♡ Gamblers to lovers♡ (Mary Saotome x reader)

Chapter 22

—Mary, follow me! —you said in the comfy way that represented you —. I rented a pool table just for the occasion, I hope you like it.

You were excited to see Mary playing pool for the first time. Since you had experience with it, you thought that maybe you would be able to defeat her for the first time. But, inside, you were willing to lose to Mary once again.

—You know who's going to win this one game, right? —Mary said with confidence.

There were three people playing: Mary, Yumeko and you.

—Let's just not bet anything this time... —you plead.

—Fine, fine, I always knew you don't like risks —Yumeko stated, trying to look bored and disappointed. She knew, though, that you were right: That wasn't the moment to bet anything.
Yumeko had the first turn.

She wasn't able to pot any ball in her first turn, but she left you a good scenario to continue the game.

—Do you know what I like the most about Pool? —you said —. It's the fact that you can win just because of a mistake from the opponent. Keep that in mind.

You put the four ball into one pocket, and started to celebrate around Mary.

—It's your turn now! I've been waiting for this moment for a long time!

Mary didn't reply at all, and with her serious face, she managed to pot two balls at the same time: ten and twelve.

«That was so amazing —you thought. You wanted to tell Mary about it, but you wanted to wait a bit more. You needed to be all alone with her to tell her everything —. I never get tired of her».

It was Yumeko's turn again, but she failed. It was almost like she was trying to lose for an unknown reason. Even if it was Mary's birthday party, Yumeko isn't the type of person that would lose on purpose to avoid getting attention. Both Mary and you started to think that she was plotting something, probably a comeback.

—Yumeko, look what you're making me do! —you said, and pushed with the white ball a ball that Yumeko left next to a pocket.

Mary smiled, and in that silent manner, she potted two different balls in the same move again.

—Sometimes, you have to think outside the box to get all the slices of the cake —she said, without staring at Yumeko at any moment.

As expected, Yumeko wasted another turn without doing anything significant. And, as expected, you used her mistake to pot an easy ball again, trying not to leave any easy ball for Mary.
However, Mary managed to pot another ball, owning the lead with a big difference.

«Is she going to win in just a few rounds? I'd rather go to the next game...» you thought. You decided to finish the game in your turn.

—Do you guys remember what I said about winning because of your opponent's mistake —you stated, and pushed the eight ball to the nearest pocket.

—Well, if I learned something from this round, it is that Mary's even better at pool than what I expected. And my expectations weren't low —Mary blushed, frowning in a delicate way —. Now I want to play another game, this time with everyone! I guess you know it, it's called UNO.

—I love that game! —Yumeko said.

—Don't let me win next time, silly. Let me enjoy the feeling of a deserved victory —Mary stated.

You convinced yourself that it was aimed at Yumeko, but it was probably aimed to you: the one who allowed Mary's early victory.
You all sit down and you start dealing the cards, giving each player seven cards.

—So what are the rules?— asked Yumeko.

You giggle.

—Yumeko, you should know that in UNO no one knows the real rules. Let's just agree that in our game, you can stack up the +2 and +4 cards, since that makes everything a lot more interesting.

Yumeko looked surprised but she then started laughing. It seemed like she was really into that.

The game began with Mary's start. She played a normal card that was easy to top. A few more cards were placed that way, before the game really started. You played a red +2 to Yumeko. Yumeko smiled as she picked up two cards. When it was Mary's turn, she placed a +2 as well. What she didn't know was that you had a +4 up your sleeve. You played it and it looked like Yumeko would have to pick up 6. Yumeko giggled as her eyes seemed to turn red. She placed another +4, making the total 10. None of you knew if that was allowed, but that's what made this all fun. Mary groaned as she picked up 10. It was clear Mary couldn't make a comeback unless she had some really good cards. You looked at Yumeko and she looked back at you. It was on. You had 3 cards left and Yumeko 5. You played a skip card, skipping Yumeko's turn. She grinned. Mary played a normal card and it was your turn.

—Uno.

You place down a yellow zero.
Yumeko started giggling again. It looked like the rush of the "gamble" was finally kicking in. She played a yellow 2.
Yumeko and Mary exchanged a glance. They nodded in unison. They knew they couldn't let you win. Mary looked down at her cards. Somehow she didn't have any plus cards, only color changing ones. Mary grinned. It was truly up to luck. She placed down the wild card, meaning she could change the color.
Mary looked in your eyes, feeling a drop of sweat on her forehead. Would she be able to guess the last color wrong? She had ¾ chance of succeeding. The odds were on her side. She couldn't fail...!

—I choose... RED!!