Page 77 of Troublemaker: The Big Picture Edition
“Well, maybe you should try cheating, because you never win at this game,” Ryder quips. He takes his seat and passes the phone back to me, whispering, “There’s a text message for you. From Miss Stiles.”
Shit. I need to change her name in my contacts.
“I didn’t read it,” he says in a way that tells me he’ll be a badass poker player once he grows out of Go Fish.
“Oh yeah? Probably following up about the holiday show.”
“Uh-huh.”
I hold my phone under the table and casually change “Emilia Stiles” to “ES” in my contacts. Although Ryder will still figure it out. Not that I don’t trust him to keep a secret.
“It’s your turn, Dad.”
“Do you have any aces?” I ask my father.
He frowns at me and hands over the ace of spades.
“Gracias.How about a two?”
“Go fish yourself.”
While my dad and son take their rounds, I glance down at my phone and read Emilia’s text.
ES: Let me know when everyone else is asleep and you’re alone in a room with some privacy. We’re going to have a text conversation. And then we are both goingto delete the entire conversation from our phones once we’re done.
ME: I’m on board with this. Give me about an hour.
ME: Just tell me now if there will be pictures involved. I can have Ryder draw something real quick before he goes to bed.
ES: Not funny, Vega.
ES: And no dicks.
ES: No pics.
ES: Stupid phone.
ME: How many cups of mulled wine have you had tonight?
ES: One hour, Mr. Vega. It’s a date.
“That’s your last hot cocoa for the night, pal,” I tell Ryder. “Bed in half an hour.”
“What?! But it’sChristmas.”
“Exactly. You stayed up late last night.”
“No fair.”
You think that’s not fair? Try playing cards with your family when you could be sexting with a beautiful woman.
CHAPTER 29
ALEX: Family in bed. Door closed. It’s on.
EMILIA: My clothes aren’t.
EMILIA: They aren’t on.
