Troubled

4: Players.

Megan Crawford.
Tuesday, June 30th 2015.
11:54.

I had always loved to play card games.

I could remember that when I was a kid, Chloe and I would play in the basement of our house. We would go down there late at night, because we believed that that would make everything more serious. We would play 21 all the time, because it was our favorite game. The both of us pretended we were in a casino, and we had such a good time.

I was reminded of that when Kyle asked me to play cards with him and Aria.

I had realized in the few hours that I had worked in The Book Escape, that the store never had many customers. About five people had gone inside in the time that I had been there. But that was wonderful for me, because I did not really have to do much and I could just sit and read in the silence of the place.

I had been sat down on a chair with a copy of Great Expectations on my hands. I had always been attracted to classics; there was something about the old times that interested me so much. I had read that one book many times before, but now that I worked in a bookstore, it seemed right to read it again.

I was on the fourth page of the book when Kyle spoke in a quiet voice. "Megan, Aria and I are about to play 21. Do you want to join?"

"Play with you? No, thank you," I heaved out as I shook my head and my gaze rested on my book once again. I listened to his footsteps on the wooden floors as he walked closer to me until he was right in front of my chair.

"Come on, princess, you can't ignore me forever," Kyle told me as he placed his hand on my shoulder, his skin warm against my own. The feeling was sort of pleasant, and for a moment, I wanted to lean into his touch. But then, I pushed his fingers away from me in a hesitant manner and cleared my throat.

"I wish I could," I admitted. I had wanted to stay away from him as much as I could. But in the two days that I had worked there, I had not been able to do so.

"But that is impossible," he expressed as he took his hand up to his chest and placed it over his heart. His blue eyes were amused and he said in a vain tone, "I'm too handsome to be overlooked."

"Fine, I will play." The look on his expression told me that he was surprised that I had agreed. I did not want him to think that he could bother me so much, and that was the reason why I had decided to play.

I stood from my chair and put my book down before I turned back to him with a smile. I started to make my way towards the coffee section because I knew that Aria was there. A moment passed before Kyle started to walk as well.

I grinned at Aria when I saw her and she returned the gesture. The three of us sat down on one of the wooden tables that were meant to be for coffee, after we had pushed aside the napkins and menus.

The cards were red and blue and I watched as Kyle shuffled them with his strong and toned hands. I realized in that moment that he had a small tattoo on his skin of a feather, which I found to be quite fascinating. I must have stared at him for too much time, because he looked up at me and winked.

"Should we bet anything?" Aria requested as she looked at the both of us with an expectant look on her face. I did not say anything for a moment because I was not too sure I wanted to bet my money, because after all, I did not really have much.

"Yes," Kyle agreed with her, his voice excited. I started to worry for a moment that he would want to bet too much money, but then I calmed down when he added, "What do you say two dollars for each game?"

"Sounds good to me," I said as I nodded my head. The three of us took two dollars from each one of our pockets and placed them all together in the table.