Chapter 21: Discreet

178K 6.6K 18.3K
                                    

"This is unfair," Bryce groaned as he stared hopelessly at the third Wild Draw 4 Ian slammed on the table

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

"This is unfair," Bryce groaned as he stared hopelessly at the third Wild Draw 4 Ian slammed on the table. He had forced the brunet to play Uno with him at the balcony while they waited for Cameron to finish preparing lunch, which Ian wasn't too enthusiastic about at first, but as it turned out, his Uno skills are surprisingly great when he's playing against Bryce.

"It is what it is," Ian smirked at him with the four remaining cards in his hand. "Draw, wimp."

The blond rolled his eyes before picking up a few cards. Ian lifted his eyebrow suspiciously, earning a "what?" from Bryce.

"When the card says four, you draw four, Bryce."

"I hate this game," the blond mumbled, drawing two more cards from the pile. "What were you and Emery talking about this morning?"

Ian peered from behind his cards in question. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you two earlier outside. It seemed pretty serious," Bryce answered, smiling in triumph as he dropped a Draw 2 card. "Hah!"

"It was nothing. Just some stuff about the booth," Ian lied, shrugging before setting down the same card, making Bryce drop his shoulders in disbelief. He threw Ian a glare before begrudgingly drawing another set of four cards. Ian went on, ignoring his tantrum, "He thinks red is better than maroon."

"Red's not bad," Bryce spoke, looking at the discarded pile and then back at his own. "Damn it," he cursed under his breath, picking up a couple more from the draw pile until he found a playable card.

"Maroon is authentic," Ian reasoned out, placing his second to the last card with a satisfied sigh. "Uno."

Bryce opened his mouth and stared at the number of cards in his hand. "Fuck you," he snapped, throwing them on the table in surrender.

Ian chuckled and stared at his pouty lips, his own mouth itching to do something, and he would have, if only. "Have you decided what you're gonna take for college?" he decided to ask instead.

"I don't know," Bryce leaned back to his seat and glanced at Ian's slender fingers playing shuffle with the cards, and the blond found himself staring for some reason. "I guess I'll just wing it."

Ian snorted. "That's easy for you to say. Your family's well off."

"Please," Bryce scoffed, taking one card to direct his attention. "It's not always great."

"What do you mean?"

"You know..." he drawled, resting his elbows on the table as he flashed Ian a teasing smile. "When you're in the arcade and you can't play with coins because you don't have any- ow!"

"Jerk," Ian mumbled after kicking his leg under the table. "I've always envied you rich people."

He started arranging the cards back in the metallic box when he caught Bryce staring, as if he was anticipating for him to keep talking. "You never have to worry about choosing the wrong path in life. You literally have everything. Money, friends, privilege..."

Rage With BenefitsWhere stories live. Discover now