One of the Guys (29 page)

           
“Hey!” Chris said, getting up off
the couch and coming over to give Kate a hug. Max was right behind him. Kate
hugged them both and handed Max the case of beer.

           
“Glad you’re here,” Jackson said,
giving her a squeeze. “Kevin has won three weeks in a row. Someone needs to
knock him down a peg or two, and you’re just the guy to do it.”

           
“Girl,” she corrected.

           
Kevin nudged her. “I keep asking
your dad to come. You should bring him with you sometime.”

           
“Why?
 
You want to take her dad’s money, too?” Chris
asked, laughing. “That’s just wrong.”

           
There was a knock at the door again
and Kevin left to pay for the pizza. Chris pulled another chair up to the poker
table and gestured for Kate to have a seat. She pulled out a twenty dollar bill
and placed it with the other money in the middle of the table. Then she sat and
reached for the deck of cards. She shuffled while the guys helped themselves to
pizza and beer. When they’d had enough, they sat down around the table and Kate
dealt the first hand.

           
It felt like forever since Kate had
last played, so she was trying her best to concentrate and ignore the small
talk going on around her. They’d have time to talk after the game. Right now,
she was playing cards, and she was on her way to winning the first hand. She
had pocket aces and had dealt another ace on the flop. She checked; when Max
raised, she called along with everyone else. Looking at the cards she had dealt
on the table, felt pretty confident in her three of a kind. She ended up
winning the hand and raking in a decent-sized pile of chips.

           
Kate started off strong and played
smart. She took Chris out of the game early and he assumed duties as dealer. It
wasn’t long before Kate took Jackson out as well. “Still glad I showed up?” she
asked, winking at him.

           
“Yes!” Jackson said, dealing the
next hand. “It’s good to have you back.”

           
“And besides that, you brought
beer!” Kevin said, raising his bottle in a salute.

           
She smiled at them briefly and then
turned her attention back to the game. She had a significant chip lead over
Max, but it looked like she and Kevin were about equal. Two hands later, Max
went all in. She studied the cards on the table, knowing that her pair of tens
probably wouldn’t do her any good with the two kings and two aces on the table.
Rather than try to bluff and do something stupid, she folded. Kevin, however,
called him. They both flipped their cards over, and Kevin’s full house beat
Max’s three of a kind.

           
“That’s it. I’m out of here,” Max
said, standing up and stretching.

           
“
Gotta
get
home to the little lady?”
Jackson asked, shaking Max’s hand.

           
“Yeah, I’m crashing at her place
tonight. We’re going out on the boat with her dad tomorrow so we have to get up
pretty early.”
 
Max bent down and wrapped
his arms around Kate’s shoulders. “Glad you came back,” he said. “And I hope
you kick his ass,” he added, gesturing across the table to Kevin.

           
“I’ll do my best,” Kate said,
watching as Kevin straightened up his pile of chips. They were definitely
pretty even now. It could be a long night.

           
They played for hours; Kevin won a
hand, then Kate won a hand. They played back and forth like that, and their
chip counts didn’t really change all that much. At midnight, Jackson suggested
they raise the blinds in the hopes of making the game go by a little faster. An
hour later, Kate’s pile had grown significantly, but the game was still far
from over.

           
“I need to get going,” Jackson said.
He got to his feet and massaged Kate’s shoulders. “You got this,” he said,
kissing the top of her head.

           
“Thanks,” Kevin said.

           
Jackson jokingly punched him in the
shoulder. “And you’ve made how much money the past three times we’ve played?”

           
By two-thirty, Kevin’s pile of chips
had dwindled down to about what they had each started with. Kate looked down at
her cards.
An ace and a ten.
Chris dealt the flop – a
king, a queen, and a jack. She had a straight. Not bad. If she played it right,
the game could be over.

           
Kevin checked, so Kate checked too. Chris
dealt the next card – a six. Kate studied the cards. She wasn’t as good as the
guys when it came to reading the cards, so she couldn’t even begin to guess
what Kevin might have in his hand. He sat for a long time, debating what to do.
Finally, he checked. Kate checked, too. Chris dealt the last card – a three.

Kevin abruptly pushed
his chips forward. “I’m all in,” he said.

           
Kate raised her eyebrows. Now she
really
didn’t know what hand Kevin could
possibly have. Glancing at the clock, and then at Kevin’s measly pile of chips,
she figured it didn’t really matter. She was tired and ready to call it quits. She
called and they flipped their cards over. Kevin had triple threes. Her straight
beat his three of a kind. Smiling, he pushed his chips into the middle of the
table. “Good game,” he said.

           
“Thank God that’s over with,” Chris
groaned. “You guys can clean up. I
gotta
get out of
here,” he said.
           
Kate got to
her feet, pocketed her winnings, and started gathering up the chips. Chris gave
her a hug. “I’m glad you’re back,” he said.

           
Kate nodded at him and smiled. “That
was fun,” she said.

           
She and Kevin scooped up the poker
chips and put them back in their case. Then they went into the kitchen, where
Kate rinsed out empty beer bottles and Kevin wrapped up the leftover pizza. “Thanks
for staying to clean up,” he said.

           
“No problem,” Kate yawned. “But I
really need to get home.”

           
“I’ll walk you to your car.”

           
In the parking lot, Kevin gave her a
big hug. “I’m so glad you came tonight. Even if you beat me,” he said. Kate
giggled. “Are you playing next Saturday?” he asked.

           
“I don’t know. I might have a date
with the girls. We’ll see,” she said.

*

           
The following day at work, Kate was
extremely sleepy, but she managed to get all of her paperwork done in time to
meet Lucy and Danielle down the street for brunch.

           
“There’s the big winner!” Lucy said,
waving her over to their table.

           
Kate collapsed into a chair. “Brunch
is on me,” she grinned.

           
“Chris said he didn’t get home until
almost three o’clock last night!” Danielle said. “How was the game?”

           
“She won, didn’t she?” Lucy giggled.
“That’s awesome. Jackson was so glad that you beat Kevin.”

           
“I think Kevin might have gone all
in just to get the game over with,” Kate said.

           
“Doesn’t matter.
You still won!” Danielle said.

           
“I know the guys were really glad to
have you back,” Lucy said. “Just don’t make a habit of it. We need to have our
girls’ nights, too.”

           
“Without a doubt!”
Kate said. She had enjoyed playing poker with the guys again, but she
definitely wanted to plan another evening with the girls.

           
When the waitress came around, the
girls all ordered waffles, orange juice, and coffee. They sat and chatted about
the poker game, Lucy’s brand new niece, and the stack of thank-you cards that
Lucy still had to finish writing. They also started making plans for next
Saturday.

           
“We should do karaoke,” Kate
suggested. “I’ll invite my mom.
And Julia.”

           
“That would be fun. We should get a
big group of people together,” Lucy agreed. “I’ll ask my mom and Aunt Janet if
they’d want to come.”

           
“That’s settled, then. I’ll call
Candy and make sure she knows,” Danielle said.

*

           
Kate spent the rest of the week
looking forward to karaoke with the girls. When Saturday night finally rolled
around, she and her mother headed out to Fifteen Minutes to meet everyone. Lucy,
her Aunt Janet, Julia, and Danielle were there and they had pushed two tables
together to accommodate their group. Candy was already on stage, singing “Don’t
Go Breaking My Heart” with an older gentleman that Kate didn’t recognize. While
her mom went to the bar to order a drink, Kate helped herself to a beer from
the bucket in the middle of one of the tables.

           
Candy and her partner finished the
song to a great round of applause from the crowd. The gentleman bowed to her
and thanked her for joining him. Candy bounced down the stairs and hurried back
over to the tables where everyone was waiting to give her a high-five. “Who was
that guy?” Kate asked.

           
“I have no idea!” Candy laughed. “He
came right up and asked if one of us would join him, so I just went up there
with the guy!”
 
Kate shook her head in
amazement.

           
The girls had a great time together.
Kate’s mom and Lucy’s aunt Janet got up and did a few songs together. Much to
her embarrassment, Kate agreed to sing a Lady Gaga song with Julia.
 
Lucy was even able to coax Danielle up on
stage to sing “I’m Just a Girl” with her.

           
When the opening notes to “Ice, Ice,
Baby
” started, the crowd in the bar let out a huge
cheer. Lucy rolled her eyes and groaned. Danielle stood up on the rungs of her stool
to see who was going to be singing. “Oh my God!” she squealed. “You guys!
 
Look!”
 
She swatted Lucy on the arm and reached across the table to get Candy’s
attention. “Look!” she said, pointing to the stage.

           
Kate had to get to her feet to see
what the big deal was. Four guys stood on the stage with their backs to the
crowd. Then, right on cue, all four guys whirled around and started singing. It
was Jackson, Kevin, Chris, and Max. Kate cheered loudly. Candy knelt on her
stool and let out a long, loud whistle.

           
“What
dorks!
”
Lucy cried.

           
“They’re hilarious!” Kate replied.

           
When the guys finished their song,
they came down off the stage and headed straight for the girls’ tables. Danielle
hopped off her stool and gave Chris a big hug. Max planted a big kiss on Candy.
Lucy couldn’t stop pointing and laughing at Jackson, who was blushing furiously
but laughing about it.
And Kevin…

           
Kevin strolled right over to Kate’s
mom and gave her a big hug. She laughed and threw her arms around his neck in a
big, sloppy hug. Then she stood on her tiptoes to talk into his ear and make
herself
heard over the music. Kate sat back and sipped her
beer, shaking her head and smiling. Kevin nodded at her mother and gave her a
thumbs-up. Beaming, her mother headed for the stage. Kevin came around the
table to stand next to Kate.

           
“Your mom just asked me to sing a
song with her.”

           
“No, she didn’t!” Kate said, almost
spitting out her beer.

           
“Yes, she did.
Sonny
and Cher.”

           
“You’re kidding.”

           
“Swear to God.”

           
Kate laughed. “You’re stuck with
her.”

           
When her mother returned from
placing her request at the stage, Kevin drifted back over to her and resumed
their conversation.

           
“He’s so sweet,” Julia said, leaning
over.

           
“He’s a goofball,” Kate responded.

           
“But he’s sweet.”

           
Kate shrugged.

           
“And cute.”
    

           
Kate raised an eyebrow at that
comment. Julia just grinned.

           
Jackson came up to her and playfully
elbowed her. “Poker wasn’t the same without you tonight,” he said.