Senior Year Box Set

I found it amusing that the straight press stood back and looked shocked at some of the worst offenders. Then they got into personal territory, firing off a series of questions about my kids and their origins. I shut that down quickly. Next, they threw out Angie’s comment about all Dawson men being cheaters.

Curse Fritz for teaching his security to protect me from myself. If Paul had been focused on the bunch of ass-hats and not me, he would never have gotten between me and the idiot who provoked me.

I quickly realized that it didn’t look good to be lunging for a reporter and knew in an instant that that would be the lead story. I turned around and stomped back into the condo.

“Send Frank the video,” was all I said as I escaped into my room to think about how they’d gotten under my skin.

The episode had brought up all the bad memories of my mom and dad. I’d made my mom a promise not to be with anyone who was in a relationship. I agreed because I saw how it’d hurt her. Now I’d broken my word, albeit without knowing it. I realized I’d lashed out because I felt guilty for my part in what happened.

◊◊◊

Frank watched the video Paul had sent him from his bodycam. He said he would work on spinning it. It irritated me that he sounded happy about the prospect of turning this into a positive.

I decided I wasn’t going to let the press ruin my vacation, so I told Paul we were going to the casino to watch Ashley play poker. Besides, I was beyond starving now.

I couldn’t really blame the paparazzi when Paul led me to the car. Once they figured out they could get under my skin and get me to react badly, it made news—and, in turn, gave them a payday. I plastered a fake smile on my face and got into the car.

◊◊◊

It irritated me a bit that the casino made you pay just to walk through the door. It wasn’t as though I was entering an amusement park. The whole idea of a casino was to have you lose money to the house. It seemed to be working, too, if this place was any indication. It struck me as a step too far, greed-wise, to force people to pay an entrance fee.

I sent a text to Scarlet to advise her that I’d arrived and planned to eat lunch. She told me to get a table big enough for everyone because they’d just gotten down to eighteen players and were taking a forty-five-minute break.

Earlier, Ashley and Megan had filled everyone in on the drama unfolding with my date with a real-life princess who now had a jilted fiancé. Paul got them up to date on my attempt to explain my actions to the press.

“You thought fighting them was a good idea?” Ashley asked.

Sometimes I found her acting like an adult and being the voice of reason irritating, even if she was right.

“He had it coming,” I said lamely.

“He really did,” Paul said to win himself some brownie points.

“Violence is never the answer,” Kevin said seriously.

I flipped him off. I’d seen what Kevin did on a football field, and I wasn’t buying what he was trying to sell at the moment.

Thankfully, that was when our food came.

“Your buddy, Lord Ass-hat, is starting to get on my nerves. I’m the last woman standing, and he has made it his personal mission to take me out,” Ashley said as we were finishing up.

“That means he’ll be calling you with a wider range of cards,” Megan speculated.

We all stared at her.

“I play a little,” she said, folding under our gaze.

“She has a good point,” was all I said.

“Yeah, he’ll be more likely to call me with junk and possibly either catch me or bluff,” Ashley said.

“Over the long haul, it’s not a winning strategy. With you playing better cards, you should be able to win when he bluffs, and you have a made hand. Just don’t fold too often to his bullying,” Megan concluded.

My support had apparently emboldened Megan enough to finish making her point. I was glad I was making progress getting her out of her shell and hoped it would continue. I’d come to realize there was a sharp mind within that timid girl.

At the tournament area, they had seats set up for people to watch the action. My arrival wasn’t lost on the poker players. Ashley held back with us to chat until Harry and his entourage came into the room. He was accompanied by his mates and his sister, but I saw that the douchebag had the clueless rudeness to have brought his mistress along as well. The group spotted me, and Harry gave me a death stare.

Ashley made a big production of kissing me, which almost caused a fight. From his intense glower, Harry’s play against Ashley had just gone from idle misogyny on his part to reach a very personal level.

◊◊◊

Ashley bet out, Harry called, and the rest of the table folded. They’d been playing for about fifteen minutes, and this was the first hand they were in together. The other poker players sat back to watch the fun.

“Now we’re heads up. You want to go to war or play nice and just check it down? Yes or no?” Harry asked.