Yeah, motherfucker. I know her more than you ever will.
“Well, everyone’s here. Why don’t we get game night started?” Mia grabs Beth’s hand, pulling her away from CJ and leading her toward my direction.
I could kiss that woman. Always having my back.
“Do you know how to play hearts, Beth?” Mia asks.
Beth looks at me briefly, then shakes her head as Mia pulls a chair out for her. She sits down at the opposite end of the table I’m standing at. “No, I don’t think so,” she says timidly.
Mia smiles. “That’s okay. CJ can show you.”
I have zero friends in this house.
CJ claims one of the chairs next to Beth. Mia takes the other. I debate on getting the hell out of here, but the second I see Beth staring at me across the table, looking just as fragile as she did standing in my bedroom, letting me know just by those eyes of hers that she had no idea I’d be here, I pick up my six-pack and carry it to the fridge.
Fuck it. What’s the difference between struggling to keep my hand off my dick at home and battling the same urge at Mia’s dinner table?
I take the last remaining seat at the table, putting me directly across from Beth. As Ben stands and deals out the cards, Tessa leans closer to me, chin resting on her hand, looking guilty as shit as the grin spreads across her face.
“Hey, buddy,” she whispers. “You doing okay over there?”
I slowly turn my head, my eyes narrowing. “You know something, don’t you?”
Tessa leans back, pops her gum through a smile, and picks up her cards.
Ben sits in his chair. “All right, we good? Beth, you know how to play now?”
Beth looks down at her cards, her thumb scraping across her bottom lip. “I think so. If I want to run, do I tell everyone I’m going to do it?”
Collective “no’s” fill the room, everyone except me offering their response.
Beth looks across the table, waiting, wanting the answer she hasn’t gotten yet. As if mine is the only one that matters to her.
Fuck. Is it? Is it the only one that matters?
Lowering my beer, I keep her gaze and slowly shake my head. She blinks several times, then looks back down at her cards.
I chug half my beer.
CJ laughs, slips his arm behind her, and rests it on the back of her chair. “No, baby. Don’t tell anyone what you’re planning on doing. Especially if you’re trying to run.”
Blood runs hot in my veins.
Baby?
“Baby?” I set my beer down and lean forward on my elbows. The room goes quiet. “What, you met her five minutes before I got here and you’re already giving her a fucking nickname? Or is the word Beth too difficult for you to remember?”
Confusion tightens CJ’s face. “What the hell’s up with you?” he asks gruffly, leaning back in his chair, keeping his fucking arm exactly where it is.
I grit my teeth, looking around at the six pairs of eyes on me. One set in particular feeling like they’re holding me by the throat and the balls.
You’re losing it. Losing. It.
“Nothing. Let’s play the damn game.” I lean back in the chair and pick up my cards, setting three aside to pass to Ben and taking the ones Tessa hands over to me. I then toss the two of clubs out in the center of the table, starting the game.
Ben takes his turn, then CJ. Beth seems unsure of what she can or can’t play, looking between her cards, then at the ones in the center of the table, back and forth repeatedly. She tosses a five of hearts on the stack.
“You can’t play that yet,” I tell her, reaching across the table and tossing her back the card. “Hearts can’t be broken on the first trick.”
“Oh. Right, yeah, I knew that.” She tucks the card back into her hand. Her eyes slowly lift to mine. “I don’t have any clubs.”
“You can play anything but a heart on the first trick,” Mia says, popping a grape into her mouth. “After hearts are broken you can play as many as you want.”
“A trick?” Beth frowns, studying her cards again. “What’s that again?”
CJ leans back and looks at her hand. He sets his cards down. “We’ll play together, okay? Until you get the hang of it.”
I glare at CJ. “I think she can figure it out by herself. It’s not that hard.”
“Relax, man,” Ben mumbles next to me.
“What? We’re playing hearts, not bridge. She doesn’t need anyone holding her hand and walking her through it like she’s a fucking idiot.” I look directly into Beth’s eyes, the veins in my forehead threatening to burst. “Do you?”
She flinches. Her chin trembles. A hand covers her mouth. Her cards hit the table seconds before she’s pushing her chair back. “Excuse me,” she whispers, leaving the kitchen in a hurry.
I reach out to stop her, but a sharp sting cracks against my shin. “Ow, fuck.” I scowl at Tessa. “Did you just kick me?”
She shoves against my arm. “What is wrong with you?”