Collide (Collide #1)(37)

Gavin smiled wickedly. "So Trevor tells me that you enjoy playing poker."

Emily looked at Trevor as he pulled up a seat to the table.

Her eyes flicked back to Gavin. "I play a pretty good game, I must admit."

"I see...and your game of choice would be what exactly?" Gavin questioned, placing a mahogany box filled with poker chips on the table.

"My game of choice would be Texas Hold'em."

"Mmm, very good. That's my favorite." He took a seat across from her. "Shall we?" he asked, opening the deck of cards.

"We shall."

"We'll just watch," Olivia piped up, lounging onto a beach chair with Tina. She shot Emily a teasing grin, and Emily shook her head.

"Well, you two may think you're expert players, but I'm pretty damn sure I'm going to clean you both out," Trevor laughed as he peered at them over his glasses. He then threw a hundred-dollar bill on the table. "I'm a certified pro. But don't say I didn't warn you both."

Gavin huffed at his statement and laughed.

"We're playing for real money?" Emily asked.

"We sure are." Gavin tossed two one-hundred-dollar bills on the table. "I just put in for you."

"You don't have to do that," Emily replied, standing up. "I'll just get some money from Dillon."

"Don't worry about it. I'll get it back from him after I wipe you and Trevor out," Gavin remarked, flashing her one of his dimpled smiles.

Trevor was too busy shuffling the cards to acknowledge Gavin's statement, but Emily wasn't too busy to notice Gavin's heart-stopping smile.

She hesitantly sat back down and threw him a smile of her own. "You think you're going to wipe me out, huh?" she laughed and gave him a questioning look.

He gazed at her with an arched brow and a wry curve of his lips. "Oh, I'm absolutely positive I will."

Grinning, Emily leaned back in her chair, her eyes focused and steady. "We shall see, Mr. Blake."

The way his last name slid from her tongue had Gavin trying to contain emotions that were threatening to pour from his body. He slowly licked his lips as he stared at her and dealt out the cards to each of them.

With cards in hand, drinks flowing, and Olivia and Tina as spectators, the game began. Over the next hour, both Gavin and Emily depleted Trevor of all his chips. They continuously made fun of his earlier statement about beating them both.

"Okay, okay. But just for the record, I'm pretty drunk right now; that's why my game was off tonight," Trevor defended himself and retreated into a lounge chair next to Olivia and Tina.

Olivia laughed and consoled her brother by doing a shot of tequila with him.

"The proverbial drank-too-much-and-played-like-an-ass excuse. Classic," Gavin laughed.

Trevor shook his head with a defeated look molding his face. "I'm reaching far with that one, right?"

Gavin finished the last of his beer before answering. "I'd say so. But I've experienced the same drunken play many nights before," he admitted, dealing another hand out to himself and Emily.

After a few minutes of studying one another's faces for who might have the better hand, Emily cleared her throat and looked at Gavin. "I'm all in."

She pushed her growing stack of chips into the middle of the table as a wide I-dare-you smile crept over her lips.

Gavin regarded her carefully as he drummed his fingers slowly against his empty beer bottle.

Trying to drag his gaze from hers, Gavin looked down at his cards. He was holding two Kings and one was already on the table. Leaning forward, he tilted his head to the side and smiled. "You might not want to do that, Miss Cooper."