Page 34 of Bourbon and Lies

Picking up her bags from the floor, I start walking toward the booth.

“Let’s go, Honey.”

I hear her mumble behind me, “Not your honey, cowboy.”

“Noted.” I smirk back at her, clearing my throat as we reach our spot. “Gentleman, we have a fifth for tonight. This is the newest hire at Foxx Bourbon. Laney Young, meet the guys.”

Lloyd snorts a laugh while Del covers his smirk with a cough. Marcus is the only one who stands, offering her a handshake and a place at the table. “Miss Laney, it’s a pleasure. I’m Marcus. Any chance you good enough to beat our boy Grant at some poker?”

She smiles and scoots into the large horseshoe-shaped booth. “Maybe I’ll have some new player luck on my side,” she says while she shimmies into the center. The guys each introduce themselves, and I take the only seat rounding out our circle.

Del shuffles the deck and tells her, “It’s a fifty-dollar buy-in, but if you’d like, you can sit out the first couple of hands if you need to see how the game works.”

“That would be great. It’s been a long time since I’ve played,” she says as she rights herself in her seat. “Is this a regular thing, or is it a special night out?”

Lloyd chimes in, “We used to play down at the precinct on quiet nights.”

“You boys are all police officers?”

“I was fire department,” Marcus answers.

“All of us are retired now,” Del says as he fingers through his hand.

I can feel her attention on me as we make our way around the dealt hand. She knows I was a cop, but I like that she doesn’t know the whole story. Or how I took an early retirement because I couldn’t do my job after everything that happened. It’s nice that there’s one person around here who doesn’t instantly give a sympathetic smile or an assuming nod. A woman who doesn’t see a man who couldn’t keep someone he loved safe.

Two pitchers and a clean plate later, it’s evident that Laney’s new-to-poker status was a big fucking lie. She’s already put Marcus and Del all-in after their second buy-in, and I’m down to just a few chips more than Lloyd.

“Raise,” she says, splashing the pot with four more chips.

I look over at Lloyd, and I can tell by the way he’s been twirling the corner of his mustache that he’s bluffing. My guess is he’s got a pair at best. She has a small tell; it’s minor, but I’ve witnessed it enough times now that I knew she was bluffing. Both times she cleared her throat and touched her neck, she either folded or won the hand by everyone else folding. I watch her closely, trying hard not to stare too long at her dark lashes or the way her lips stay wet after she takes a sip.

“You going to call, cowboy, or is this too steep for you?”

Del sniffs out a laugh. “Cowboy?”

She rests her fist on her chin, staring at me when she says, “He’s got the ornery, tough guy thing going for him. And the horse. Just needs the hat.”

Marcus and Lloyd start laughing.

She can joke all she wants, but I’m waiting to see that tell again. I rest my hand on my chin, rubbing my thumb across my lip, mimicking her body language. I want to let a little bit of silence make her uncomfortable. Let's see if she’ll give me something. And a moment later, she does. She glides the tips of her fingers along the side of her neck like she’s feeling for something—her tell.

“I’m all in.”

Marcus scoffs. “Fuck. Alright, let's get this over with. It’s late.”

She pushes all her chips in the center, with only a small stack left. “I think I may have just figured you out,” she says to me. I drag my sweaty palm down my pant leg. Her tone is too confident to be holding a bad hand. And it’s right then and there that I realize I’ve made a mistake. She was playing me.

I flip my flush.

She smiles. “Nicely done.” But I know she’s got me beat with that look on her face.

“Let’s see it, honey.”

She flips her cards.Royal flush.

Del and Lloyd hoot and laugh like me losing is the funniest thing they’ve seen in a long time. Marcus leans over and asks, loud enough for the whole table to hear, “We got played, didn’t we?”

I keep my eyes locked on her as she starts stacking the chips. “We sure fucking did.”

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