“Girl, that man is fine,” she exclaims.
“He’s all that and more,” I reply.
“Well I think we found your weekend hookup,” she says a little too loudly for my liking.
“Sophia! Have you ever heard of an inside voice?” I say with a note of sarcasm.
“Pshh, you know me by now. I have one voice and that’s loud. Let’s stay here and see what happens,” she offers.
“I’m good with that,” I reply as I continue my perusal of him. He has a little more than a five o’clock shadow, maybe not shaving for the past couple of days, enough to be scratchy but not overly prickly. I blush again thinking about how it would feel if his whiskers rubbed up against the side of my neck.
“What can I get you ladies to drink?” I hear as I’m shaken out of my revere of what I would love this gorgeous man to do to me.
“Oh, uh. Can I get a Vodka and Coke?” I ask, a little unsurely.
“I’ll take a tequila sunrise,” Sophia replies.
I look at her and say, “Tequila, much?” and it sets us off in a fit of giggles.
We finally quiet down, and I turn my gaze back to Zack, I have a name to his face now. The overhead televisions show us a close-up of each poker player, their rank, and their names. My eyes never leave his form being displayed on the screen, he’s even more amazing than gazing at him , even from twenty feet away. His hair is shorter on the sides and longer on the top and when he grins, he has a dimple that pops out on the left side of his face. Tie all that in with his dark olive skin and he’s a ten on the man o meter. The man o meter is something Sophia concocted back in ninth grade, she’s always been boy crazy and it seems like it’s only gotten worse as the years go by, but I know her secret, it’s a secret we both carry. We may be best friends and tell each other everything. Except this one thing.
We’re both virgins, so while she puts on a front that she’s out and open and available, I know she’s never once given herself to another and I haven’t either. I made a pledge to myself a long time ago, that I wouldn’t just lose my virginity for the sake of losing my virginity. That’s why I’m now twenty-one years old and a virgin. The waitress brings our drinks to us. I turn to Sophia, she has her drink raised and I automatically raise mine.
“To us and Vegas,” she says as we clink our glasses together and then take a sip.
I turn back around and keep my eyes glued to the handsome poker player.
Chapter 4
Zack
It’s hard to concentrate with the beauty sitting so close by, yet so fucking far away. I have to get my shit together and get this round over, so I can approach her. Looking at her, I have a yearning deep inside my soul, for her to become mine and only mine.
I take the cards I’ve been dealt, looking at them I see that I have a good hand this round and it will be closed out soon. The other players are folding, some have a look of disgust on their face, and me, well, I’m trying to hold back a grin. I’m hitting the mother fucking jackpot tonight and winning a cool three hundred grand.
Once the dealer sees my cards he announces, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner tonight is Zack Martin. Come back tomorrow night for the second round.” I hear the cheering and clapping, but my eyes are too busy searching for the bombshell that has me reeling.
When I look out into the seating area, I don’t see her. I’m pissed as fuck that I missed my opportunity to meet her. I’m feverishly looking left and right, seeing if maybe I can catch a glimpse of her, but she’s vanished into thin air.
“Fuck,” I say out loud to no one in particular. The dealer lets me know my check is at the cashier’s window and leaves to finish out his duties for the night.
I’m alone in a sea of people, and all I want is another glimpse of the brunette that’s left me speechless. I turn and walk to the cashier and grab my check, I should be stoked that I just won this amount of money on the first round, but I’m not. I’m too busy being disappointed in the one that got away.
“Here’s your check Mr. Martin,” the cashier says as she hands it to me.
“Thank you,” I say automatically, keeping my eyes peeled for the mystery woman, my mystery woman.
I head back to my room, grateful as fuck to have a place to just relax and it be over sized, it even has a walk out pool. I have a game plan to work off this excess energy. I’ll change into some swim trunks and do some laps. I’d go to the gym but I’m not much for company and swimming has always been one of my passions.