Finding Forever

Chapter 4

"Hey, Ella. Ryan. Get in here!" Jayce shouts from the living room.

We walk into the living room turned makeshift poker lounge. The coffee table has been replaced with a poker table, surrounded by black folding chairs. Christmas lights are strung from corner to corner of the ceiling for extra lighting, and half-eaten bags of chips and junk food are scattered all over the end tables. Kale mindlessly scrolls through his phone at whatever he's looking at. Maisie is sitting on Jayce's lap and whispers in his ear even though an empty chair is beside him. And Liam smiles over at me, takes a step forward and hands me a blueish-coloured cocktail. He winks, and I take it from his hand.

"What's this?"

"I promised you a cocktail." He flicks his blonde hair out of his face, giving me the most spectacular view of his big blue eyes. "I hope you don't mind trying one of them tonight."

"Now, this is a way a girl should be greeted," I say, impressed. "Thank you. How did you know blue was my favourite colour?"

"Lucky guess."

"Blue isn't your favourite colour," I turn to Ryan's voice on my right to see him carefully pulling bottles out of the case before cracking one open.

"It isn't?" I say, then shake my head laughing. He damn well knows my favourite colour is blue. He's the one who helped paint my grandmother's vintage furniture that exact colour.

"No. Teal is your favourite colour," he clarifies, passing Jayce a beer. "At least that's what you told me. It may be a member of the blue family, but it's not blue," he adds.

Jayce laughs. "How do you know more mindless facts about Ella than I probably know about Maisie? Seriously, Ryan, how do you even remember something like that?"

"Probably because he's not fucking her," Maisie says. "He listens when she tells him things because he isn't fantasizing about removing her clothes."

Ryan glances over at me, and I look away.

"Meh, that's one way of looking at it." Kale pipes up.

With a sigh, I flop onto a chair around the poker table, and Liam takes the seat beside me. Everyone else finds a seat, and soon enough, cards are dealt, chips are wagered, and people are bluffing. The first person out is Maisie. A few hands later, Ryan boldly goes All-In, which irritates me because I finally have a decent hand – a solid pair of Jacks - so I call him on it, and he beats me with a full house. It was an amateur move on my part, but he was egging me on, and unfortunately, I let his pompous-ass smile get in the way of rational thought. Eventually, karma kicks Ryan right where it hurts, and he loses all his chips to Jayce. Only Kale, Jayce and Liam remain when I find myself snacking on some salsa and chips in the kitchen.

"Are you enjoying that fruity drink?"

I jump at Ryan's voice and look up at him, his smile only growing bigger when he notices how surprised I am...yet happy to see him.

"Sure am," I don't miss how he moves to my right side, snakes the drink from my hand and takes a long, slow sip. "Tasty, huh?"

"I almost believe you find this fruity liquid tasty," he replies. "Your bullshit skills are off the charts when you want to get laid."

"I learnt from the best," I wink.

Kale walks into the kitchen and tugs open the fridge. He glances over at us and pulls out a plate of leftover pizza. "I'm out."

"That was quick."

Kale shrugs. "You two coming back to watch? Jayce and Liam are about to battle it out for poker champion."