Kiera seemed shocked by my admission. “You’ve played?” From the grimace on her face the second after she asked, she’d instantly realized it was kind of a dumb question. She knew my past; she knew I didn’t used to say no very often—if a girl had wanted to play with me…all she’d had to do was ask. And Kiera also knew that I frequently hung out with Griffin. And let’s just say, thanks to Griff, none of the D-Bags were strangers to strip poker. And yes, the guys were all aware that I couldn’t play for shit. They thought it was hilarious to get me naked. Assholes.

I didn’t think Kiera would want to hear about that, though, so I only nodded and smiled. I explained the modified rules I wanted to play with as I dealt the cards. “This is old-fashioned, no frills, no wilds, 5-card draw strip poker. The bet is always one piece of clothing, but it’s your choice what you take off. You can fold if you’ve got crap, but only during the first round. Once you agree to the next round by taking more cards or sticking with what you’ve got, well, then you’re stuck ‘til the end, and you’re either getting lucky, or you’re getting naked.” I winked at her, and she sighed.

“Okay…let’s do this,” she muttered, her voice a little sullen as she picked up her cards.

I picked up my stack then looked over at her. “How many cards do you want? Or are you folding?”

She chewed on her lip in a distracting way as she thought, and one hand idly stroked the guitar necklace I’d given her. I was so glad she still wore it. Even though the night I’d given it to her had been…torturous, it meant the world to me when I saw it around her neck. Like somehow, I was around her neck, hanging over her heart. “No, I’m in…I’ll take two,” she said, setting down a couple of her cards.

Glee made me smile. She was playing. “Two, huh? Interesting…” I gave her two more cards from the deck, and she scooped them up with a frown. Resisting a laugh, I glanced at my own cards. Jack shit. Figures. Half the reason why I sucked at this game was the fact that I had absolutely zero luck when it came to getting the cards I needed.

I knew I should fold, since Kiera probably had three of a kind, but I felt…lucky. And besides, I wanted Kiera to have a good time, and I had a feeling she’d appreciate the game more if I was the one quickly losing clothes. I set down three cards, then picked up three more. Still jack shit. Goddamn it. This game hated me. Not showing my disappointment, I smiled at Kiera. “Whatcha got, beautiful?”