Page 46 of Betting Blind
He smiles sadly. “Ben thinks I have all this ink because I want to be some big badass, and for a long time, I convinced myself of that as well. But the truth is, the needle takes those memories away. When I look in the mirror, I don’t see that terrified little boy anymore.”
Kissing me swiftly, he rolls away, raising himself to sitting and placing his feet flat on the floor. I bunch the covers up over my breasts and turn to face the broad expanse of his back. “I’m so sorry.” More softly, I add, “You don’t have to scare people away anymore, Jack.”
I let him have a few moments of silence before I sit up behind him. Pressing my bare breasts to the delicious heat of his body, I gently massage my hands over his shoulders, gliding them to his pecs and upper biceps. I smile when I receive a tiny moan and continue the massage down his muscled back. Sliding a hand up into his hair, I knead his scalp before sinking my nails into the tresses and scratching his scalp in circular motions.
“You’re incredible, you know that?”
I laugh lightly. “I want to make you feel better.”
Jack stills my hands by covering them with his own and guides them over the hard planes of his abdomen to the length at the center of his pelvis. My hand stills for a beat before I begin working him with slow, firm strokes.
Pulling my wrist, he guides me off the bed to standing so that I’m positioned between his legs. His eyes have lost their ache, leaving widened pupils in place of the pain as he pulls me toward him for a tender kiss. “I can think of more than one way you can make me feel better,” he whispers against my lips, and I fall to my knees before him.
Licking my lips, I slip the covers fully off his waist and train my eyes on him. “With pleasure.”
* * *
Juliana flits through the door to our room, humming a song her mom used to sing to her when she was a young girl. I move my gaze from my reflection in the bathroom mirror to peek at her around the bathroom door.
She’s standing in front of the safe, putting money that she must have won this morning into it while tallying up the rest of what we have. Ignoring me, she locks the safe, singing random words to Carmen’s song as I catch sight of several hickies marring her neck, and trailing down between her breasts.
The toothbrush I was holding drops into the porcelain sink with aclink. Swiping the back of my hand across my mouth, I whip around the bathroom door. “Holy shit.”
Her long, dark hair hangs down her back as she tosses the tank and shorts she was wearing onto the bed, trading them for a yellow sundress. Her back is to me, but I don’t need to see her face to know she’s guilty. She’s not fooling anyone. “What?” She tosses the question over her shoulder, hardly sparing a glance in my direction.
“You and Derrick boned!” I exclaim.
She squeals as she turns to face me fully. “Oh, my gosh! Cassidy, it was the best sex I have ever had in mylife!”
I’m stunned. I mean, it’s not that I disapprove or anything; Derrick is hot as hell.
She laughs. “Don’t look so shocked.”
“I’m sorry! I think it’s great. You two make a cute couple for sure and—”
“Oh, no, no,” she cuts me off mid-sentence, wagging her finger in my face. “There is no ‘coupling.’ We had a mature, tequila-infused conversation and decided we are better off keeping things casual.”
I raise a single brow. “Was this before or after he had you screaming,‘Ay, papi!’” Her jaw drops open and she smacks my arm as a flush creeps up her cheeks.
“What do you expect a man and woman to do when left to their own devices, huh?”
Well, she’s got me there. “I know you and Jack got it on last night, too.” She makes hand gestures referencing his penis size. “Tell me, how was it?”
I smile. “You’re a mess.”
I skirt around the bed and grab my wallet to count the cash I have tucked away from yesterday. I have enough one-hundred-dollar bills in here to make a stripper’s entire night.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” she says with a huff, glancing over my shoulder at my bounty.
After calculating the money we brought in last night, and what Jules tells me she brought in this morning, we are hardly scraping the surface of Ben’s debt, and that familiar sinking feeling aches in my gut.
“Where are the guys?” I ask as we make our way out of our hotel room and down to the casino floor.
“Oh, they went to a poker tournament. They said it would be a few hours.”
I nod, hopeful once more. Where’s Lady Luck when we need her?
* * *
