Page 40 of Infatuation

Kat presses her lips together, but she doesn’t argue. She holds the dice out to Sarah.

“Vaya con dios,” Sarah says with solemnity. She blows on them.

“Come on, Blondie,” Hawaiian Shirt Guy says. “Roll us a six.”

Kat rolls.Five. Everyone at the table cheers. We’re still alive.

“Add this to the lady’s bet on the six,” I say, throwing the dealeranother orange. “And put this on mine.” I throw him three more orange chips.

Kat takes a deep breath, blows on the dice, and rolls again.Jackpot.

The entire table erupts. Kat and Sarah leap into each other’s arms, jumping up and down, while Jonas and I look on, laughing hysterically and shaking our heads.

When Kat disengages from Sarah, she sees the mammoth stack of chips headed her way from the dealer. “Oh my effing God,” she says, her face suddenly turning to ash. She scoops up her winnings with shaking hands, suddenly looking like she’s gonna puke. “I’ve gotta stop rolling now,” she says, her voice tight. “That’s it for me.”

“You can’t stop,” I say. “Your roll’s not finished.”

“I can’t... I’ve gotta stop. I can’t gamble anymore. Oh my God.”

“Good call, Kitty Kat,” Sarah says. “Quit while you’re ahead. Speaking of which.” She turns around, puts her arms around Jonas’ neck for the millionth time tonight, and whispers something into his ear.

Jonas’ entire body jolts. He abruptly pushes all his chips over to Kat’s already mammoth stack, grabs Sarah’s hand, and yanks her away from the table like he’s pulling a blowup doll. “See you guys later,” he calls out over his shoulder.

“See you, bro,” I shout. “Have fun.”

And just like that, the lovebirds disappear into the crowded casino.

“Wait, Jonas!” Kat yells. “Your chips!” But he’s long gone. “Jonas gave me his chips,” Kat says, her eyes wide. “Oh my God. He gave me his chips.”

“Because he wanted you to have them.”

“But that’s got to be—” She does a cursory count of the chips in front of her. “Holy shitballs! Almost fifteen thousand bucks! Plus what I won on that last roll, thanks to your extra bets—oh my effing God. I’ve got like twenty thousand bucks here, Josh.”

“Congratulations.”

“But . . .”

“Kat, whatever Sarah said to Jonas to make him shove those chips at you was obviously far more enticing to him than any amount of money.”

Kat’s mouth is hanging open. Obviously, this is a life-changing amount of money for the girl.

“Take it, Kat. You just made everyone at this table a crapload of money, including me. That’s how Vegas works, baby. You earned it.”

The dealer shoves the dice at Kat. “Still your roll, miss,” he says.

She shakes her head. “You roll for a while, Josh. I’ll just watch.” She plops a tall stack of orange chips in front of me on the ledge of the table.

“What’s this?” I ask.

“The money you gave me to gamble with at the beginning, plus the oranges you just threw onto the six for me.”

“Come on, Blondie. It’s still your roll,” Hawaiian Shirt Guy says, clearly getting annoyed.

“Josh, I can’t.” She looks at me for help, her face tight.

“She’s done,” I say forcefully—even though I know it’s unthinkable for a hot roller to quit mid-roll. Hawaiian Shirt Guy starts protesting, but I glare at him, making him shut his fucking mouth. I tip the dealers a thousand each and scoop up my chips. “Come on, Blondie,” I say, staring down Hawaiian Shirt Guy. “Let’s go celebrate our good fortune.”

We begin walking toward the cashier, our hands overflowing with our bounty.

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