Snake Eyes (The Masks Series Book 3) (2 page)

Caitlyn

I walked up to my room and nudged the door open with my toe. My desk and the surrounding floor were covered with empty boxes, ready to pack up all my stuff and store it away. I plopped onto my bed and scowled at the blank walls. I’d spent the night here less than a week ago and they hadn’t said a word. Admittedly, Holly must have arrived and told them yesterday and they’d sat on the news while scrambling to empty out my room. I couldn’t believe they’d made this big decision without consulting me and had already gotten to work.

Holly was only ten weeks pregnant for crying out loud. It felt a little extreme to be shifting over so soon, and how long did they think it would take Max to find a job? They obviously planned on mooching off Mom and Dad for as long as they could.

I scowled, deep-down knowing the expression was brought on by hurt more than anything.

Toby was right...I was the after-thought no one meant to have.

I bit the inside of my cheek and looked across the room. The door gently swung open and I glanced back to see Eric leaning against the doorframe. His empathetic smile was totally going to break me. I looked to the floor, digging my big toe into the carpet.

“They’ve taken down my posters already.”

With a soft sigh, he entered the room and sat down beside me.

“I used to watch you from that window, you know.” I squashed my sheepish smile. “I used to live for the days you mowed the lawn.”

He chuckled, running his finger down my forearm and threading our hands together.

“I always got the sense someone was watching me.” Leaning his head against mine, he kissed my ear and tears sprang out of nowhere, lining my lashes.

“Why my room, Eric?” I drew in a ragged breath.

He squeezed my fingers. “Best location?”

I huffed. “Toby’s old room would have worked.”

“Yeah, but it probably smells like farts and stale sweat.”

I giggled. “It totally does.” I bit the corner of my lip, cutting off my laughter. “I don’t get why this bugs me so much. It’s immature and silly to feel this way. I don’t think I’m moving back home after I graduate, so what’s the big deal?”

“Maybe it’s the fact they went ahead and did it without even discussing it with you.”

I nodded. That was totally what it was. They hadn’t counted me into the decision. My opinion was worthless. Yet again, it made me feel like the invisible alien of the family.

“I guess I am always the after-thought.” I sighed.

Eric let go of my hand, his fingers moving to my neck and tenderly kneading the muscles. “Toby’s a jerk. He shouldn’t have said that.”

“He’s just thoughtless; he always has been.”

His massaging fingers shifted, making way for his soft lips; they nuzzled and tickled the sweet patch in the crook of my neck until I couldn’t help a smile. Eric sat back and grinned at me, running his fingers lightly behind my ear. “You may be
his
after-thought, but you’re always the first thought on my mind.”

My smile grew and I leaned forward to peck him on the lips.

Pulling back, I rested my hand on his face and drank him in. “Not to get way somber on this already melancholy conversation, but...” I bit the corner of my mouth. “I seriously feel like you’re the only person on this planet who couldn’t live without me.”

“I couldn’t.” His look was so earnest I didn’t need to peel away anything. There was no mask, just genuine honesty. Eric loved me, more than anything else.

“I couldn’t live without you either.” I smiled. “Never break up with me, okay?”

“I’m not planning on it.”

“Good.” I breathed in through my nose, my eyes once again stinging with unshed tears.

“You’re my girl forever.” He grinned before kissing me soundly and murmuring, “My sexy girl-next-door.”

“My Hercules.” I chuckled against his lips, swinging my leg over his thighs. He pulled me onto his lap, running his hands up my back and pressing me against him. I sighed into his mouth, grabbing two handfuls of his luscious locks and diving into another magical kiss.

“Want to go back to your place again?” I panted. “There’s this view I really want to admire.”

He pulled back with a laugh, running his eyes down my body and squeezing my hips. “I just need to go check on Mom first. I’ll be back in about half an hour and then we can get out of here, okay?”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“You’re already having a challenging day. I won’t unleash my mother on you as well.”

I grinned, about to say it was no trouble, but then his mask slipped and I could tell he wanted to go on his own.

“You want to check that the mechanic’s still treating her good?”

He nodded.

“And you don’t want me to be a distraction.”

He nodded again, his cheeks heating with a blush.

“Okay.” I reluctantly shuffled off his lap and pulled my shirt straight. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should; my mother adores you. I won’t get anything but gushy sentiment out of her if I take you over there.” He stood from the bed and winked at me.

We stepped out the door, threading our fingers together as we made our way down the long hallway and into the living area.

The ladies were congregated in the lounge, huddled on the couches chatting. I noticed Holly’s hand on her stomach and guessed the conversation was all about babies. I cringed.

“Back soon.” Eric kissed my forehead and called out to everyone that he was popping next door.

The front door clicked shut and I crossed my arms, slowly turning to survey the room.

“Way to skip clean-up duty, sis.” I rolled my eyes at Toby who was pulling out a chair at the dining table. He slapped a deck of cards down as Dad opened the black box of chips. Max and Seth handed him a twenty-dollar bill each and he started counting out chips.

I glanced back into the lounge then listened carefully and heard the strains of a Disney movie coming from the den. Weighing my options with a wrinkled nose, I finally headed for the table.

Leaning against one of the free chairs, I watched Toby shuffle the cards. “What are you playing?”

“The men are sitting down to a game of poker, Peanut.” Dad grinned at me.

“Can I play?”

“Men only, sis.” Toby tapped the deck on the table, ready to start dealing.

“Why? You afraid of being beaten by a girl?”

He paused, his eyebrow arching. “Do you even know how to play?”

I smiled. “Are you going with Five Card Draw or Texas Hold ‘Em?”

“Does it make a difference?”

“Nope.” I shrugged, pulling out the chair and sitting down.

Toby sighed, running a hand through his hair and throwing Dad a desperate look.

Dad glared back at him, his silent warning clear.

“Okay, fine. We’ll go with Five Card Draw, because that’s easier to explain. Now the way you play—”

“Toby,” I stopped him. “I know how to play both. Eric’s grandfather’s been teaching me. I don’t mind what we play, just deal me in.” I leaned on the table and pulled a few rumpled notes from my back pocket. With a smile, I handed over my two tens and got back twenty dollars’ worth of chips.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“You sure about this, honey?”

I ripped off Dad’s mask and saw his uncertainty was actually worry. He thought I was going to lose, big time. I gave him a gentle smile.

“I’ll be okay.” I clicked my chips together and looked across the table.

The little smirk Seth was wearing made me puff with pride. Behind his mask was a very impressed older brother. He didn’t think I had any chance of winning, but he was proud of me for trying. Max, always a little jittery anyway, seemed more nervous about playing his own game, and Toby...Toby looked smug. I whipped his mask off and saw he was actually way more than smug. He thought he was going to trounce me and he was looking forward to doing it.

I gathered up my five cards and splayed them out in my hand. Usually when I played Eric’s Gramps, Clayton, I made a special note to keep the masks in place. I felt like it was cheating to read them when we played, but tonight, after glimpsing Toby’s arrogance, I was so ready to cross that line.

Gazing at my hand, I noticed I had two fours, a king, a five and a two.

Hmmm. Slightly challenging to know what to do with. Did I risk trying to win on a low pair or did I go for the straight?

I glanced over my cards and skimmed each face, making sure they were all mask-less. Dad had his lower lip out and was nodding; he obviously had an okay hand. Max was frowning, shaking his head with a scowl, so he’d no doubt be folding unless he scored some decent cards in the exchange. Seth was grinning ear to ear and Toby had a deep frown.

I pulled every mask back up to compare what I’d seen and all of them were sitting like neutral dummies, their emotions tucked into hiding. I pressed my lips together, concealing my own smile as I peeled back each mask again.

“Max, you’re first.” Toby nodded at him.

Max chewed on his lip, scowling again before throwing one chip on the table.

“It’s a two dollar ante, dude.”

With a sigh, Max picked up another chip and threw it in the pot. Seth threw in his two with a confident grin and then raised another two. Dad followed suit and so did I, throwing in my four chips. Toby considered the pot for a minute before throwing in four chips and turning to Max.

“I fold.” He sighed.

“You haven’t even done the swap yet,” Toby scoffed.

“I want to play more than three rounds. I’m not wasting my money on a bad hand. Know when to fold ‘em.” Max nodded.

I grinned at him and saw the relief wash over his face as he put his cards down.

Toby looked to Seth.

“One.” Seth threw his card onto the table as Toby set the top card aside and threw him a new one. I watched Seth’s face as he slipped it into his hand. His lips pursed to the side, a slight frown marring his features. I pulled his mask back up and noticed he was smiling. That little trickster.

Dad asked for two cards and his expression rose with confidence. The exchange obviously improved his hand.

I held my breath and threw in my four of hearts and king of spades and got back a five of clubs and a two of spades.

Well, not quite the straight I was looking for, but at least I had two pair now. Admittedly they were pretty low pairs, but they were something.

Toby exchanged three cards and his frown deepened. Oh man, he had nothing.

A second round of betting ensued. Seth sat confident in his position, raising the bet by three dollars. Dad twitched a little then folded while Toby and I met the bet and then Toby went on to raise again. What an idiot! He had nothing.

I put his mask back in place and noticed his confident smirk. From the worry shimmering on Seth’s face, he was obviously buying into Toby’s bluff. Man, I wanted to say something so bad, but knew I couldn’t.

Seth’s lips twitched as he gazed down at his chips. Toby had brought the bet up to nine dollars, which was nearly half his chips. If he lost this round, he’d be out of the game pretty damn quickly. Being the sensible man he was, Seth quietly folded against Toby’s smirk.

I narrowed my eyes and picked up two more chips.

“Call.” I threw them into the pot and looked at Toby. My brother’s head tipped to the side, uncertainty whistling over his expression as he stuck his chin out.

“You sure about that, sis?” His eyes narrowed.

“Oh, I’m sure.” I grinned.

Clearing his throat, he laid his cards down with a sigh and I whooped with laughter as I laid down my two pair.

“What!” Seth looked at Toby’s nothing hand then glanced at mine. “Aw, man! I had two pair, as well. Nines high. I would have won.”

With a giggle, I pulled the chips towards me and neatly started stacking them. “You’ve got to have faith in your hand, Seth.”

“If it wasn’t for Toby’s stupid smirking over there, I would have.”

I laughed. “You should know better than to believe your little brother.”

Toby gave me a glare and mumbled, “Beginner’s luck,” throwing his cards at Max. I pushed my cards towards Max, who collected them and began to shuffle the deck.

Sitting back with a grin, I rubbed two chips together and waited for round two to begin. This game was definitely improving my mood. I was going to relish cleaning Toby out of every last penny.

Eric

Mom’s house was quiet as I approached. I knocked on the door and let myself in, praying they weren’t in bed or something gross. Thankfully they were sitting on the couch, watching TV. Cliff’s legs were perched on the coffee table and Mom was draped against him, her head resting on his shoulder.

“Oh, hey.” Mom grinned at me. “What are you doing here?”

“Family thing at Caity’s place.” I pointed over my shoulder, inching into the room and flopping onto the one-seater adjacent to the TV.

Cliff smiled at me then turned back to the screen, obviously not that interested in striking up a conversation. I eyed him carefully. I did like the guy, he seemed nice. I just really hated how much he reminded me of my father. Why did Mom always go for men like that - long and lean with shaggy hair like mine? I resisted the urge to openly scowl and turned back to Mom. Her eyes were bright, her dark hair shiny. Her fine features and high cheekbones made her beautiful. She always looked young for her age. It helped that, lately, there were no bags under her eyes and she actually looked happy and relaxed. I felt my shoulders loosen.

“Where are the girls?” I listened out for my little half-sisters, surprised they were in bed so early on a Friday night.

“They’ve moved in permanently with their father now.” Mom’s voice was tight, her lips pinching into a line.

I suddenly regretted my decision to leave Caity behind. I could do with a read on Mom right now. She obviously didn’t love the fact she’d lost the girls, but I couldn’t help wondering if there was more to it. Maybe she felt like she’d failed them or something.

“When did that happen?”

“Just last week.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.

She shrugged, a tight tense one. “Their daddy’s a strong man and he really wanted them full-time. His new wife is all nice and sweet so you know, it’s probably for the best. You don’t come by hardly at all, so they had no reason to stick around.”

I frowned at her snarky tone, but chose not to say anything about it. “When do you have them next?”

“This weekend. Their father’s dropping them off tomorrow morning.”

“Make sure you tell ‘em I said hi. Give me a call if you like. Caity and I can take them to the beach.”

“Don’t trouble yourself.” She turned back to the TV, resting her head on Cliff’s shoulder.

I swallowed, not enjoying the guilt trip. I used to pop home all the time when I first started college, and if I was honest it was purely for the girls, but after their dad moved back to town, I didn’t feel the same sense of responsibility. They had started spending way more time with him and I wasn’t really needed anymore. I hadn’t realized Mom was feeling it so badly. To be honest, I thought she’d barely noticed. But now that the girls were gone, too...

I pressed my lips together, swallowing down my sigh. Looked like I needed to start making more of an effort again.

“How’s work?” I decided to go for a neutral topic.

“Oh, you know. Nails are nails.”

“Still enjoying it, though?”

“For now.” She shrugged.

I knew Mom didn’t have to worry about money. Her job was just to stop her from getting bored.

She’d had a trust fund set up years ago, when her parents died, and she basically lived off the interest, gifting a portion to me every year, which I stuck in a bank account and only used when I had to. The fund also paid for my college education and it’d meant I hadn’t had to work and study, which I was grateful for. I had no idea how long that money would keep coming to me, though. I guessed once I graduated and got myself a job, I’d be looking after myself.

I was running out of polite conversation. The main purpose of my visit was to check Mom wasn’t being beaten or down-trodden and that the girls were safe. Looked like that was the case and it was a huge relief.

“Well.” I stood from the chair. “I better get back. I just wanted to check you were okay.”

“Thanks.” She forced a small smile and part of me wanted to tell her I loved her, just to get a proper grin, but it felt false.

I mean, yes, I did love my mother, but we definitely didn’t have the kind of relationship where you said that stuff out loud. She knew I didn't agree with many of her relationship choices and when I started challenging her on them a few years back, something between us kind of died. She pulled back and I didn't feel like I should apologize for speaking the truth. So we settled for what we have now: nice talk with an underlying knowledge that we may not see eye-to-eye, but we'd always be mother and son.

I bent down and kissed her cheek. “Have a good night, Mom.”

“You too.” Her eyes softened with a real smile for a moment.

I squeezed her shoulder and headed back out the door. Breathing in a lungful of air, I shook the awkward nerves off my shoulders and headed back to my girl.

Caity was right. Of all the people in my life, her and Gramps were the only ones I couldn’t do without. It made me sad to honestly admit that, but it was true. Mom and I would never be close.

I knocked and let myself back into Caity’s house. Closing the door behind me, I heard murmurs from different areas of the house and then a loud, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Turning towards the dining room, I spotted Caity laughing as she pulled a pile of chips towards her.

Toby groaned, dropping his head into his hands. 

“I don’t want to play with you anymore! No one ever calls my bluff!”

Caity shrugged. “Maybe if you didn’t play it so often, it wouldn’t be so easy to call.”

His glare was dark and menacing. Collecting the one chip left in front of him, he tapped it on the table with a low growl.

Caity’s father burst with laughter and squeezed his daughter’s shoulder. “Nice going, Peanut. You’ve taken us all by surprise.” He glanced up and noticed me. “How much poker have you three been playing down in San Diego?”

I chuckled, approaching the table and kissing her cheek. “My Gramps loves the game.”

“Are you here to pick her up?” Toby snatched up the cards, tapping them on the table before breaking them apart to shuffle them. “Can you take her, please?”

“You don’t want me to keep playing?” Caity gave Toby a cheeky smile while the rest of the men at the table laughed.

Sliding the chips towards her father, she waited for him to add it up and hand her eighty dollars.

I raised my eyebrows. “Impressive.”

“This girl is a poker magician. I don’t know how, but she plays like a pro. Your grandfather must be a pretty good teacher.”

I swallowed back my chuckle, knowing exactly what made my girl so amazing. “He is.” I cleared my throat and grinned.

Caity stood, folding the notes and sliding them into her back pocket before bending down to give her father a kiss.

“See you guys later!” she called into the living room.

“Good luck with Monday, sweetie. I hope it goes well,” Caity’s mother called back.

“And stay out of trouble!” Layla added. “No more involvement with the police this year.”

Caity rolled her eyes at me, her cheeks heating with color.

“I’ll make sure of it,” I called back, squeezing Caity’s hand and pulling her out the door.

The night air felt great against my skin. Being outside always did my soul good. Wiggling my fingers out of Caity’s grasp, I patted her back pocket. “Putting your powers to good use, I see.”

Her grin was sheepish as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“I know I shouldn’t cheat, but I just really wanted to put Toby in his place.”

“Don’t feel bad.” I unlocked the jeep and held the door for her. “The look on Toby’s face when I walked in was so worth it.”

She chuckled. “I think it’ll be permanently burned in my memory. Cleaning him out was the best feeling ever, babe.”

I closed her door with a grin and ran around to my side.

“I probably should have rigged it so the others were left with some cash, too.” She bit her lip.

“Maybe next time.” I winked and gave her knee a little squeeze. “Fancy a detour on the way back to my place?”

“Sure. Where are we going?”

I wiggled my eyebrows. “Let’s make love in the moonlight tonight.”

The look in her eyes made my insides simmer. Without another word, I started the engine and spun the car around, heading for the private little cove we discovered this summer. The perfect spot to show Caity how much I loved her in the purest place I knew.