Page 56 of Play For Me

I peek at mine. I’ve got nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Solomon raises by a small, almost polite amount and I match him, mostly out of stubbornness.

“Turn ‘em over,” Cade says, and we do. Solomon has a decent two pair. I have one measly pair of tens.

He wins.

The table erupts into cheers and groans. Cade looks overjoyed that I didn’t pull off a heroic comeback.

But I just sit back, strangely… fine. Almost light.

Solomon gathers the pot, and when he looks up at me, there’s a teasing glint in his eye as he tilts his head. “You okay losing, Cecelia?”

“I never lose,” I say, deadpan. “I just recalibrate.”

He laughs—full and warm and so genuine it hits me square in the chest.

And when his knee bumps mine under the table and he doesn’t move it right away, I don’t either.

After the pokergame breaks up, there’s a decided uptick in noise at the party. Vega decides she justhasto dance, so she turns the music up and starts dragging people—both willing and not—to the center of the living room.

Solomon seems okay, but I remember what he told me about loud noises and crowds. This is definitely starting to feel more like a typical college party, though not quite at the level of the frat party Jay wanted to bring him too. Still, I figure it would be good to get out of the noise a little, so I take him to the kitchen to get more beer, then lead the way to the backyard.

The party has spilled out to the patio back here, but it’s not nearly as intense as what’s happening inside. It’s also a lot darker, so it feels more private. Ash, still trying to impress Art History girl, has his guitar by the fire pit. I roll my eyes at the soppy expression on her face in the firelight while she stares up at him in awe.

“Does everyone in your family play?” Solomon asks me, watching Ash from the quiet corner we found.

“Pretty much. My grandpa insisted on teaching all of us, but it stuck better for some than others.”

I feel his eyes on me. “Am I right to assume from that tone you weren’t one of the ones it stuck with?”

“What tone?”

He grins. “That pissy tone you get when you’re not the best at something.”

“I don’t get a pissy tone!”

He just laughs and, to my surprise, I find myself grinning too. I’m also leaning toward him, but I can’t seem to move away. And I’m pretty sure his eyes just darted to my mouth.

“There you guys are,” a booming voice says, and we both startle as Jay appears at our side. “I saw the poker game broke up but I didn’t see where you went.”

I should probably feel relieved at his appearance. I know that I’m playing with fire, being this close to Solomon, alone on this part of the patio, brazenly leaning into him like I’d left both my dignity and my self-preservation back in the house.

But I don’t feel relieved when Sol takes a step away from me before turning his attention to his friend. All I feel is annoyed at Jay for interrupting us.

“Are you having fun?” I ask him, trying to keep my voice from revealing my silly displeasure.

“This party is great,” he says with enthusiasm. “I really like your teammates.”

“There it is,” Solomon mutters.

“There what is?” I ask.

“The reason for Jay’s appearance. He wants your help to hit on some poor, unsuspecting soccer player.”

“That’s not true!” Jay’s voice is filled with what I assume to be mock outrage. “I just wanted to say hi to two of my favorite people. What’s wrong with that?”

Solomon raises an eyebrow, staring at Jay until he sighs. “Fine. I was hoping CeCe might give me some tips on how to get Gwen to talk to me.”