Page 16

Blake shakes her head. “And that’s why people should tell you that more. Maybe you’d start to believe it.”

“Can we just eat,” Amory asks, thoroughly embarrassed.

“Fine,” Blake says and then adds, “Pretty girl.”

Amory’s face is on fire, and she quickly takes a bite out of a piece of fried chicken to distract herself from Blake’s words, and it works. Amory moans into the food and takes another bite.

“Oh my god, this is so good!”

“Right?” Blake says with a smirk. “I told you I make the best fried chicken.”

“Well, I believe you now,” Amory says.

“You should always believe me,” Blake responds. “I’m no liar.”

Amory tries not to think about that statement too hard. Because Blake is a cheater, or at least she was, and that’s no better than a liar.

The two of them eat their food, talking a little as they do so.

“I wish this place had a TV or something,” Blake says. “What are we supposed to do when we’re not at work? Go crazy from boredom?”

“I don’t know. I guess they didn’t think about entertainment when they set this place up.”

“I suppose I can’t blame them too much,” Blake says. “It is a pretty bad outbreak.”

“I brought some cards with me,” Amory offers. “We can play some games.”

“Ooh,” Blake says, “we can play poker.”

“I don’t have any cash to bet.”

“How about strip poker?” Blake says with another smirk.

Amory flushes and doesn’t know how to respond at first, but she’s pretty sure Blake is only joking. She has to be, right?

“Yeah right.”

“Hey, I’m never opposed to seeing pretty women naked.”

“You’d have to win for that to happen,” Amory says, “and I doubt that would happen.”

Blake shrugs. “You’re probably right. I’m shit at poker.”

“I remember,” Amory says, remembering how the residents would play poker and bet on cases when they had the time.

“How about we just play for fun?” Amory suggests. “No betting.”

“Fine,” Blake says, then adds, “Beats doing nothing.”

The two of them spend about an hour playing poker together, and Blake sucks just as much as she did when Amory knew her.

“Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t play strip poker,” Blake says as she loses another round.

“Why?” Amory asks. “Don’t want me to see you naked?”

“I mean,” Blake says, winking at her, “I wouldn’t mind that much.”

Amory blushes again and Blake laughs at her. Amory can’t tell if Blake is flirting, but she’s sure that whatever she’s doing is just so that she can embarrass her.