there’s another knock on the door. This time the door swings open
without pause and a guy walks in dressed in what looks like a very
expensive tweed jacket. There’s a scarf wrapped around his neck, and
he begins to unwind it as soon as he slams the door behind him. He
nudges his head in my direction as he walks toward the kitchen. “Who
are you?”
He’s older than the other two, probably in his mid-forties.
Atlas definitely has an interesting mix of friends.
“This is Lily,” Brad says. “She’s married to an asshole and just found
out she’s pregnant with the asshole’s baby. Lily, this is Jimmy. He’s
pompous and arrogant.”
“Pompous and arrogant are the same thing, idiot,” Jimmy says. He
pulls out the chair next to Darin and nudges his head at the cards in
my hands. “Did Atlas plant you here to hustle us? What kind of
average person knows how to shuffle cards like that?”
I smile and begin to pass cards out to each of them. “I guess we’ll
have to play a round to find out.”
- • •
We’re on our third round of bets when Atlas finally walks in. He closes
the door behind him and looks around at the four of us. Brad said
something funny right before Atlas opened the door, so I’m in the
middle of a fit of laughter when Atlas locks eyes with me. He nods his
head toward the kitchen and begins walking in that direction.
“Fold,” I say, laying my cards flat on the table as I stand up to follow
him. When I get to the kitchen, he’s standing where he isn’t visible to
the guys at the table. I walk over to him and lean against the counter.
“You want me to ask them to leave?”
I shake my head. “No, don’t do that. I’m actually enjoying it. It’s
keeping my mind off things.”
He nods and I can’t help but notice how he smells like herbs.
Rosemary, specifically. It makes me wish I could see him in action at
his restaurant.
“You hungry?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Not really. I ate some leftover pasta a couple
hours ago.”