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The most ridiculous man in the entire world who couldn’t possibly get out of everything. There was no way he’d get out of his duties. He had all of these big aspirations but I had no doubt Cleo would pull him back to Earth. Regardless, it was so sweet. Another blush touched my cheeks, the new regular for me.
“Piper?” one of the volunteers called to me. “Back to your station! You have a customer!”
I sighed and stood up, dusting off my skirt for the day. I had to get back to handing out cards and dark blue chips. Just before I left, I typed up two more messages.
Piper Fontaine: I know you’re busy
Piper Fontaine: don’t worry about it! I’ll see you tonight!!!
We had plans that involved ice cream and hanging around the rodeo while the evening lights lit up. It’d be the perfect ending to a perfect day. Or…almost perfect ending. There was a brand new box of condoms in Adam’s room that needed to be used up. That would make it a perfect day.
I bit back another smile and returned to my table. The saloon image ended with the cowboy hats. The table itself had one of the shuffle machines and I said a quick hello to the only person who decided to take a stab at blackjack and shuffled the cards back into the machine.
“Okay, do you know how to play blackjack?” I asked, picking up the stack of cards, and glanced up at my new customer.
Thomas.
The cards tumbled from my hand and scattered across the table. There was no way. This was some kind of messed up dream or heat stroke that had caught up with me. Because my football player ex sat in the only occupied chair at the blackjack table with a hard look in his eyes.
I tried to pick up the cards but my hands were shaking. Either way, I avoided the scowl.
“Piper.”
My fingers dug down into the folds of the cards. What? Why? He wasn’t here for the free popcorn or a game of poker, I knew that much.
Thomas dropped his voice. “Do you know how embarrassing this has been?”
I forced my breathing to slow.
“What are you doing, Piper?” Thomas demanded. “That’s the same fucking guy who was in the bleacher bunny photo. How the fuck could you forget that? How are you going to bitch at me about it and go off to work for him?! What—you’re doing this to make me look like an asshole? Showing him off? The Marrs Manwhore? It’s fucking embarrassing. That’s what it is.”
It’d been so long since I’d even thought about that photo.
Gazing down at the cards, I couldn’t even remember the last time. Because that’s all it was. A picture.
And my time at KYU had been ruined but was it really because of that photo?
What if Thomas cheated again without Adam around?
The same thing would’ve happened. Nothing would’ve changed.
It was just a photo. It couldn’t hurt me anymore. I wouldn’t let it.
I slipped the cards back into the machine and cleared my throat. “I—I think you should leave.”
“What did you just say?” Thomas snorted. “You think I should leave?”
“I—I don’t care what you’re doing at the rodeo, but I don’t want to see you,” I said quietly.
Thomas stared at me, his mouth hanging open. “What the fuck has gotten into you?”
It was kind of amazing to think about. Every time my phone used to buzz, it put me in a foul mood for the rest of the day. It would literally ruin an afternoon for me. But now when a text popped up, I wasn’t worried. It was my programming study group or my RA group chat or the new friends I’d made off the football team or Adam, Adam, Adam.
Adam with a selfie, waiting outside my class for me, Adam telling me he missed me, Adam with the updates about his grades that I never asked for that he never failed to send off every Monday. Or, Adam, sending me a picture of the box of condoms this morning with heart eyes attached.
My phone had become a little window into everything I worked for at Marrs and a direct line to the one man in my life who worked hard to let me know every day that he was thinking about me. I didn’t want Thomas to pollute that. And I didn’t want him in front of me either.
“How the hell do you think this is making me feel?” Thomas hissed. “Adam ruined everything. But it’s gone far enough. And if he threatens me again, I swear to fucking god I am hitting him with a lawsuit.”
