Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
While she talked with Sadie about her current blood flow, the last gentleman to sit next to her hadn’t even set the chips down on the table before he scrammed.
“Wow. You’re doing quite well,” Sadie told her appreciatively as the chips began to fill the table. The pit boss totally caught on to what Valerie was doing by talking about her period but didn’t seem to mind, enjoying the solo female company.
“Beginner’s luck,” she told her simply before moving on. “I’ll have to put you into my next video game. You’d make for a sick character design.”
Having heard all about her video game obsession, as she had now been sitting here for over an hour, Sadie’s hand fell across her cleavage. “I’d be honored. What’s this one about?”
“I think this time, I’m going to do more of a story campaign. Think Law and Order meets The Godfather meets Sons of Anarchy.”
“Sounds interesting.” Sadie smirked right before the house busted yet again.
When she dealt the next hand, Valerie had given her the sign to split.
“Are you sure you want to do that? The book doesn’t recommen—”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Valerie smiled sweetly.
Sadie split her tens, then dealt two tens to place on top of each hand, giving Valerie two hands of twenty. Doing this made the house bust as small cards flowed out next. However, the house wouldn’t have busted if it had drawn that first ten.
Giving her her winnings, the pit boss couldn’t believe the sheer luck. “Wow, that was something you just pulled off.”
“Beginner’s luck,” Valerie told her again with a shrug, about to change the subject she had been saved, when Amo appeared behind Sadie.
“Hey, Sadie, I keep getting complaints that there’s a woman asking men if they have any tampons or a pa—”
Neither Valerie nor Sadie could keep themselves from laughing, causing Amo to finally see who customers had been complaining about.
“I should have known,” he said, shaking his head at her. “You’ve been the bane of my existence since you moved in with S—”
“We’ll keep it down from now on,” Valerie choked out, stopping him before he could finish his sentence and not only completely embarrass her but ruin the fun by mentioning who it was she had moved in with upstairs. Amo was her new next-door neighbor who hated her with a passion; this time, it was so much sweeter with a view and a boyfriend. “I promise.”
“Okay, fine,” Amo conceded, understanding what she was doing, but he had to still put his foot down or Lucca would kick his ass. “You can play for another hour by yourself at this table, but that’s it.”
“Aw, thanks, Amo.” Valerie smiled at him but wished it had been less of one at his next words.
“You know, I could be a model for your game, too,” he suggested with a hell of a lot of confidence. “Matthias isn’t the only one around here with tattoos.”
While that was news to her, considering she didn’t think the Carusos were allowed them, she was still happy to burst his bubble. “Bubblegum Blitz has already been fully approved by Game Hookup. They’re going to announce the release date soon,” Valerie said with pride but then had to avert her eyes down to the table. “Maybe in the next, next one.”
Both Sadie and Valerie burst out into tearful laughter at the inside joke that he wasn’t even going to make it into her mafia video game.
Amo couldn’t help himself from getting one last dig in before he left. “Just keep the fucking noises to a minimum the next time you two go at it.”
She watched him walk away in shock from what he had said, but it took only a few seconds before both girls turned back into laughing hyenas.
“Hey, ladies.” A cold voice had sat down beside Valerie, announcing his arrival and silencing their laughter. “What joke did I miss that sent Amo away like that?”
Seeing Lucca sitting right next to her had Valerie’s heart pumping.
“Oh, nothing, just a little girl humor,” Sadie told him while winking at Valerie.
Lucca, dressed in his all-black suit, took his Zippo and cigarettes from his front pocket and lit one up. “It seems you have collected quite the winnings, Valerie.”
“Mmhmm.” She nodded nervously, adjusting her hair over her earring.
“I didn’t know you gambled,” he said, expertly blowing a cloud of smoke in her direction. “I didn’t even know you played.”
“First time,” she squeaked out after inhaling the intoxicating scent. The slight rush of nicotine made her heart rate calm enough to say her usual go-to. “Beginner’s luck, I guess.”
“That’s some beginner’s luck,” he agreed, taking in the stash carefully to count how much she had accumulated.
Her hand drifted a little bit closer to his cigarettes. “Are you going to play or …?”
“Let’s see …” He mulled the thought over before looking at Sadie. “How much did she put in?”