Page 62 of Fighting For You

"You good, Travis?" Wyatt said.

Travis held up a finger. His face was the color of the engine. "One more. I can do this." He picked up the fourth tender, stared at it, brought it halfway to his mouth. His whole face twisted. He set it back down and reached for the milk.

The table erupted.

Nora finished her fourth tender and wiped her hands on a napkin. Her plate was empty.

"Look at that," Andy said. "She didn't even break a sweat."

Travis set down the milk. "Damn it. Should have seen that coming." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Never challenge the girlfriends. Now I have Sullivan's bathroom duty for a month."

Wyatt put a hand on Travis's shoulder and nodded.

"You challenge us to things we're good at," Andy said. "Why not choose something we're equally bad at?"

Travis pointed at her. "That's an idea. What are we all equally bad at?"

"Poker," I said.

Travis nodded, rubbing his chin. Then he slammed both hands on the table.

"All right. I'm a man of my word. I'm taking Sullivan's bathroom duty for a month." He held up a finger. "But I want to play for something else."

"What's this about, Travis?" Andy said.

"I win, Sullivan has to tell us when his birthday is."

Nora looked up at me. I put my hand over my face and dragged it down.

"I don't know about that," Nora said. "It's Knox's secret. Not mine."

Travis looked at me. "Well?"

I sighed. "You know what? Give it a go."

Travis turned to Nora. "You in?"

She looked at me. I nodded.

"Okay," she said.

The guys cleared the table. Wyatt stacked the empty plates and passed them to Selena. Travis pulled a deck from behind the bar and shuffled while Nora moved her chair across from him. I sat down beside her. Andy settled into the chair behind Travis. Wyatt stood behind Nora with his arms crossed.

Travis pointed at me. "No cheating."

I held both hands up.

Nora leaned in close. "Are you sure about this?" she whispered.

"Yeah. It's just my birthday. I could tell them right now without the bet." I looked at Travis, who was shuffling with way too much confidence. "But watching Travis lose makes it so much more fun."

"How do you know I'm not going to lose?"

I kissed her forehead. "Because Travis is that bad at poker."

Travis cracked his neck. "All right. Best of five. Let's go."

He dealt the first hand. Nora picked her cards up one at a time and held them close to her face. Travis fanned his out in one hand and leaned back in his chair like he'd been playing cards his whole life.