Black Number Four (34 page)

“Mine, too.”

We order our drinks along with the rest of the crew and then all gather around the pool, some kicking back in lounge chairs while others wade in the shallow end of the pool or hang their feet in. Skyler is sitting in a line on the edge of the pool with Erin, Cassie, Ashlei, and Jess. They all swing their feet absentmindedly and sip on their drinks, the condensation gathering and rolling down the glasses in the same way small beads of sweat slowly roll down Skyler’s neck and into the crevice between her breasts. The minute she took off the sundress covering her bathing suit I groaned internally, thankful for the sunglasses masking my reaction. But she made sure to do it nice and slow, smiling at me as she dropped the garment onto an empty lounge chair.

I can’t wait to get her alone.

When the captain announces we’re pulling away from port, everyone jumps out of the pool and starts gathering around the edges of the ship, waving to other boats and people dining at waterfront restaurants as we pull out to sea. With everyone distracted and buzzed at this point, I take advantage and grab Skyler’s wrist, tugging her with me in the opposite direction. I move quickly, making sure I avoid the areas where the Greeks from our school have gathered. Spying a private deck a bit higher than the one we’re on, I rush us up the stairs and we duck under a sign hanging on a chain that says VIP ONLY. When we reach the top, we’re alone. Ten empty lounge chairs shine in the sunlight, but no one is up here just yet. And, lucky for us, no one is patrolling the area yet, either.

“Finally,” she breathes, pulling me against her and sliding her hands into my hair as she presses her lips to mine. Her body moves against me like she can’t stand any sliver of space, like touching every part of me isn’t close enough. I wrap my arms around her and back her up to the railing, biting her lip softly and sliding my fingers under the strings of her bikini top before pulling back.

“I might upgrade to VIP if it means you’ll sneak up here with me every chance we get this week.”

She smiles, her long hair blowing wildly around her. “Oh yeah? You’d drop cash like that for me?”

“Depends.” I grin, turning her around to face the shore and wrapping my arms around her middle. Her skin is hot and smooth against mine, cool and rough in contrast. We’re polar opposites, it seems. Where she’s light, I’m dark. Where she’s innocent, I’m guilty. But then again, I can’t help but feel we’re exactly the same in so many ways. “What am I getting for my money? I’m a very strategic investor, Skyler Thorne.” I whisper the words on the skin right behind her ear and watch as tiny goose bumps spring to life and run rampant down the back of her neck.

She licks her lips and smiles, pressing her ass against my groin and leaning over the rail slightly as she waves to the people on the shore. I groan aloud this time, biting down on her neck softly as she inhales a stiff breath.

“I’m a risky investment,” she says, rolling her hips a little. “If you want the ultimate payout, you’re going to have to take the ultimate risk. You could double your money or you could end up losing everything you own.”

The feisty girl I met that first night at rush is back in full force and I fucking love it. For the past few weeks, things have been so strained between us. She was shy, then she was breaking me, then she was avoiding me, then we were friends, then I had her bent over my couch, and now we’re here, cruising to another part of the world together. My dad is still an issue and for her, Erin is just as much. We’ve both taken risks.

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take, if it means I might get you in the end.” The words fall out of my mouth faster than they process in my brain. It’s a serious statement, a stark contrast from the playful attitude we’ve had all week.

Skyler smiles, leaning her head back against my shoulder. “Be careful, Jackson. That almost sounded like you were falling for me.”

I swallow hard, tucking my hands a little tighter around her waist and resting my head on her shoulder. Her words float in the space around us and I don’t say anything else, letting them wash over me as I think of what they mean. What does it mean when you fall for someone? And when do you know if you’re just tripping or stumbling versus actually pummeling toward the cold hard ground? Love is a scary term, one I’m not sure I’m ready to say just yet. One I might never be able to use.

Then again, my dad always did warn me to never say never.

“Dude, if you spray your cologne one more time we’re going to need a fumigator in here.” I laugh, waving my hand to break up the cloud of Axe body spray.

“Ladies love this shit, man,” Kade says, pulling out the front of his boxers and giving a short spritz.

“Yeah yeah, just hurry up, will ya? You’re worse than the sorority girls on this ship when it comes to getting ready in less than five hours.” Kade checks himself one last time in the mirror and grabs his room key and phone, tucking them in his pocket. “Why are you even bringing your phone? We don’t have service.”

“Pictures, bro! Once the girls get wasted in the club, who knows what could happen. It’s Spring Break. Clothing is optional at a certain point.”

I shake my head and laugh as we close the door to our room behind us, heading down the narrow hallway to the main elevators. We all had dinner earlier and somehow Skyler and I ended up at the same table. Unfortunately, so did Erin and Adam. In fact, Adam wound up in the seat right next to Skyler. Even though she didn’t pay him much attention, he definitely had his eyes glued to her, which made me think he didn’t get her hint earlier this week that she wasn’t interested.

After dinner, everyone headed back to the rooms to get ready to go out for the night. Without our phones, I have no way to find out what Skyler’s plans are for the night, but Kade swears everyone will be at The Cove, one of the clubs onboard.

“So what’s going on with you and Skyler, man?”

I find the floor number for the club and click the coordinating button, shrugging as the doors close. “Nothing. We’re friends. She’s a cool girl.”

Kade rolls his eyes. “Seriously?
She’s a cool girl?
Come on, bro, this is me you’re talking to. I can see the way you two are looking at each other and if you don’t watch it, other people will start to catch on, too. It’s not over between you two, is it?”

Fuck. Kade is one of my best friends here, but he’s not exactly the brightest brother in our fraternity. If he’s catching on to me and Skyler, who knows who else has noticed.

“I don’t know. It’s complicated. We’re just laying low right now and figuring shit out. Don’t say anything to anyone, okay? Seriously.”

Kade throws his hands up, a shit-eating grin on his face. “My lips are sealed.” He’s quiet for a moment, but right as the doors open he speaks up again. “I’m just saying, I knew it wasn’t over. You two are like a fucking Rom Com, man. The drama is intense.”

I go to punch his arm but he dodges the hit, laughing and hopping around me as we make our way toward the club. We have to pass through the casino and I scan the tables, checking to see if I recognize any of the players sitting at the poker tables tonight. I’m sure if there are tournaments starting tomorrow, the pros are practicing tonight and probably making easy money off the amateur college students looking to “get lucky”. As my eyes scan the tables, I spot the same glittery dress Skyler wore to dinner. Surprisingly, though, she’s not at the poker table or even at a Blackjack one, but at Roulette, instead.

“Hey, I’ll catch up with you in a minute. I’m going to go try my hand at Blackjack,” I tell Kade.

His eyes follow mine and he sees Skyler, too. He laughs, cocking a brow. “Yeah, good luck with
that
game. See you later.”

Kade continues toward the club and I make my way to the table, watching Skyler as she sips her drink and leans forward, placing a bet on the table. She looks incredible tonight. Her long brown hair is curled and pulled into some sort of up-do with just a few loose curls hanging down. Her dress is a pinkish-orange and short in the front but long in the back, showing just enough of her killer legs. It’s mind blowing to me that this girl can look absolutely stunning in a fancy dress and yet still knock me on my ass in just sweatpants and a big t-shirt.

I walk up and stand behind her, assessing the bets on the table. “Why black number four?”

She smiles, keeping her eyes trained on the table but stepping back a little so that our bodies touch just slightly. “It’s a long story.”

“I’m in no rush. I’m actually on vacation, believe it or not.”

Skyler rolls her eyes, taking another sip of her drink as the other players place their bets. “My dad has this formula he uses to find out people’s lucky numbers. He used to do it all the time, sort of like his party trick, I guess.” She smiles, shaking her head. “Anyway, obviously he figured mine out the day I was born and it’s been drilled into my head ever since then that my lucky number is four. When I played little league sports, four was always my number. If anyone asks me to choose a number between one and ten, that’s my go-to – always. I have a tattoo with it, I purposefully buy scratch-offs that are the fourth ones on the roll, I mean literally anything involving numbers leads me straight to number four. And honestly, it really is lucky for me. I’ve won a lot of money by betting horses racing with number four and on the scratch-offs, too.” She pauses, turning to face me. “Except, something weird happens in poker. For whatever reason, anytime I’m dealt a black number four in poker, whether it’s spade or club, I lose the hand. No shit. Even if I have a pair of Aces in the hole, if a four comes up – I know I’m going to lose.” Skyler laughs a little. “Kind of ironic, isn’t it? My lucky number screws me in the game I need it most.”

She turns back toward the table, gesturing to her bet. “So, because I’m superstitious and a little crazy, I play black number four on Roulette. Every time. I guess I’m convinced that if a black four can hit for me here, it’ll reverse my luck with the cards.”

“Has it ever hit for you before?”

She scrunches her nose, thinking. “No, it hasn’t. So I guess my lucky number is kind of cursed in this game, too.”

I pull out my wallet and find a crisp one-hundred dollar bill. Flicking it onto the table, I squeeze in beside Skyler to grab the black one-hundred chip from the dealer as she exchanges it. “Maybe you’re just not betting enough. Maybe your lucky number feels cheated.”

Skyler’s eyes grow wide as I slap the chip down on number four, right on top of her bet. She turns to me, her head shaking furiously. “Kip! Don’t do that, that’s so much money. It won’t hit, it never does, I don’t want to be the reason you lose that!”

“No more bets,” the dealer says, all eyes turning to focus on the white ball as it spins around on the wheel.

“Too late now,” I say, grinning.

Skyler covers her face with her hands, shaking her head still. “Oh my God, I can’t breathe.”

I laugh, but keep my eyes trained on the wheel, my stomach in knots. I have plenty of money for the rest of the cruise if I lose the one-hundred, but I want to win this bet for Skyler.

“You have a tattoo?” I ask, trying to distract her. “I don’t know how I missed that.”

She laughs through her hands. “If you’re still talking to me after this, maybe I’ll show it to you later.”

“Looking forward to it,” I say quietly, leaning lower to say the words close to her ear. She nudges me playfully with her elbow but doesn’t take her hands from her face as the ball clicks against one of the metal number dividers and starts bouncing, making its way one more time around.

“I seriously can’t breathe,” Skyler says one more time. I close my eyes, too, waiting for the dealer to announce the winning number. My hand finds Skyler’s hip and I give it a gentle squeeze, trying to calm her. It’s just a silly bet, but for some reason, I really want this.

“Black four.”

My eyelids spring open and Skyler’s hands shoot from her face straight up into the air as she turns to face me, mouth open and eyes wide. We scream together and she throws her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into a tight hug before jumping up and down as the dealer places the glass marker on black number four, right on top of our bets.

“OH MY GOD! That did not just happen!”

Everyone at the table is clapping, happy for us regardless of their bet outcomes. Maybe it’s the fact that I bet a hundred on it or maybe it’s just that our energy is infectious. Either way, we have the attention of the entire casino.