Page 101 of Wild Then Wed
Ridge doesn’t even pretend to respect it. He grabs the back of her chair and slides it closer to his, their elbows touching now.
“We’ve gotta sit close so I can help you with the cards,” he says, pretending to be all innocent.
Miller rolls her eyes. “You’re annoying.”
He shrugs. “And you’re stuck with me for this game.”
I lean into Sage a little, my voice low. “Five bucks says they start throwing insults louder than cards before the first hand’s done.”
Sage smirks. “You’re on.”
Miller lets out a long, exasperated sigh. “Okay. Someone explain this to me before I stab Ridge with the turkey baster.”
Boone snorts. “Get in line.”
Ridge starts dealing, unfazed. “Alright, here’s the deal. Spades is played with four people, two teams. You and I are partners.” He points between the two of them like that’s notalready obvious. “The goal is to win tricks—basically, rounds where you each play one card, highest card wins. You try to win exactly as many tricks as you bid at the start of the hand.”
Miller blinks. “Those words meant absolutely nothing to me.”
He smiles, patient—annoyingly so. “I’ll walk you through it. You’ll be fine.”
She doesn’t look convinced, but she also doesn’t get up and walk away, which is its own kind of miracle.
The game starts. Ridge casually slings his arm over the back of Miller’s chair, all easy confidence and subtle proximity. She doesn’t say anything, but I catch the way her eyes flick toward it, just for a second, before snapping back to the cards in her hands.
Every few minutes, he leans in to explain something quietly, his voice low and close, and she listens without looking at him. Her focus is all on the cards. His is clearly not.
Sage and I are holding our own, though it’s not easy. Miller’s good, smart, pays attention to every card played. We’re staying in it, matching them move for move. But halfway through the game, Ridge and Miller are ahead by a few points—barely, but enough to annoy me.
Sage lets out a groan. “It’s impossible to beat Ridge at card games. I swear to God, it’s like he’s got some freaky mind-reading thing going on.”
Ridge grins. “I’m just good at everything.”
Miller snorts. “Noteverything.”
He leans in. “You’d be surprised how many things I’m good at, Millie.”
He follows it with a wink.
Miller glares at him, but her cheeks flush the softest pink, and I want to claw my eyes out of my skull.
Ew.God.
Sage glances at me, like she knows exactly what I’m thinking, and smothers a laugh behind her hand.
“Five bucks says they hook up before New Year’s,” she whispers.
“I’m not betting against a sure thing,” I mutter. “I just want it to happen in another room. In another house. In another country. Far, far away from me.”
Headlights cut through the front room windows, throwing long streaks of light across the floor.
Mom and Boone both glance up at the same time.
Boone leans toward her. “Were you expecting anyone else?”
Mom shakes her head, slow and uncertain. “No.”
He’s already getting up. “Who the hell just shows up at someone’s house at nine o’clock on Thanksgiving?”
