Page 14 of First Down Promise

“All in,” Pete mumbles, tossing his cards face down on the table. He pushes his chips to the center of the table.

Coop tosses his cards. “Fold.”

“Fold,” I say, repeating Coop’s action.

Dane stares down Pete, and I have to take in Pete’s face too. Pete’s jaw flexes under the pressure, and Dane grins to himself. “Call,” Dane says, pushing his chips forward.

“Full house,” Pete says, flipping his cards and raising his eyebrow at Dane. “What you got, Fredrickson?”

And he has it with a five and two in his hand. It helps that the board has a pair of aces, a pair of fives, and a seven. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have shit. It’s a bold bet, but as a smirk spreads across Dane’s lips, I know Pete is cooked.

Dane taps the top edge of the cards in his hand. “It’s good, Wilson. But not good enough.” He presses his cards onto the felt, face up, to reveal the other two aces. “Four of a kind.”

“God, who’s the dealer?” Coop jokes.

Pete’s eyes widen as he sits back in his chair and just laughs. “Well played. But now I know you don’t bet hard if you have something.”

“You don’t know my strategy.”

Pete rolls his eyes when his phone rings and pulls it out of his pocket. “It’s Ab.” He presses the answer button and holds the phone to his ear.

I must have made a face or something because Dane gives me a look. “What?” I mouth to him, and he purses his lips and shakes his head.

“Hey, what’s up?” Pete answers and pauses. “I’m at Dane’s.” He pauses again, and I can hear the faint buzz of her voice coming through the speaker. “Ugh, fine. It might be an hour or two. Kay, bye.” He sets the phone on the table and hits the end button, but I get a glimpse of her contact photo before he turns his screen off. It’s a picture of her with a purple face mask on, and I smile to myself because that’s the kind of trolling I’d do to my sisters, too.

“How’s Abby?” Coop asks.

“Well, she needs Midol and a Frosty, so probably not great,” Pete answers. I wince because, growing up with two older sisters, I was far from a stranger to that time of the month.

“Chocolate?” I ask.

“Yeah.” His head snaps up. “Forgot you have sisters.” That and the many times I’ve seen Abby sneak a spoonful of Nutella straight from the jar, but she never double-dips. Unlike the center sitting across from me, but that’s none of my business.

“You know I could go for one of those,” Coop adds.

“It’s empty calories, Carter,” Pete replies.

“Boo,” Coop says.

Before we leave, I help Dane clean up and put the leftovers into containers. “You have the worst poker face,” Dane mumbles as he rolls up the bag of tortilla chips and puts a clip on them.

“What? I won a few hands. Remind me not to go to Vegas with you,” I say.

Dane places his palms flat on the counter and raises an eyebrow at me. “I wasn’t talking about the game. Thought I told you don’t.”

“Don’t what, Dane?”

We stare each other down as I wait for him to fold, but if tonight taught me anything, he never will unless he truly has nothing. And that’s not the case at this moment.

“Don’t,” he repeats.

Chapter Five

Abby

“What are you up to this week?” the rookie asks me.

I’m about to ask if he has anywhere to be since the game is over, just as a door opening echoes in the facility’s lobby, followed by that familiar masculine voice.