Seduce Me ~ The Path To Forgiveness

Path Three, Step Ten: Loss

"Are you alright, Miss?" James asks as we enter, brow furrowing as he glances up from his phone.

'I'm fine, thank you.' I sign back with a smile, Damien shaking his head at his brothers questioning look as we take our seats.

"You look really pale." Matthew states with a frown, Sam grunting in agreement. A quick glance around the table reveals many concerned eyes fixed on me, the attention making me shift nervously in my chair.

"Perhaps you should lie down a bit longer, little dove." Erik suggests, tilting his head to meet my gaze as I glance away.

"She said she's fine, leave her be." Damien cuts in as he casts a pointed glance around the room and, to my relief and surprise, they do.

While I still receive several worried looks breakfast is lively as usual, the bundle of nerves coiled in my chest slowly loosening as the time passes easily. The clock strikes nine as we finish our meal yet no one seems interested in starting the day and, it being the weekend, neither am I. Matthew and Erik are the heart of the conversation, Sam acting disinterested and James more concerned with whatever is pulled up on his phone, while Damien is content to sit and listen, speaking for me to save the need for paper.

An hour passes before James finally sets his phone down, glancing around the room. "If you plan to waste the day perhaps we should find a better way to pass the time?"

"Did you have somethin' in mind or just callin' us lazy?" Sam snorts as James rises from his chair, a smile tugging the corners of his lips.

"A bit of both perhaps."

Damien begins to clear the table as his brother disappears into the hall, Matthew quick to jump up and help, and as they finish James returns carrying a familiar black box.

"Care for a rematch?" James smiles as he places the wooden set, gilded with curling designs along it's trim, on the table and delicately removes the lid. The backs of the cards bear the same golden swirls, the five sets of chips each a varying solid color marked with rings of gold.

"Awww yeah, imma fuckin' cream your ass this time." Sam chuckles as he straightens in his seat, reaching across the table to pull the box closer as James removes the deck of cards.

"I doubt I'll be your greatest competition." James smirks as he shuffles the cards masterfully between slim fingers, glancing pointedly to Damien.

"You're gonna let him play? He cheats!" Sam argues, glaring over to the mind reader, though strangely no one else seems to share his complaint.

"I'll tell you a little secret." James turns his gaze to me, ignoring his brother who grumbles as he dishes out the chips. "It's impossible for your brain not to register the cards in your hand, he will know what you have no matter how hard you attempt to keep it to yourself. So instead, imagine five. Two, the cards in your hand, three any random cards of your choosing. While he still holds the upper hand it does help to even out the playing field."

"Bullshit, that never works." Sam growls and Damien laughs, shaking his head.

"When the cards in your hand are always the two you think of first it's impossible not to notice."

The game is aggressive and unpredictable, faced with the ever constant change in stratagy whenever Damien tips his hand, and everyone elses, with mysterious grins or sudden folds. While the atmosphere is light the banter is sharp, quips and jeers passed across the table by some more than others, and I'm surprised at just how natural it feels in their company. James is able to maintain a steady lead, though Damien is always close behind, while I'm left battling Erik for third, Sam and Matthew constantly shifting between last. The shrill ring of the doorbell echoes through the house, pausing our heated game, and I rise to my feet curiously as I wonder who could possibly be here.