crave | 16+

IV

JOSIE

"MR. CHRIST THIS DRESS isn't work-appropriate!" I sneer, as he drags me into the Casino, with heels so high making me 6 feet tall, and a dress that sits so tight on me, I start to wonder if I might come in need of an inhaler at the end of the night. Elijah snickers at my comment, and says his name to the guy standing outside the Casino. Since when do you need an invite to gamble?

"You need to be invited to this?" I ask with a hushed tone, as I look around in the Casino, seeing only men dressed in their finest attire, all of them with a cute little 5 '2 girl at their side. I feel out of place, as I walk in my tight dress and heels that cost more than my car together.

"This is a private game," he tells me, and I arch my brows, looking over at the poker table, with the dealer already waiting for the men to join. Instead of going toward the poker table, where some of the men are headed he goes toward the bar. He greets the bartender with a nod of his head, before saying, "10 white, 10, red, 10 green, 8 black, 5 blue, and 4 purple, thank you."

"Don't take anything they tell you to heart. They're saying it to distract me and then win," Elijah whispers in my ear. The bartender gives us a look of lust, before working back the chips and money. 

The bartender gives him a receipt and then I'm dragged back toward the poker table. I wait for Elijah to take a seat, before I sit on the chair nearly glued to his chair. I watch as he gives the receipt to the poker dealer, and with big eyes I watch as he gets a bunch of chips back. We are the last ones to sit down. The dealer looks around, seeing how all 4 seats are taken, and all the plus one seats taken too. "CG?" he calls out. A man with green eyes and pitch black hair, gets up and buttons his suit jacket.

"Lock it up," he says. I look over at Elijah who is sending a smug smile to the man who's taking his seat again.

"Violette Garcia as a plus one?" the dealer asks, and his plus one stands up.

"Present."

She sits back down, and the dealer continues calling initials up. All the men rise, saying the same as the CG guy, their plus ones saying the same as Violette.

"EC?" the dealer calls, and I feel a sudden rustle in the chair when Elijah gets up, saying, "lock it up."

When he sits back down, the dealer calls out my name. "Josephine Moore as a plus one?" When I get up to present myself, Elijah takes a hold of my wrist looking over at the dealer.

"Josie. It's Josie Moore."

The dealer only nods his head, correcting his mistake, and this time Elijah lets go of my wrist letting me answer. The dealer nods his head, as he mixes the cards, explaining the ante. With curious eyes I continue watching as all the other men get their cards too. The man sitting next to Elijah bets blind, and I look carefully as Elijah bets half of that amount. Jesus, why did he choose to be Small-Blind. The dealer hands Elijah his cards first, and then the game begins as all the men get their cards. 

The man sitting next to the Big-Blind smirks around at the table, before saying "raise." Everyone looks as he puts 3 green chips in. 300 dollars. The entire table raises their chips too, to match his new bet. The man next to him folds and the turn goes right over to the CG who's sitting over for me and Elijah. Something tells me they're both poker sharks—the best at playing poker.

"I see you finally brought someone," the man says, as he looks down at his cards, before looking back up at Elijah, his face stone.

"I see you finally put a ring on her finger. You done playing mind games with her, Cain?" Elijah asks back, looking down at his cards, before smiling toward the dealer. "Raise," he says, and puts 6 white and 2 purple in. 10.006 dollars. I look back at the table, and see one of the men, dropping his cards before getting up from the table. Elijah smiles as he looks at the man and his plus one leaving the Casino.