Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting, #1)(36)

The tall model chick gave up halfway through and went to flirt with Vance Mitchell instead. I couldn’t help but give an internal fist pump. Winning at poker, and winning at boys. This certainly is an interesting turn of events…

I gathered my winnings into a pile. “Thanks for letting me play. I’m going to bow out now.” No way was I going to play until I lost everything.

Mick leaned in, his hand on my thigh. “Are you some kind of pool shark?”

I laughed. “No.” To keep or not to keep my secret? The idea was to reveal the real me a little at a time, right? Besides, “serious” and “smart” are two different things, and I’m not going to play dumb to try to make someone like me. “I’m good at calculating odds, though—math and statistics are kind of my thing.” I lowered my voice and bent closer. “Pissy Poker Player doesn’t look too happy about it.”

Mick chuckled and wrapped his hand tighter around my thigh. “Pissy Poker Player can deal. I think I should take you and your card counting to Vegas.”

Card counting? Was that what I was doing? That was illegal, wasn’t it? I almost felt bad enough to give back the money I’d made, but I took in Pissy Poker Player’s clothing and the fat designer watch that was totally for show, and decided he could afford it. Plus, my classified Operation was well under way and making progress, and I needed money for a prom dress.

Mick scooted away from the table. “I’ve got to circulate a bit. Will you be okay on your own?”

“Yeah. Mind if I look around?”

Mick kissed the spot under my ear and whispered, “Knock yourself out.”

If he knew that I’d wondered countless times what his bedroom looked like, he probably would’ve thought twice about granting me an all access pass. Since I could hear Cooper telling me the name I’d put Mick under in my phone would make the guy freak—something I still needed to change—I figured going through his room was also a no-no.

I stuck to the lower level, and a few minutes into my mini, self-guided tour, I bumped into Amber. She smiled and said “hey,” so I figured I’d attempt the polite conversation I hadn’t gotten around to the other day. “Hey, back. I didn’t know you were here.”

“Just decided to swing by last minute—I waitress at MoeJoe’s now, so if I smell like food, that’s why.”

“Fun. I mean, the waitressing, not smelling like food. Not that you do.” I couldn’t help glancing around her, steeling myself for the dirty looks I’d get from the rest of her crew if they were also on their way in.

“Paris isn’t with me.”

“Oh. I didn’t…” Know how to finish. Words didn’t come easy between us anymore, which was sad, because at one point, we’d talked for hours on end.

“Anyway, Jared called to see if I’d bring him a burger and fries, like the mooch he is.” She rolled her eyes as she held up a white bag. “Guess I better go find him and tell him he owes me a really big tip.”

I nodded, not bothering to point her in any direction, because I didn’t know who Jared was. Idly I wondered if she was dating him. If she was happy. A dozen other ifs that flickered quickly through my mind.

Amber hesitated, then seemed to abandon whatever she was going to say and simply gave me another smile before heading toward the group of people in the living room.

I continued to the other side of the room and ended up in front of a massive window overlooking the backyard. The lake sat just beyond that, the water as dark as an oil spill with the sun fully set.

Occasionally I spotted Mick in the crowd, and he was always a little too friendly with the girls for my liking, but a lot of the time, they were the ones who initiated the flirty touches, and he and I weren’t an official thing.

Hopefully soon, though. If I play my cards right, and tonight proved that I’m rather good at cards. A smug sense of victory made me feel light and floaty.

The twinkling stars in the inky sky caught my eye and I searched out the constellations Cooper had shown me. Is that Hercules? Or is it that other star cluster?

Honestly, none of them looked like a dude standing on a dragon, and I couldn’t recognize anything besides the Big Dipper.

Arms wound around my waist, and I stiffened. Then relaxed at the sound of Mick’s voice. “There you are. I was looking for you.” He swept my hair off the back of my neck and pressed his lips there.

My pulse raced, and heat flooded my body. This is it. I’m going to kiss Mick. Something magical will happen, and everything will change, and before you know it, we’ll be walking into a decorated gym, him in a tux and me in a sparkly dress.

But when I spun in his arms, I noticed how many people were nearby and looking our way.

I didn’t want twenty people to witness our first kiss.

My muscles tensed back up. Say we do kiss. Will it be all over school come Monday? What will people call us? Kick. Mate. Ugh, our names don’t do a very good job of merging in a cute way. How have I never noticed that before?

Why am I freaking noticing it now?

“Everything okay?” Mick asked, doing a full-body lean that pressed me against the glass. Suddenly I was wondering how much weight it could hold, because it’d so be my luck to break right through and come out of this entire thing covered in cuts and glass shards.

“It’s just… I…” I ran my hand through my hair. “Could we talk?”