46 Winner

"I never had thought you were good at playing cards," Blake said sluggishly as he downed the last glass of tequila shots lined up for him. Lines of empty beer cans and bottles lined near Alexander and he had given up already after finishing them all. He had passed out on the table while his head was buried in his hands.

"I have to learn from a young age." Cathryn fiddled with the lemon and lime wedges absent-mindedly as she looked at red-faced Blake who was gazing at her with hooded eyes. "It's the fastest way to earn money."

"That's why you were so confident." Blake said as he stared at a spot behind her head, looking dazed.

"Yeah." Cathryn sipped on her beer with a straw, the cold drink sliding down her parched throat. As she stared at the two of them and this particular setting, they look like friends hanging out together.

The three of them weren't close but still, for some reason, their presence made her feel safe. They hadn't attempted anything bad so far. It wouldn't hurt to have a little taste, wouldn't it?

"I still can't believe you only lost twice and that's on the first round of the game."

"It's a practiced skill," Cathryn said as she got her purse from the table, rummaging for the small mirror, face powder, and the lip gloss and apply them. She was getting ready to go home.

"Want to make out with me?" Blake called out and she glared at him mid-way from applying make-up. As if that would make her stay.

Cathryn snorted. "I'm going home, Blake."

"I'll drive you home." Blake stood up but he staggered back to his stool instead, spilling his drink on the floor. Cathryn shook her head at him in a disapproving glance.

Even Blake had drunk too much.

"You are too drunk to drive me home." She rolled her eyes as she started to drink the remaining fluids on her liquor.

"It's three o'clock in the morning." Blake murmured, sounding drugged.

"I'll take a taxi," Cathryn reassured him and she almost started to laugh when she saw the scowl in his chiseled face.

"It's dangerous. Do you want to pick a fight with me?" He slurred, bumping his shin on the table. "Ouch!"

"You are making this hard for me, Blake." Cathryn stood up from her stool and moved to his side hurriedly, checking up on him if he had hurt himself. "Are you okay?"

"Alexander would kill me if I let you leave Hard Rock Hotel alone." Blake turned his head and when he saw her, he frowned. In this light, his light blue eyes looked dark and distinctly unhappy. "It's not safe for a girl going home at night." He shook his head when he realized he said 'night' and not 'dawn'. He was dangerously falling over as if his upper body was too heavy to carry by himself.

If this continued, Blake would really insist on driving her home and they would crash somewhere in the ditch and die. The least damage he could do is drunk driving and getting a fine.

She wouldn't risk their lives for something stupid.

"Okay fine, I'll stay," Cathryn told him when he was about to fall from the floor again. "You are troublesome."

Blake almost threw up on her dress but she physically recoiled from him, shoving him right before he puked all the contents on the floor. Seeing his vomit made her stomach roil in nausea, Cathryn's head swam as bile burnt the back of her throat.

She wanted to scream until the whole staff at the Hotel swarmed into their room, investigating what the commotion was all about.

Ugh. "Blake. I want to kill you right now."

"I don't feel too good." Blake was sweating too much. Touching his face to get his attention, she pushed a lock of hair from his face. "I didn't eat that much food before the drinking session."

"You need water," Cathryn said, and got busy filling a glass from the sink behind them.

Sweat trickled down her neck and back as the rancid smell on Blake's vomit on her clothes stuck to her skin. She fidgeted with a napkin from the table as he leaned on her as she swiped Blake's mouth clean after he drank the water.

Blake was pale and cold and he felt like cold glass on her fingertips.

"Cathryn, I'm sorry about this but—"Blake's breath was warm against her neck as he spoke directly into her ear. She felt so light-headed from the smell of alcohol and vomit. "I need to puke again."

+++

Alexander woke up on the bathroom floor. Everything hurt. His mouth felt like garbage and tasted worse. What the hell had happened last night? The last thing he remembered was tequila.

A whole line of shot glasses with lemon and salt on the side.

What had he been thinking? Drinking so much? Alexander groaned and even that made his head pound. This pain had not been part of the plan. He didn't remember anything. What happened last night? He racked her brain, forcing his memories to rewind the night before.

"You okay?" a voice inquired, sweet, soft, and nice. Really nice. A shiver went through him despite the pain and his body stirred in the strangest of places.

"Are you going to be sick again?" The girl asked.

Oh, no.

Alexander opened his eyes and sat up, pushing a lock of his hair from his forehead. The female's blurry face loomed closer. His vision turned clear and sharp as if cleaning the dirty lens of a camera shutter, and unfortunately, it wasn't an angel he saw, but a she-devil.

"Hi, Alexander," Cathryn mumbled, smiling evilly. "I'm still here to claim my ten thousand dollars."