Page 18 of On Dancer
“Deal you in?” Troy asked Rudy before summoning an older gentleman over to our table. “Raymond? Care to join? Always more fun with a foursome.”
I narrowly avoided snort-laughing. Cards were hardly my first thought with the word foursome.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Raymond took the chair next to Troy. “Have we introduced young Alexander to table politics?”
“I’m not that young.” I pursed my lips. Rudy had been right that the play group included a wide variety of ages, but that didn’t change how ancient I felt every time Rudy smiled and that zap of attraction hit me again.
“You’re all young compared to me.” Raymond gave a nifty shuffle of his deck, a high arch of tumbling cards. I’d have to learn that trick.
“Alexander is new to the game. This is his first foursome.” Rudy narrowed his eyes at Raymond. “Be nice.”
“Always.” Raymond gave a toothy grin. He wagged a finger in my direction. “And a good alliance goes far. You’ll see.”
I did see in relatively short order that my typical strategy of attacking early and often was going to get me killed far too quickly. Raymond made a nimble bargain with Troy that enabled him to weather my oncoming attack easily. Too easily. I glanced at Rudy as he rearranged the cards in his hand.
“If you attack Troy next turn, I won’t go after you yet.”
“Deal.” Rudy grinned at me.Zap.I wasn’t sure which I found more appealing: him or the game. Okay, that was a lie. It was definitely Rudy. I distracted myself from the unwanted attraction by amassing more sharks for my army.
Amazingly, my alliance with Rudy worked, and we handily defeated Raymond and then Troy.
“We won!” I made a triumphant gesture with my hand, smacking my cards against the table.
“Well, technically, you guys are supposed to battle each other to see who wins the whole game, but if you wanna celebrate now, go for it.” Troy shrugged, evidently none too concerned about the rules.
“Alexander needs the victory to sleep well tonight.” Rudy chuckled, gesturing at me. “Your move.”
I studied the current state of the game. In working together, Rudy’s life count had dwindled along with his resources. If I attacked now, he’d likely be unable to defend. I’d win, but suddenly, victory tasted more bitter.
“It doesn’t seem fair…” I demurred, hand hovering over my row of shark cards.
“It’s a game. Remember?” Rudy stuck his tongue out at me. The gesture was intended to be comical, but my stirring of arousal was anything but. “Do me in. I’ll make dying noises and everything.”
“Fine. I attack.” I made the move so I didn’t have to think about his tongue anymore.
“I perish.” Rudy gripped his throat, dramatic noises escaping his mouth as he writhed in his chair. After he was done carrying on, he glanced around the room where the other tables were also finishing as players put away their decks and dice. “And now we help clean up.”
I joined in the effort to put away the food, resisting the impulse to swipe another cookie. Rudy packed up his many decks into colorful boxes with neat labels while chatting with Raymond and Irma.
“So Alexander won?” Irma asked as she put the lid on a casserole dish.
“Yes. He’s a natural,” Rudy bragged.
One would never guess he’d lost, and indeed, he seemed as happy as if he’d been the one to win. I’d heard my parents and various teachers rave about my ballet skills, but Rudy’s praise felt unfamiliar, like a new pair of shoes I had yet to break in.
In fact, my dancing hadn’t come up in conversation all evening, affording a layer of anonymity I hadn’t realized I needed. Here, I didn’t have to be Alexander Dasher with all the associated expectations. I could be Alexander, the surprisingly competent newbie card player. Not needing to be the best was another novel sensation. I was satisfied with the rounds I had won and able to let go of the loss to Troy.
As Rudy and I headed out into the night, my steps felt lighter. An almost giddy good mood settled over me as the chilly November wind whipped around us.
“It got cold.” Rudy tugged his coat closer.
“It did.” I had the strangest urge to put an arm around him. My brain happily supplied a list of other ways I could keep him warm. Not wanting to give in to either desire, I sped up. “And it’s late. I can’t believe how long we played.”
“Come on.” Rudy kept up with my longer strides so he could bump my shoulder. “Say it. You had fun.”
“I didn’t hate it,” I allowed, using a disinterested tone simply to earn a groan from Rudy and another playful shove.
“You. Had. Fun.”
