Authors: Angela Verdenius
Amused, Sam said, “Hey, Ed?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t try that guilt trip shit
with me.”
Ed didn’t even try to deny it.
“That obvious?”
“Yep.”
“Carly warned me not to try it.”
“She did?”
“Said you wouldn’t be the kind of
bloke to fall for it.”
Wow, how had she known that? Sam
straightened. “She said that?”
“Yeah. She’s a pretty good judge
of character. Well, except for – you know.”
Sam didn’t know, but he really
wanted to. He was just too polite to pry. Damn it.
“Carly said to just ask you
straight out, then leave you alone when you knocked back our offer.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “She said
that?”
“Not in so many words.”
Unable to help but like Ed’s
honesty, Sam was nevertheless curious. “So Carly wants me to come?”
Ed gave him a funny look. “Sure.”
Hmmm
. Sam looked over at
Ed’s house. “Poker.”
“No high stakes. No guns, no
drugs.”
Sam had no doubt there’d be no
drugs, Carly didn’t seem the type, nor did Ed. All of a sudden he wondered when
he’d become so judgemental. Cripes, Ed was just a bloke with tatts who owned a
motorbike shop. There’d been no roaring bikes, no wild parties. It was just a
friendly poker game to which he’d been invited. It was a nice gesture of Ed’s.
And Carly was going to be there.
That last part made up his mind.
“Sure, I’ll come.”
“Great. Seven o’clock. Can’t be a
late finish, Huggie promised his mother that he’d be back to pick up the kids
before eleven o’clock.” Ed took off down the garden path and leaped over the
gate, startling SJ, who hissed at him.
Sam checked his watch, frowned,
peered closer then pulled his arm back. Right. Glasses. Where were they?
Pushing to his feet, he stretched
and started looking. He found them by the garden tap where he’d removed them
to wipe a speck of water off. Now he remembered that he’d seen Carly’s little
car pull into her driveway and had watched her get out, wearing that uniform
and those cute Mary Jane shoes.
Putting them on, he checked his watch.
Six thirty. He better tidy himself up.
By six fifty five he was pulling
on the old bell at Ed’s door while a van pulled into the driveway. Out of the
driver’s seat jumped the big, muscle-bound, bald bikie he’d seen the first time
Ed and Carly had arrived. Out of the passenger side hopped a diminutive little
woman with an Asian heritage.
Amused, Sam eyed the couple. The
little woman as talking to the big bikie, who was muttering ‘Yes dear’, ‘No
dear’, ‘Yes dear’, and rolling his eyes when he spotted Sam.
The door opened and Ed looked
out. “Hey, Sam. Lisa! Huggie! This is Sam, my neighbour from across the
street.”
By this time the big bikie,
Huggie, had climbed the steps, Lisa’s hand in his massive paw. It looked
weird, especially as Lisa was dressed like a sophisticated socialite, all high
heels, make-up, and hair up in an elegant bun. He’d expected a bikie chick
with tatts to equal Ed’s. Lisa looked like she was ready for a charity-fundraiser,
not a poker night.
“Hey.” Huggie nodded.
“Hi,” Sam replied.
“Hello, Sam.” Lisa dimpled at
him. “Ed talk you into a night of debauchery?”
Those words from such sweet lips.
Unbelievable. “I hope not. I’m a quiet kind of bloke.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll fix that.
Carly!” Lisa swept past them all into the house. “I brought chips!”
“Come in.” Ed stood aside.
Standing at Ed’s feet, Crusher
peered nervously past them towards the gate.
“Is he all right?” Sam asked.
“He’s a little shaken still.” Ed
looked down at the dog. “For God’s sake, Crusher, don’t embarrass me.”
“What happened?” Huggie picked up
the tiny dog, cradling him against his chest.
“He had a run-in with SJ, Sam’s
cat.”
At Huggie’s dubious expression,
Sam said hurriedly, “Don’t worry, SJ won’t come looking for him.” And then he
caught sight of two gold eyes staring at him from behind the picket fence. Or
staring at Crusher in Huggie’s arms, to be truthful. “Hang on.”
He ran out the gate, scooped SJ
up, ran across the road, unlocked the door, tossed him inside, relocked the
door, and ran back over the road.
“See?” He said to Huggie, who was
watching him. “Safe inside. Just like Crusher.”
With a grunt, Huggie entered the
house, Crusher hanging over his shoulder.
Grinning, Ed looked from Huggie to
Sam. “In a fight you’d both come out pretty even, except I think Huggie would
know more about dirty fighting than you.”
Glancing at Huggie’s departing
figure, Sam knew they were the same height and roughly the same build, but
that’s where the resemblance stopped. And Sam was pretty sure he knew some
moves Huggie didn’t, thanks to Friday nights in the ER. Then again, Huggie
undoubtedly knew some moves Sam didn’t, so he guessed they were possibly equal.
But he sure couldn’t be bothered
to try them out. Trying to prove who was more macho didn’t interest him. He
was just happy if people got on with their lives and left everyone else in peace.
That was his mantra. Peace, man. He made a mental ‘peace’ sign in his head
and grinned.
Following Ed into the kitchen, he
found the table had been extended from a circle to now an oval shape, chairs
positioned around it. A couple of bowls containing chips and Twisties, a
packet of Tim Tams, and a bowl of mints sat on the kitchen bench. Carly was
opening a large bottle of Diet Coke, and Lisa had the kettle boiling. A couple
of light beers stood next to the Diet Coke.
“Hey, Sam.” She smiled. “Help
yourself to a drink. Tea, coffee, soft drink, beer?”
Before he could answer, Ed popped
the caps off three small bottles of light beer and handed him one, placing the
other in front of Huggie at the table. “Please, Carly, he’ll think he’s at a
girls’ night.”
“Girls’ night was never this
tame,” Lisa said.
“Pillow fights.”
“Don’t you wish.” She smirked.
“Take a seat,” Huggie told Sam.
“We need to get started.”
“In such a hurry to lose your
money.” Ed tsked.
“Just deal.”
“Hang on.” Carly glanced around.
“Who has the toothpicks?”
Toothpicks?
Sam blinked.
“Sorry, forgot to tell you.” Ed
riffled through a deck of well-used cards. “No money, strictly toothpicks. Mostly
because we’re all broke, or near to it.” With a practised move of his hands,
he fanned the cards on the table top, flicked them over, and shuffled them
expertly. “Get your arses over here, girls.”
Lisa sat next to Huggie, Carly
taking the seat across from Sam.
Sam relaxed a little. He’d
brought some money but he had a limit and it wasn’t high. Losing money didn’t
sit well with him, so regardless, he’d have folded early if the betting had
gone beyond his limit. Instead, he could relax and enjoy the game. It was
turning into an okay night after all.
Looking across the table, he
caught Carly’s gaze on him and smiled. When she smiled back, he felt the
warmth of it right down to his marrow.
“Hang on.” Lisa looked around.
“Where are the joints?”
Sam swung his gaze to her. Shit,
surely not…?
“Relax, man.” Huggie studied the
cards Ed dealt him. “The only joint my lady’s had is the one she cooks in the
oven every Sunday.”
“Just testing.” Lisa studied her
cards.
“Ignore her,” Carly advised him.
“She likes to tease.”
“Gee, talk abut me like I’m not
here,” Lisa complained.
“You should hear what I do say
when you’re not here.”
“Oh girlie, you’re going to get
your arse beaten tonight.”
“Kinky.” Ed shivered in delight.
Alan would really like Ed.
Ed tossed everyone a packet of
toothpicks. “Two hundred to a pack. Remember, winner washes and polishes my
bike.”
Huggie sneered.
“If it’s you, I want you in that
pretty little pink bikini I just know you have hidden in the back of your
cupboard.” Ed studied his cards, rearranged them. “Along with the high
heels.”
Yeah, Alan and Ed would get on
like a house on fire.
Amused, Sam checked his own
cards. Good hand. A glance around the table showed Huggie sucking in his
bottom lip, Lisa pursing her lips, Ed continuously arranging his cards before
nodding in satisfaction, and Carly, well, Carly just held her cards quietly and
looked calmly at her friends.
And she played like crap? Sam
couldn’t imagine it. Her friends were bound to give themselves away, whereas
she had a good poker face.
However, it wasn’t long before he
realised that Huggie sucked his bottom lip regardless if he had a good hand or
not, Lisa pulled all kinds of weird expressions at any time, Ed shuffled all
the time, and Carly, well, she couldn’t stay calm all the time. She fidgeted
when she had a bad hand, tried to keep a straight face when she had a good one,
but failed to stop the slight upward curve of her lips, so no matter what she
did, she gave it away.
Yep, Carly was crap at poker.
She was also the first to fold.
With a sigh, she sat back, picking up the almost empty bowl of chips and
proceeding to nibble mournfully on the scraps.
Gleefully raking in Carly’s
toothpicks, Lisa eyed Sam’s medium sized pile. “That’s gonna be mine.”
Sam smiled slightly. “Sure.”
Huggie shot him a look from under
heavy eyebrows, the piercing in his nose catching the light.
Calmly taking a mouthful of Coke,
Sam accepted the cards Ed dealt, arranging them and sitting back.
Lisa was a good player, but she
could be reckless when she thought she was on a winning streak. Within half an
hour, she was finishing up the Tim Tams and watching along with Carly, sighing
when her pile of toothpicks joined Sam’s.
“Card shark,” Ed informed Huggie.
Huggie, eyes gleaming, covertly
eyed both Sam and Ed’s toothpicks. Half an hour later, he was scowling, arms
folded across his chest, watching Sam and Ed battle it out.
Carly was watching with a smile,
cheering Sam on, while Lisa couldn’t make up her mind who she wanted to back,
encouraging first Ed, then Sam.
Sam was more than aware of Carly
sitting opposite, seeing her pluck a mint from the bowl and eat it as she
watched in delight. Man, she looked pretty. He cast her another glance over
his cards. Eyes shining, glossy black hair bobbing around in a high ponytail,
a few strands straggling loose to caress her cheeks which were flushed a soft
pink.
A sound from Ed made him
reluctantly drag his gaze from Carly to find Ed watching him with a slightly
odd expression on his face. But then Ed grinned. “You gonna fold, man?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Want another card?”
“No.”
“Tough guy, huh?”
Sam just watched him calmly.
“I think you’re bluffing,” Ed
said.
“Okay.”
Ed rubbed his chin.
Patiently, Sam waited, his gaze
drifting back to Carly. Lisa was all excitement, bouncing in her chair while Carly
sat enraptured, her eyes shining and lush lips slightly parted. He just bet
her mouth tasted like mint now.
“How about we sweeten the pot?” Ed
broke into his musings.
Sam raised his brows.
“Uh-oh,” Lisa said.
Ed grinned widely. “Yeah, how
about we sweeten the pot, Sam?”
“You want to play for the last of
the Twisties?” Sam queried.
“Small change. Something more
interesting.”
“Here we go.” Huggie sighed.
Carly laughed. “I wouldn’t take
him up on it, Sam. He never does that unless he’s sure he’ll win.”
“Quiet, woman.” Ed pointed a Twistie
at her. “You don’t know me that well.”
“Sorry, Uncle Ed.” Carly dimpled
at him.
“Yeah, show some respect, child.”
Ed turned back to Sam. “You game?”
Sam gave his jaw a thoughtful
scratch. “Tell me what we’re playing for and I’ll give you my answer.”
“I win, you polish my bike.”
Huggie rolled his eyes.
“And if I win?” Sam asked.
Ed’s smile was distinctly sly when
he slid his gaze to Carly.
“Ed.” Expression suddenly wary, Carly’s
back straightened. “Watch it.”
Lisa was holding her breath, her
gaze flicking between Ed, Sam and Carly.
“If you win,” Ed said, “you get to
kiss Carly.”
“Ed!” Carly almost shouted, her
cheeks blazing.
Lisa’s mouth fell open in shocked
delight. “Oh, Ed!”
Sam blinked. “What?”
“You win, you get a kiss from
Carly.”
“You can’t do that,” Carly
objected hotly.
“You’re related to me. I can bet
you,” he replied.
“You dick! You cannot!”
“It was done all the time in the
old days. Some men bet away their wives.”
“This isn’t the old days. Sam!” Carly
swung her gaze to him, and the panic was there in the brown depths. “I’m
sorry. He doesn’t mean it-”
“Do so,” Ed said cheerfully.
“Sam, you in?”
Jesus
. Sam looked at Carly,
knowing deep down inside that it was wrong, that he should refuse on the simple
basis that it wasn’t right, but hell, just looking at her all evening across
from him, the laughter in her eyes, the lushness of her breasts when she leaned
forward, the plumpness of her lips as she chewed on them, bit them, licked
traces of chocolate off them… For the first time in his adult life, he ignored
the respectable thing to do and went right with his desire. “I’m in.”
Lisa gasped and clapped her hands together,
snugging them under her chin. “How romantic!”
“How stupid!” Carly blurted, her
cheeks scarlet. “Ed, if you go through with this, you are a dead man!”