Seven

Chapter 43

"Place your bets!" The frumpy woman in a bow tie calls to our table and all the eyes look to me.

I don't know how I'm managing this. If you're one to actually believe in luck, I suppose you'd call it that. Some may say it's fate. But me, I would call it a fluke; an unlikely chance of occurrence. And an occurrence it has been.

My first bet was on black and I lost twenty dollars right away. But Seven encouraged that I give it another go. So, for my second I went black again but with fifty dollars and won. My third bet I won and tripled my money, my fourth I won yet again just by placing my bet in the winning section, my fifth I won just by colour - that time I chose red. And it just kept going, so much so I have managed to bring a small crowd to witness this reoccurring fluke.

So now here I am, five thousand up that I've won on this one table and everyone is looking to me to bet first.

"You got this baby." Seven whispers in my ear and presses his lips to my cheek. I won't lie this has been fun and all but the more I win the higher the stakes of my losses. Not that any of this is actually my money. Seven gave me the hundred dollar bill to start betting with so this is fully his winnings I'm gambling with.

With his warm hands resting on my hips I lean forward and move the chips onto my bet, this time choosing not only a specific section and colour but the number I'm betting on.

Seven, black.

I hear a few people murmuring at my bold - and let's face it dumb - decision to bet on specifics but when I turn to my shoulder and see that beautiful dimpled grin I know I've already won, no matter what the croupier calls out. Soon the other betters place their chips accordingly, none of them going for the same number but instead the colour and a few counter bet hoping to win the odds.

The croupier begins the wheel and starts the ball rolling, quite literally. The ball rolls around the spinning roulette wheel twice before she calls out.

"No more bets!" To which Seven's hands give my hips a light squeeze.

As the ball spins around the Roulette wheel time itself feels like it begins to slow down. All atmospheric noise around the casino dies out, my ears now only focused on the sound of the small ball trundling around the wooden wheel. I'm uncertain if it's the amount of drinks I've had or the nervousness from these high-stakes but my stomach flutters nauseously. My mouth feels dry, waiting an eternity for the wheel to stop.

Finally the wheel begins to slow and the ball begins to bounce its way around the wood. I can't watch it any longer, the anticipation is causing my stomach to knot in awful ways. My eyes close, the sound of the ball echoing in my ears until...

A roar.

The small crowd erupts into a cheer around me and I feel Seven's hands grip my hips and hoist me up. My eyes fly open as he bounces around in a circle with me in his arms.

"What? What!" I strain my neck to look over his shoulder at the small screen displaying the live footage of the wheel.

"You did it baby! You won!" Seven yells and sure enough there is it on the screen.

The small black ball rests in my selected slot, number seven in black as the wheel still rotates. And the sickly knots in my stomach dissolve instantly.

"Oh my god!" I squeal and grab Seven's dimpled cheeks between my hands and kiss his mouth. He opens his lips immediately to deepen the kiss and even though I am drunk I am still overly aware how public this is. I kiss him back before pressing against his chest. He puts me down so I am standing again and reluctantly removes his lips from mine, he smiles down at me and squeezes my hips once again.