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From the corner of my eye, I see Beck throw his cards onto the table. “Fold.”

“Thank you kindly, Sal,” I say. “You know I bought it just for you.”

“That so?” She bats her eyelashes. “You do know how to make a girl feel special.”

Sawyer exchanges a glance with Duke. “This is a bluff, right? Surely, they’re bluffing.”

“I don’t know what they’re doing, but I don’t got jack.” Duke puts down his cards and runs a hand over his face.

“That’s a shame,” Sally says, her eyes still on my face. “We’re gonna make out like bandits, aren’t we, Wy?”

“Fifty whole dollars, Sal.” At least, I think that is what’s in the pot right now. I lost count somewhere around the time Sally sat in my lap.

She’s relaxed. Playful. Like she ain’t got a care in the world other than getting her money and getting home with her man.

What I’d give for that bluff to be real.

It could be.

While the flirtingisn’treal, my heart still swells at how well Sally and I play together. We make a damn fine team. Yeah, this is just a game. A stupid, meaningless game that I know I’m reading way too much into. But I can only imagine the things Sally and I could do if we banded together like this all the time.

Mom would have loved to see that.

The thought hits me out of nowhere. I know with bone-deep certainty that it’d have thrilled Mom to no end to see Sally and me do everything together. I’d be so good to Sally. She’d be good to me.

Only we’re not good for each other. And that math, it don’t compute. The kind of life I’m dreaming of isn’t the life Sally wants.

Then again, I haven’t asked her point-blank what exactly shedoeswant. I’ve just assumed, like everyone else, that she wants to be a world-class veterinary surgeon.

But I’m starting to wonder, is that Sally’s dream or her daddy’s? Because she’s expressed some angst about going back to New York. Is it my place though to dig into that angst? Would it be a selfish move on my part to explore it with her?

I’m not gonna be the one who holds her back. Keeps her from doing great things.

With a grunt, Beck pushes back from the table. “That’s all I got in me, I think.”

I watch him meet eyes with Sally. The certainty that he wants her to follow him sits like a two-ton weight in my gut.

The possibility that she’ll actually do it makes me feel ill. I have to let Sally go with him—I know I do. I just?—

I can’t let her go.

I literally can’t take my hands off of her.

This sudden burst of possessiveness is abigfucking step. Hell, it’s a leap. The only reason I’m with Sally right now is because I promised to help her get into Beck’s bed. I know that. All the flirting, the touching, the dressing up—we did it in the hopes of getting to this exact moment.

The moment he shows his hand. It’s just a look. But it’s a look I know well. He wants the same thing she does, and now the ball is in her court.

Sally starts to rise. “Hey, Beck, I’ll?—”

“Where do you think you’re going, Sunshine?” I clamp my hands around her hips and yank her back into my lap. “You’ve just started a winning streak. Bad idea to walk away from the table now.”

Her face flushing, Sally pulls her brows together, confusionwritten all over her expression as she turns to me.What are you doing?

She doesn’t say the words out loud. She doesn’t need to.

And for a million different reasons, I don’t need to voice my reply.I’m being a jealous asshole. I’m sorry. I can’t help it.

Am I actually sorry, though, when Beck walks away?