“Yes, Daddy. I want it so, so bad.”
“It’s not fair to play both of you,” I said. “If you want to play, I’ll take those odds, but it’s me and you, Ben.”
“But, Daddy, I should get to play too,” Zoey said.
“No, just us,” I said. “You want her, Ben? Play me for her.”
Ben looked at Zoey and then looked at me. “You got a deal.”
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s play.”
“I’ll deal,” Zoey said quickly.
“Fine,” I said.
The three of us came around the table, and my daughter took out the cards and shuffled them slowly.
“You boys play nice,” she said. “I’ll be more comfortable dealing ’cause I’m not naked this time.”
Ben chuckled and I looked away.
“That was so embarrassing,” she continued.
“Just deal.” I said, distracted.
“Hey, you try dealing cards naked!” she went on. “In front of your daddy and your boyfriend, who’s never seen you naked before. It’s humiliating!”
Ben was still laughing. I was looking down, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my daughter deal. To Ben she passed the top card, but to me, she passed the bottom.
“Might have given me an advantage if I was smarter though,” she continued as she dealt the cards. “I don’t need a good poker face with my breasts out.”
They both giggled, and I watched my daughter’s sly fingers. She was dealing me a fixed hand. I couldn’t believe it. She put the deck down and watched us. Ben picked up his cards, but he didn’t look at them on top of the table; he lowered them and shuffled them around in his lap.
Fuck, they were cheating. Maybe she had given me a bad hand and given him a good one. I looked at her and she gave me a bright smile, picking up the deck.
“Who wants to draw?” she asked.
“Hmm,” Ben said. “I’ll take two.”
He placed his two cards face down and she passed him two, right from the top. She looked at me.
“Daddy, aren’t you going to look at your cards?”
I glanced at Ben. He was still shuffling his hand around, now on top of the table, looking confident.
“No, I’ll play these,” I said.
“Without looking at them?” she asked.
“What?” Ben said.
“Show your cards,” I said. “I call.”
“Okay, have it your way.” Ben scrunched up his eyebrows, showing his hand, a flush of hearts.
I smirked at him. “What, you thought a royal flush would be pushing it?”
“Huh?” he said. “Show your cards.”
“I’m going to show you the door, you little fucking cheater.”
“What?”
I climbed up and came around the table, grabbing him by the scruff of his jacket.
“Hey!”
“Daddy!” Zoey cried.
I pulled him up and twisted him around, pulling him out of his jacket.
“Hey, man, get off me!” Ben shouted.
As I pulled off the jacket, three cards spilled out onto the floor.
Zoey climbed up. “Ben, you cheated?”
“N-no!” he said. “Well, I mean… This is bullshit! He shouldn’t be controlling you like this, Zoey! I’m trying to set you free from this jerk.”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” I said, shoving him toward the door.
“Zoey, let’s go,” Ben said, taking his jacket back.
I gave her a look, but she wasn’t moving to follow him.
“Ben, you cheated,” she said. “That’s like a forfeit.”
“Huh?” he said.
“A bet’s a bet,” she said. “I’m sorry, but you lost. You shouldn’t have cheated.”
wpDiscuz