Chapter 37

“We’ll start with a warm-up round,” Tristan begins, and I have to hold back a smile. They think they’re going to smoke me here. I’m happy to prove them wrong. Zayd lights up a cigarette and Creed wrinkles his nose, but I’m used to it. Everyone in the Cruz Bay Mobile Home Village smokes, including my own dad. “Buy in is ten grand; I’ll cover for the charity case. You shouldn’t have any problem with that, right, Working Girl, taking other peoples’ money?” He stares at me with zero emotion in his eyes, and I shrug. “I can’t afford a ten thousand dollar buy in, so if you want me to play with you, then yeah, I accept.” I stare him down, but he just smirks at me. He probably thinks he’ll win it all back anyway. On the inside, my heart is pounding and I’m having trouble not thinking about how much ten thousand dollars could help my dad. He could fix the moldy walls in our bathroom, buy a truck that actually starts up on a reliable basis, maybe even take a vacation…

“Figures.” Tristan