Heathens & Hand Grenades (Book 1 of the Heathens Duet)

Chapter 41- Kace

         I've never been more thankful for cooler air underground than I am right now. This game has me sweating. Figuratively at least.

Outwardly I'm my usual self. Eyes constantly taking in my surroundings. I don't like what I see. Riggs bowed out and enjoying the entertainment at the table, Dario with his barely contained glee like he's the one in on some secret. Yeah, no.

I wouldn't say I'm a control freak by any stretch of the imagination. Some of my brothers fit that better than I ever could, but I do like to know what's going on. Surprises are not my favorite things, but I know how to thrive when they're thrust upon me.

Calista was thrust upon me. I haven't responded the best and my brothers have definitely noticed. I could adjust my response, I should, but to turn a one eighty and be a Dario clone would be unrealistic. No. I have to go in steps, and this game is the perfect stepping stone. A small leap in a large pond.

Jax lifts his eyebrow at me the moment I relax.

Fucking profilers man. They are the worst of humanity. Most of them could easily flip from the side of good to evil in a heartbeat. I'm sure a psychiatrist could argue that the sides are semantics. Same side, different lens. That's Jax. Our Jekyll and Hyde.

"Your turn," Dario says. I can tell by his cautious tone, this is probably not the first time he's tried to get my attention. Placing my cards down, I ignore his inquiring face with a dismissive nod. I'm fine, just sorting out my own shit.

Jax doesn't give her an inch of leeway, playing her just as hard as he does me. Judging by the way the princess keeps shifting in her chair when she thinks he's not looking she likes it.

My cards are speaking to me finally. They're speaking Spanish and I only know enough to sing along to the radio, but it's something. I take a pull of my quickly dwindling beer and place my bet.

"Put up or shut up," I say as I place my bet.

Betting big is all I can do until she eventually bows out with her chips added to my stack. Confidence is all I'm giving out. I dare her to find a tell.

Riggs takes my empty bottle and the others around the table before returning with a fresh round. Cans would be easier to transport, but there's something special about the taste of a beer and the cold glass against your lips. It allows a moment to imagine drinking it in a little country dive bar, rather than hunkered down in an old nuclear war bunker with your other missing or presumed dead friends.

I know he'd tell me drowning myself in what ifs isn't helping anything and he's right. In my position he'd be doing exactly what I'm doing, focusing on the real goal and eliminating the obstacles in the way. Instead his hero complex added another one with big fluttering brown eyes and hair like fall leaves, brown with hints of auburn sun kissed light. Yeah, fuck that.

Five more rounds of brutal back and forth and my chips are not sitting pretty. Hell, Jax's stack isn't looking much better. If I didn't know better I'd think we were being hustled, but there's no fucking way. Riggs said he just taught her and Princess doesn't seem like the type who has a lying bone in her tiny little body. Beginner's luck. It's gotta be.

"Got something to share with the class Princess?" I question as I look over my cards. They have stopped speaking any kind of language I know, full on hieroglyphics. It's not the first time I've had to bullshit my way through something. Jax's smitten ass is just gazing at Callie like the secrets to the universe lie in those heated, narrowed eyes.

"If I was the sharing type, it wouldn't be with you," she smiles sweetly.

Something about the way she bites back makes me forget any plans to play nice.

"Could've fooled me. Tell me Cupid, can you taste Pretty Boy when your tongue is shoved down her throat?"

I can feel the disappointment radiating from my best friend before he even opens his mouth. "Out of line Rave."

"Fuck you, Rave. Ignore him Callie girl," Dario says as he leans over and rubs his hand over her thigh. "Jealously really doesn't suit you. Hulks you out more than usual."

Her eyes are shining when she makes eye contact with me. "All in," Callie says staring me down while sliding her chips to the center of the table.

My beer tastes like regret as I down a sip cursing my mouth for being faster than my brain. The looks on my brothers' faces just reinforce what I already know. I've got to find some way to stop digging this hole I'm in any deeper.

"All in, Pet," Jax croons at her with a pointed glare in my direction. Girl's pussy must be gold to have him simping this hard.

I hate that even in my own thoughts I've become a crude, callous asshole. It's her. Everything comes back to her. Disrupting our goals, the guys, myself. This game has just solidified things for me. We're imploding and the only way to reduce the fallout is to remove the device.

"All in Princess."

The final card isn't the nail in my coffin I expect. Neither is the hand that Jax lays bare with a proud half smile. To those that know him, the man is beaming.

"Put up or shut up Rave," she goads.

"I'd say ladies first, but since there aren't any present, guests please," I indicate with a dramatic flourish. Riggs kicks my left leg just right and I can feel my old football injury twinge at the jolt. Low blow, truly.

I oblige, throwing down my cards as though that'll change their faces.

"Read 'em and weep boys," she grins as I read the cards that seal our fates. Four of a kind. Fitting as I gaze around the laughing faces around the table that I'm the odd one out.

"Nicely played Calista," Riggs praises as she flushes under his attention. "Well done for a beginner."

Dario is practically shaking with the force of keeping his mouth shut. "Can I tell them now," he pleads with her.

Her eyes nearly double in size as she looks at him. "You knew?"

"Computer guy remember Callie baby? I know everything."

Her earlier elation dims a bit at his words and he curses under his breath, second guessing himself in that way that we've worked hard to rid him of. He knows his shit.

He leans closer to her and they share a quickly whispered conversation that we all pretend to ignore. It ends with her nodding, still less enthusiastic that before but no longer looking like someone kicked her puppy. Jax no longer looks ready to drag into his room for an interrogation.

"Did Callie ever say she was a beginner G-man," Dario starts off by asking.

Riggs opens his mouth for a second before closing it as he really mulls over their conversation. I can see the moment the lightbulb goes off for him and I have to hide my grin behind my hand. Well, I'll be damned. Princess played us.

"I'm always open to learning more," she adds. "That wasn't a lie. And you were being really earnest helping me like that. I didn't have the heart to tell you I already knew most of what you were telling me. Just the house rules were a bit different," she admits shyly.

Dario's willpower to contain himself has exhausted itself. "Her fucking aunt is an old poker champion you dumb fucks," he cackles gleefully like a damn hyena.

"That too," she blushes.

It really is a crying shame. Under any other circumstances, I could see her busting my balls and me loving it. Her acidic tongue lashings just foreplay before I had her screaming out in pleasure rather than frustration.

Alas, life hasn't worked out like I imagined from the moment my football dreams were shattered by a side tackle by a sore loser. Hell, if I'm being honest, life as we all knew it changed when Dario called me over the radio choked up and apologizing that Riggs was gone.

Hope she gets a good night's sleep tonight. It'll be the last one she spends with us.