Gambler's Longshot: Devil's Knights Series

by Winter Travers

  “No shit?” I nodded my head yes and grabbed my drink. “She gonna live with you?”

  “Um, I’m trying to convince her to move in with me, but she says we’d clash. She does have a point. Growing up, it’s amazing we didn’t kill each other.” I took a sip of my drink and swirled the liquid in the glass around.

  “What made her decide to finally move here?”

  “I’ve been trying to convince her to move here since I did. Ever since our aunt got sick, I’ve been slowly wearing her down. She put her two-week notice in at work today, so now it’s official.” I knew I was smiling like a crazy person, but I was so damn excited that Paige was moving here.

  “I’m happy for you, doll.” He took a sip of his drink and looked me up and down. “You order that pizza?”

  “Um,” I glanced over his shoulder and saw Marley walking back into the main room. “Marley said she was going to order it. Something about being tight with the owner. Although I really doubt it’s going to cost as much as you gave me.” I dug into my pocket and handed the money back to him.

  He shook his head and drained his glass empty. “Wanna bet?”

  “What? No. Just take the money back. You can pay the guy.” He set his glass on the bar, signaling to Demon he needed a refill and grabbed the money out of my hand. “Let’s make a bet, doll. They don’t call me Gambler for nothing.” He grabbed a stool, pulling it out for me and motioned for me to sit down.

  I hoisted myself up on the stool and set my drink on the bar. “All right, what kind of bet? What happens when I win?”

  “Ha. You mean if you win. I bet you that the pizza will be more than what I gave you.”

  “I’ll take that bet because I know you are wrong. Now, I repeat, what do I get when I win?”

  “You pick, doll. Just like I’ll pick what I want when I win.”

  “Huh,” I folded my arms over my chest and rolled my eyes at him. “Well, I wouldn’t waste too much time thinking about what you want because you are so going to lose.”

  “We’ll see, doll.” Held his hand out for me to shake, a smirk playing on his lips.

  I grabbed his hand, shaking it firmly and couldn’t wait to see his face when he lost. There was no way this was a bet he was going to win. “You do this often? Make poor bets?”

  “You’ll see. I never make a bet I know I can’t win.” He released my hand and grabbed the drink Demon had refilled.

  “Oh shit. I know that look. You just made a bet with him, didn’t you?” Demon asked, leaning against the bar.

  “Hell yeah, I did. Plus, it’s a bet he’s going to lose. I better think of what I want.” I propped my head up on my arm I had rested on the bar.

  “You’re gonna learn real quick, darlin’, that Gambler is not a person you want to make a bet against unless you know for a fact you’ll win. He’s brutal with what he wants when he wins,” Demon warned, shaking his head.

  “I’m sure I’ll be okay. He handed me over one hundred dollars for pizza and told me I’ll probably need more.”

  Demon just shook his head and walked away. I started doubting my decision when Demon didn’t stay to reassure me that I was right. Oh shit.

  “Oh my god. Marley told me about your hair, but it looks even more incredible than I pictured.” I spun around on my stool and saw Meg and Cyn standing there.

  “Oh, you like? It’s a bit different, but I like it.” I fluffed up my hair, forgetting I had even colored it today.

  “It’s amazing. Do you think you could put bright purple in mine? Remy told me I was too old to do crazy colors anymore, but I don’t care. I’ll be the eighty-year-old in the nursing home rocking pink hair and pushing my life alert button to see if any hot firemen show up.”

  Cyn leaned against the bar and crossed her arms over her chest. “That seems like a pretty accurate guess on what you’ll be like.”

  “I know. I can’t wait.” Meg rubbed her hands together and laughed like a crazy villain from a cartoon.

  “What do you two ladies want to drink?” Demon asked, filling a beer glass for one of the guys.

  “Two Old Fashions, extra cherries,” Meg called out.

  “Sour or sweet?” Demon reached under the bar and grabbed two empty glasses.

  “Um, just make it one. And Meg always drinks sweet. I’ll have a Sprite or something.” Cyn grabbed a barstool behind her and plopped down on it. “I’m so friggin tired, I’m afraid after a drink I’ll pass out.”

  “You’re going to make me drink alone, aren’t you?” Meg complained.

  “Just for tonight. Plus, Gwen is drinking and I’m sure Marley will be, too. You can relive the bathroom incident the last time you drank with her. Just tell Demon to start brewing a pot of coffee.” Cyn laughed, grabbing the Sprite Demon set in front of her.

  “Um, do I want to know?” I asked.

  “You’re going to learn real quickly, doll, that when Meg and Cyn are around, craziness is almost guaranteed to ensue. It’s best just to stand back and watch.” I looked over my shoulder at Gambler, and he threw a wink at me. I turned back to Cyn and Meg and felt him move behind me, putting his arm on the back of my chair.

  “Good, sounds like fun.” I know Gambler was trying to warn me, but Cyn and Meg look like a hell of a good time that I wanted in on. “Oh, I never got to ask. Are you ok? How bad is your house?”

  Meg waved her hand at me and took a drink. “Eh, it’s kind of messed up. They tossed it onto the front porch so of course the porch is toast, but thankfully it didn’t really hurt the house and we were all safe. I’m more pissed at the fact my favorite chair is now smithereens. It was the perfect chair to sit in, sipping cocktails and watch Lo work on his bike.”

  “She’s going on and on about the damn chair again, isn’t she?” King walked up behind Meg and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the side of the head.

  “Eh, he knows me so well.” She shrugged her shoulders and drained half of her glass in one drink.

  “Well, thank God you were all OK and I’m sure you can find another chair. It’s the perfect reason to go shopping,” I laughed. I tried to take a sip of my drink but was surprised that all that was left was ice cubes. Gambler grabbed it out of my hand and set it on the bar, shaking his head at me.

  “Going down like water, doll.”

  “It was a long day,” I said, shrugging my shoulders at him.

  “Pizza will be here in probably ten minutes. Mike said he’ll put a rush on it. I told him we had twenty hungry bikers.” Marley walked up to our group, a wine cooler dangling from her fingertips.

  “How much was it?” I asked.

  “One-.”

  “Eh!” Gambler threw his hand up, silencing Marley. “We’ll wait till the guy gets here.”

  Marley looked at Gambler like he was crazy but didn’t finish her sentence. “Ok.”

  “Is that really all you are going to drink tonight? I just almost got blew up. We need to celebrate. Shots!” Meg yelled, raising her hand in the air. She stood on the ring of her bar stool and leaned over the bar, grabbing the first bottle she touched.

  “Hey, hey, hey. My bar, my rules.” Demon grabbed the bottle out of her hand, setting it back down.

  “Ok, whatever,” she said, sitting back down. “We need shots. Buttery Nipples, four of them,” Meg ordered.

  “I swear to Christ, she doesn’t hear a word I say,” Cyn mumbled, standing up. “Make it three, Demon. I’m headed back to Rigid’s room. I’ll be out for some pizza later.” Cyn shuffled down the hall, not waiting for a response.

  “She ok?” King asked, watching Cyn disappear down the hall.

  “She’s been a crab ass lately. I think she’s coming down with something. She was fine this morning when we were watching movies.” Meg’s eyes also watched Cyn walk away.

  “Maybe someone should check on her,” Marley said.

  “I’m sure Rigid won’t be far behind. He had some shit to finish in the shop. Once he gets his ass in here, we’ll let him kno
w about Cyn.” Lo pulled his phone out of his pocket, glancing at it and shoved it into his pocket.

  “You waiting for an important call?” Meg asked, grabbing the three shots Demon poured and handed them to Marley and me.

  “Just checking to make sure I didn’t miss any calls, babe.”

  “OK! Let’s toast!” Meg raised her glass. “To the fact that my ass is not a toasty human marshmallow right now.” Meg clinked her glass against ours and tossed her shot back. Marley and I followed suit, the shot going down smoothly.

  Marley started coughing the instant she drank it and Gambler patted her on the back.

  “Yo, pizza is here!” a guy by the door yelled.

  “Oh hell yes, time for me to win a bet.” I set my drink down and beelined to the door, dodging people and trying to not to spill their drinks. “How much is it?” I asked, pushing the guy who had had opened the door out of the way.

  The delivery boy’s eyes were bugged out, and he looked at me in shock, “Ugh, that’ll be one ninety-nine and fifty-four cents,” he mumbled, thrusting the receipt at me.

  “What the fuck.” I scanned the receipt, counting 15 pizzas were ordered. “Holy shit.”

  “Why do you look so shocked, doll?” Gambler asked, coming up behind me, resting his hand on my hip.

  “Because you were fucking right! Who the hell orders fifteen pizzas?”

  “I do. Have you seen how many people are here? I doubt this will even be enough. I plan on devouring half of one by myself.” Marley walked up, rubbing her hands together.

  “Uh, you think I could get some help carrying these in?” The delivery boy looked around, his eyes huge saucers of awe as he looked at all the bikers.

  “Roam, Ham, Turtle. Help bring the pizzas in,” King yelled. The three guys filed out the door with Marley following behind, hot on the heels of the delivery guy.

  “I do believe this means I won,” Gambler said, pulling out the money he had handed me before. He opened his wallet and pulled out an extra twenty.

  “It really wasn’t a fair bet because I’m sure you’ve ordered pizza for this many people before. The most I’ve ever ordered for is four people. The bet is off,” I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. I knew Gambler wasn’t going to let it go, but I had to try. I was terrified of what he was going to want for winning.

  “Another thing you don’t know about me, doll,” he leaned in his face an inch away from mine. “I collect on every bet. Every time.”

  “This wasn’t fair.”

  “Demon tried to warn you, doll. He knows I’m ruthless. I guess you just figured that out, too. I’ll let you know what I want when I think of it.” He winked at me and walked out the door.

  Son of a bitch. I had no idea what Gambler was going to want from me. The possibilities were endless of the things he could want.

  “Lost that bet, didn’t you darlin’?” Demon asked, walking up to me.

  “Hell yes. You could have warned me a little better. I didn’t get a danger Will Robinson vibe from you at all. I thought you were just joking. Now I have to wait and see what Gambler is going to want since he won.” I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting.

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Gambler’s a good guy most of the time.” Demon winked at me, a smirk plastered on his face.

  “It’s the ‘most of the time’ I’m worried about.” Gambler and guys walked passed us, there arms full of pizza boxes and set them down on the pool table. Marley walked in the door, one pizza box in her hands, the lid open.

  “Couldn’t wait?” I asked.

  “I can never wait for pizza. Roam wanted me to grab a couple. I told him I was only out there for my dinner.” She took a bite of a slice, cheese stringing from her face. “So fucking good,” she mumbled her mouth full.

  I reached into her box to grab a slice, but she slammed the lid shut on my hand. “No touchy.” She waved her finger at me and walked away. Jesus, remember not to get between Marley and her pizza.

  “Doll, come eat before these fuckers eat it all,” Gambler called, a slice raised to his mouth.

  Oh, Jesus. Why the hell did he have to look so sexy? Why did he have to make me want things I promised myself I would never want again? Gambler had trouble and heartbreaker written all over him. I needed to remember that.

  Gambler was a one-way street to heartbreak. Time to find a detour around him.

  But first, I needed a drink.

  *’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*

  Chapter 9

  Gambler

  “I’ve only had four drinks,” Gwen said holding five fingers up in my face.

  “That’s five, doll.”

  “No, it’s five.” All I could do is shake my head and laugh.

  After the pizza had come, Gwen had polished off half a pizza all by herself and slammed two gin and tonics in a matter of minutes. Throw in Meg yelling shots every ten minutes, Gwen was hammered.

  “Let’s get you to bed, doll. I really don’t think you want to sleep on a pool table tonight. I had been trying to wrangle Gwen down the hall to my room, but she had veered over to the pool table and was now sprawled out on top of it. People had slept on the pool table before, but never in the middle of Roam and Demon’s game.

  “I think I can get it around her arm if she doesn’t move,” Roam said, closing one eye, squinting, and lined up his shot.

  “Son of a bitch,” I grabbed Gwen off the table seconds before Roam’s pool stick connected with the ball. I tossed her over my shoulder and headed down the hall.

  “Wait, wait, I didn’t say byeeee to Meg. Or Marley.” She pounded on my back, trying to make me stop.

  I detoured over to Meg and Marley, who were sitting on top of the bar and swung Gwen around to see them.

  “Gambler says I have to go to bed. He’s a pooper. A party. I mean, aw fuck. I don’t know,” she rattled on, not able to put two sentences together.

  “King is trying to get me into bed, too.” Meg reached out, petting Gwen’s head. “He’s bossy but sooo hot. Like a taco, hot.”

  Marley burst out laughing, tossing her head back, falling off the bar. Thankfully Turtle was walking by and he broke her fall. “Oh no, I broke the turtle,” Marley laughed, shakily getting up off the floor.

  “I think it’s everyone’s time for bed,” Troy said, walking around the bar, helping Turtle off the floor.

  “What the hell just happened?” he asked, watching Marley lean heavily against the bar.

  “I think we should have cut them off two drinks ago.” Troy patted Turtle on the back and walked over to Marley to help steady her.

  “OK, doll, time for bed.” I nodded at Troy and King, knowing they were going to have as much fun as I was about to have hauling Gwen to bed.

  “Bye, Ladies! You all kick ass!” Gwen called as we walked down the hall. We turned the corner to my room, and she fell silent.

  “You ok, doll?”

  She patted my leg but didn’t say anything.

  I grabbed my keys out of my pocket and opened the door, pushing it open with my foot. I flipped the light switch on and saw Mr. T sitting in the middle of the bed, waiting for us.

  I slid Gwen down till her feet touched the floor, but I didn’t let go of her. “Why were you so nice tonight,” she mumbled into my neck.

  “Did you want me to be an ass, doll?”

  “Hmm, most guys would have.”

  “I’m not most guys. You had fun, nothing to get mad at.” She leaned back, her hair all over the place, covering her face. I brushed it aside, her eyes closed, and she hummed under her breath.

  “You’re smooookin’ hot. Tall, hot, and nice. Stop it.” She reached up and punched me in the shoulder.

  “You said hot twice,” I laughed.

  “That’s because it needs to be said twice. Better make it three. You’re hot.” She ran her fingers through her hair, cascading it all around her face again and tried blowing the piece that had fallen in her face out of the way.
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  “You’re hot, too, doll.” I brushed her hair out of her face again, and she smiled up at me. “Let’s get you ready for bed. You wanna use the bathroom first?” It would have been the perfect time to kiss Gwen again, but I knew she was totally tanked, and I didn’t want to take advantage of her.

  “Pee, then cuddles.” She pushed out of my arms and stumbled to the bathroom, thankfully making it without falling.

  Cuddles? Gwen must really be drunk. Most of the times it felt like she was seconds away from scratching my eyes out.

  “Gambler?” My head whipped to the door, and I listened closely. “Gambler?” I heard her quietly mumble.

  “You need me, doll?”

  “I shouldn’t want you, but I do.”

  What the hell? Drunk Gwen was confusing as fuck. “So you want me to come in or you’re good?”

  “Come in, I need help,” she whined. I heard a thump against the wall, and I bolted to the door, throwing it open.

  Gwen was slumped over on the floor, her cheek pressed against the cold tile of the floor. I knelt down next to her and gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she moaned. “Tell me what you need, doll.”

  “To go back five hours and not drink so much,” she complained, shutting her eyes again.

  “I can’t help you with that, but I can help you get undressed and into bed. I’ll get you some water and Tylenol too.”

  “Hmm, let’s just stay here. I’m hot.”

  “Not happening. You’ll end up with a sore neck and smelling like pine sol in the morning. Come on, babe.” I gently helped her sit up and rested her against the wall. “You ok there for a second?” I asked, standing up and looked down at her.

  “Oh yeah. Totally good,” she said, holding her fingers up in a peace sign. I laughed because honestly, this was one of the funniest things I had seen in a while. I opened the medicine cabinet, glancing over my shoulder making sure Gwen hadn’t slumped over again and grabbed the bottle of Tylenol down and filled a glass with water. “Be right back,” I mumbled as I stepped out the door and set the pills and water next to the bed.

  “Gambler,” she called, panic in her voice

  “I’m coming, doll.”