Dani proclaimed.
“How in hell do you know that?”
“Because he’s got his full house face on. He looks like that when he’s about to burst from the inside. He’s excited right now, really excited.”
“He’s not making a move.”
“He’s playing Boone.”
“What?” Kate frowned and said again, “What?”
“Jake’s smarter than people think he is. He plays dumb sometimes, and he’s thinking that Boone will make that mistake.”
“Will he?”
“Boone knows that I’d never stay with someone stupid. He’s not going to fall for it.”
Kate’s eyebrows arched high. “Someone’s going to win because Jake just went all in.”
“That’s a stupid move. I don’t know poker that well, but I know that’s a stupid move.”