“You think you already understand her, don’t you. Oh God. Here we go. Frederico's Master Plan.” Max twirled his fingers in the air and did a horrible Spanish accent. “First, you must learn about the woman, and then you must be the woman's desire.”
“I don’t sound like that. You can barely hear my accent anymore. You're just jealous you never have a means for attack. You're winning depends on my failing, nothing else. If a female decides she doesn’t want me, then she considers you.”
“Oh they come to me willingly way before they've listened to one word you've said.” He rubbed two fingers together. “Let's bet some money on this one.”
I had a worry antenna in my head that only my brother could trigger. At his mention of gambling, no matter how small, my antenna sprung up and delivered waves of anxiety throughout my nerves. “You want to bet money?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t know. How much are you talking?”
“Let's go big. She's definitely not a sure thing.”
I slumped in my chair, not liking where this conversation was going. Anyone who didn't consider gambling as a real-life disease never witnessed a family member devoured by it. My brother gambled on everything. It was how our games with women started. Back then our wagers involved non-monetary things. We both hated Sunday dinner with our parents. No matter where we were in the world Mom and Dad expected us to be there. So one of our bets dealt with the other going to Sunday dinner for the both of us. But in the past three years, the stakes shifted to large amounts of money. Lately, Max had been on a winning streak with our bets, doing all he could to win and then rushing off to Monte Carlo to gamble it away.
“Let's place six figures on the bet with Dawn,” Max suggested.
Shock hit me. “Six figures? Have you been doing drugs these days?”
“It's not too much for you. I know it. You save more than an animal preparing for hibernation.”
“It's the smart thing to do when I'd rather not work. I won’t bet six figures on a woman, no matter how delectable she may be.”
“Anything lower would be boring.”
“Or the fact is that you need six figures.”
He averted his eyes. “Who said I needed it?”
“Do you need it or not?”
With his thumb, he smudged a circle on the surface of his watch. The more seconds passed by, the more my heart increased its beats in my chest.
“I'm a little low this month, Freddy,” he admitted.
“How low?”
“I haven't been able to pay things.”
I placed my hand under the table and formed my fingers into a fist. “What things? Why don't you elaborate?”
“Because I don't want to hear a speech.” He slumped in his chair. “I just need some help.”
“Like a counselor for gambling addiction?”
“No. I need money.”
You always need money these days.
“How much?” I asked.
“Six hundred thousand.”
In my world six hundred thousand wasn’t a big thing for him to ask of me. I could transfer it to him with a few flicks of my finger on the phone. The problem was that he’d been borrowing more and more these past months. The total had reached well past a million.
“Don’t tell me you already blew away your whole summer's allowance? The funds just hit our accounts last week.” My voice rose in the restaurant. The couple next to us ended their conversation and peered our way for a few seconds.
“I may have taken a bigger risk than I should have this past weekend in Las Vegas.”
So he'd changed up his usual stomping grounds in Monte Carlo and shifted to Las Vegas. I wonder why?
“Are you telling me that you played poker until the point where you emptied out your bank account?” I asked.
“I wouldn't go that far, but my account's seen better days.”
Not this crap again.
We'd been through this mess last year. If I totaled up all the loans I'd given him, it would be several million. Our parents kept us on a huge budget. If we went too far and spent it all before the next quarter deposit, they didn't care and expected us to figure out a way to make it until the next payment. And frankly they shouldn't have had to care, they're financiers gave us more than half a million each quarter, which was more than enough for our pursuits. Yet, Max always lusted for more money, women, clothes, everything. Even before his gambling, he was broke before the next allowance deposit. He spent money like he lived, fast and hard. He was never satisfied, never truly happy in any given situation, except our female games and gambling.
Now your spoiled behavior is getting the best of you.
“Let's bet six hundred thousand that I get her in bed before you,” he said.
“No.”
“You didn't even think about it.” He held his hands out.
“If you win, what will you do with the money?”
“Go have fun.”
“Where?”
He raked his fingers through his blond hair. “Wherever the fun is at the time that I've got the money. What's your problem?”
“You lost a lot and quicker than normal. That’s my problem. You still owe me from last year and now it looks like I’ll be footing the bill for all of your exploits this summer.”
“I know. I know. I've learned my lesson from last weekend. From now on I'll be making smaller bets.”
“You shouldn't even be betting at all.”
“Oh really?” He crossed his arms. “I shouldn't bet on things besides these wagers with you?”
“This isn't about us! This is about you having an addiction.”
“Oh please,” he hissed. “You're addicted to this game we play with women as much as I'm addicted to the feel of cards in my hands as I sit in a casino. Admit it.”
I glanced at the front of the restaurant and spotted Dawn. She stood there waiting for the hostess to check her name in the book and show her to our table.
My brother continued saying stuff, probably things about me that would make him feel less worried about himself. Either way, I ignored it all at the sight of her.
On the beach, she'd exuded beauty in her conservative one-piece bathing suit. Although the swimming outfit covered a lot, I still spotted those thighs from several feet away and then gazed up at that wavy hair that swayed back and forth in the light ocean breeze. Something about that moment made my heart pause for a few seconds and stare at her longer. I hadn't even told Max to follow me over, I just headed her way with the urge to hear her voice. Inside, I hoped she'd be the woman for us this summer, someone to stir up the monotonous things that happened day to day in my life.
Once she called Max out on his weak photography line, I knew she was perfect. The truly intelligent ones always gave us an increased challenge. They weren't so easy to fool and made the game last weeks longer than others.
Tonight, this dress wrapped around her thick frame in strips of metallic colored satin—bronze cupped her breasts, gold caressed her hips, and silver formed further down until it ended at her knees. As she patiently waited by the entrance and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, an odd sensation coiled within me. I’d never experienced it before. I wouldn’t say it was magical. It wasn’t love at first sight. This was anticipation and lust in its purest form.