Chapter 25

Tricia woke up on Saturday morning and started to give Matt a call before she remembered that he would be up at the cabin and she probably would not get him. She took a quick shower and was soon dressed and walking toward the café where she had agreed to meet Kevin for breakfast. She was, wonder of wonders she thought, a little early. Kevin was there talking with a young couple.

As she approached she saw the woman hand him one of the poker magazines that were being given away free. When he signed it and handed it back Tricia supposed it was the one where she’d noticed his picture from the last circuit event before this one.

“Well good luck guys. I’ve got to run. Remember to check out that book. I think it will answer most of your questions.” Kevin said shaking their hands and turning to Tricia just as she got to him.

“Well good morning Sunshine. You look like you got a good nights sleep.”

Tricia smiled. “I did.”

Gesturing toward the couple he’d been talking to, “Part of your fan club?”

Kevin shrugged. “They wanted to say hello and had some questions. I was killing time because I was early anyway. It still feels odd to have people want my signature and to recognize me like that.”

“I’d think you’d be used to it by now.”

“You’d think so wouldn’t you?” Kevin said holding her chair for her as the hostess showed them to a table. “We’ll see how you handle it when it’s your turn.”

Tricia laughed. “I doubt that day will ever come. I’m just an interested amateur.”

“We’ll see,” Kevin said, pausing as the waitress took their order, then he went on. “Are you planning toplay more of these or is this a one shot deal for you?”

“I hope to play more,” Tricia said. “My husband seems to be ok with the idea which is actually surprising.”

Kevin nodded. “You know that Jaime told me about your history together. I sort of figured that maybe you would not be able to get to these. You also have a child right?”

“Matty, he is six.”

“Your husband is taking care of him while you’re here?” Kevin asked.

Tricia snorted. “Yeah right. Matty is with my parents while I’m here. Matt is not the most hands on father there has ever been for all that he is the one who really wanted to have a baby.”

“Mmmm ok,” Kevin said.

“Do you think you’ll try to come to circuit events on anything like a regular basis?” Kevin asked. “The reason I ask is that I think if you play regularly, even if it’s only four times a year, with occasional trips to your closest local casinos, I think you can really improve. You’ve shown me a lot that I like in your game.”

“Well thank you,” Tricia said, pleased. “I would like to be able to do this regularly I think. A lot will depend on Matt. He’s been acting strange this whole time and honestly I can’t say what he will be thinking when I get back. Right now he seems to be encouraging me but that in itself is strange.”

“I don’t want to pry into your personal life Tricia. I would like to see you at more of these. I think you have a lot of promise. It will be tough on you though juggling a marriage and a child and these tournaments. At least you seem to be looking at it realistically.”

“This has been the best time I’ve had in a long time,” Tricia said, reflecting on just how true that was. “I’d sure like to try.I’m flattered that you think I have some promise. I’ve been surprised at how well I’ve done. I hope it’s not just beginners luck.”

Kevin chuckled. “You’re not exactly a beginner. I can tell from having watched you play that you’ve not only played a reasonable amount but have done some reading. We’re going to have to get you out of those boring little $4/$8 games soon though.”

“I happen to like those. Maybe I’m chicken but I do well in them and I’m not greedy. Right now I don’t want to risk more of my bankroll than I can help. I’ve actually grown it a good bit on this trip. I’m happy.”

“Mostly I’m teasing but not completely,” Kevin said. “You have to play in your comfort zone but you also want to maximize your potential. That’s not really what I wanted to talk about this morning and we don’t have a whole lot of time.”

“Well what’s on your mind then?”

“A couple of things. I wanted to see what your plans were for the future. We covered that. Now I want to talk about today’s event. Why aren’t you playing?”

Tricia shrugged. “I don’t want to just buy in and I didn’t get a chance to play enough satellites to win my way in. The ones I played just broke even.”

“Can I ask how much you have in your bankroll available for poker?”

Tricia shrugged and told him.

“The way you play I don’t think the $1000 buy in is too much to risk from that but I can see why you’d feel that way,” Kevin told her. “You said you’re playing the ladies event?”

Tricia nodded. “I am but I sort of fell into that. I met this couple. Gary and Sandy. I guess we’ve gotten kind of friendly. The came up to me yesterday and Gary said he wanted Sandy to play the ladies event butshe was afraid to. He was going to buy her in and then offered to buy me in too because she said she would play if I did.”

“How much of your action did he want?”

“Huh?”

“How large a percentage of your winnings do you have to give him if you don’t mind telling me.” Kevin asked.

“Well he started out at 50%  but Sandy talked him down to 25%. It seemed pretty reasonable to me. It won’t cost me anything to try and I could make a bundle if I do well.”

Kevin shrugged. “So you’re not opposed to a deal?”

“Did you have something in mind?” Tricia asked. “Something like you have with Jaime maybe? Is that what you offered Rick?”

Kevin laughed. “Slow down. We’re not quite to that point yet but I do have a deal for you. How about a save?”

“What is that?” Tricia asked. “I’ve heard the term but am not sure what it is exactly.”

“What I’m proposing is something I usually don’t do but I would like to see you get the experience and think you just might do very well. I’ll split the buy in with you. All I’m asking in return is that if you cash then you give me what I paid of your buy in back. If I cash and you don’t then I’ll pay the other half of your buy in so it will cost you nothing as long as I cash. The worst part of this deal is for you if we both cash but you only cash near the bottom, you’d just break even. That would apply to me also except I’m not paying my own buy in. The upside is that you get to play a $1000 buy in tournament with a chance for a good cash and I’m not asking for a percentage of your action. Normally I’d want 50% from a new player if I put up 50% of your buy in.”

Tricia was nodding,following what he was saying. “That’s a save?”

“Well strictly speaking, no. A true save would be between two people who both buy in. The deal there is that if one cashes and one doesn’t then the one who cashes pays the one who didn’t back half their cash up to the full value of a buy in, everything over that would be profit. Make sense?”

“I guess but you’re saying you’ll put up $500 of my buy in and all I have to do if I cash is give you the $500 back?”

Kevin nodded, “Plus if I cash and you don’t I’ll pay the other half of your buy in for you.”

“That sounds like an awfully good deal for me and not that great for you.”

“I told you it’s not a deal I’d give just anyone. I’ve got an ulterior motive.” Kevin said with a smile.

Tricia’s eyebrows rose as she looked at him.

Kevin chuckled. “I don’t care what you may have heard I’m not trying to get you in bed but believe me if Jaime wasn’t a good friend that might not be the case.”

Tricia felt herself blushing. That was what she’d been thinking but hearing him talk about it so matter-of-factly was something she wasn’t used to and it had her feeling a little flustered. Had he just told her that he would, in fact, like to sleep with her?

“Earth to Tricia,” she heard Kevin say. She looked at him and he was smiling at her.

“My ulterior motive is related to the fact that I really like you. As a matter of fact I gave this same deal to Jaime shortly after I met him. I would like nothing better than to have you cash in a big way and really build your bankroll. Even if you don’t though I want you to see that you can play on this level. I hope in the future you’ll remember this and be willing to make deals with me that would be very profitable to both of us.”

“Whatever happens Kevin I won’t forget it.” Tricia told him.

“So you’ll accept the deal? It could still cost you $500.”

“I don’t see how I can turn it down,” Tricia said. “I know it’s a long shot for me to cash but I’ve been doing pretty well and like you said I could get a really good payday for a risk of only half a buy in.”

Kevin nodded. “Ok then, let me pay this check and we’ll go get you signed up for today’s event.”

Chapter 24

Once at the table Kevin called the waiter over and ordered a bottle of champagne boisterously announcing they were going to toast Rick’s final table finish. Rick was looking pleased at the attention but said, “I’m flattered but you finished at the final table as well Kevin.”

“So I did!” Kevin replied with a smile. “So we will toast both Rick and me then!”

He said it in a mockingly pompous way that caused Tricia to giggle. When she did Kevin smiled even more broadly.

Jaime looked at Tricia and rolled his eyes. “Don’t encourage him!”

“Don’t be a party pooper!” Kevin retorted then looked at the waiter who had come up with the bottle on champagne on ice and four glasses. “Thank you. I’ll take care of it from here. Hang on a moment though.”

Kevin reached into his pocket extracted a bill from his wallet. As he handed it to the waiter Tricia saw that it was a fifty. Kevin peered at the waiter’s name tag. “Chris we will be here for a while. While I’m very easy to get along with my companions can sometimes be disagreeable.” As he said that Kevin looked pointedly at Jaime who shook his head and chuckled. “That is to show you that your work will not be in vain tonight. I’ll try to keep them under control for you but that small token of their appreciation should temper the blow should I fail.”

Jaime was close to laughing out loud and both Rick and Tricia were alternating between being amused and confused.

Chris, the waiter, however kept a perfectly straight face and just said, “Thank you sir. I hope you can control them but if not this will help buoy my spirits through the ordeal. I will be at your service.”

Kevin lost it then and began laughing. “Thank you Chris. Give us a few minutes and we’ll be ready to order.”

Popping the champagne open Kevin deftly filled all four glasses and passed them around. They toasted Rick and then Tricia insisted they toast Kevin as well.

That done the conversation turned to the last few hands Rick had played at the final table. Tricia was enthralled by the way Kevin and to only a slightly lesser extent Jaime helped Rick analyze them. When they did have suggestions Tricia thought they handled it well in a manner that Rick accepted easily. They listened to his thoughts on the hands and either agreed or disagreed in the same encouraging manner.

Jaime then asked Kevin about his last hand. Kevin shrugged and then the conversation was off doing roughly with Kevin’s hands what they had done for Rick’s. They did all this while ordering and then eating a big dinner that Tricia had not really needed but hand eaten too much of anyway.

Kevin looked over at Tricia as they sat well after the table had been cleared of the dinner dishes. “Tell me about the best hand you think you played this week Tricia.”

Tricia was startled to be drawn into the conversation that way. She’d been participating some but had mostly been content to just listen to Jaime, Kevin and Rick. “What?”

“I thought the question was easy enough,” Kevin said, smiling. “I’d like to hear about the best hand you think you played this week. I’m talking tournament hands.”

“Oh,” Tricia said, getting over being on the spot but still reluctant to be the focus of attention among three players she considered better than herself. “I’d just as soon listen to you all discuss yours. You haven’t talked about any of Jaime’s.”

“You don’t get off the hook so easily,” Kevin said. “I want to hear your opinion of the hand you felt was the best one you played.”

Tricia saw she wasn’tgoing to get out of it and was thinking hard, trying to recall which one she thought was best.

“It’s hard to say what was best,” Tricia said. “Do you mean best in terms of I won the most on it or best in the sense of the best poker play or what?”

Kevin chuckled. “Just answer the question. It’s not a trick question really but I want to see what you think is the best hand you played.”

“Kevin,” Jaime started to say.

But then Kevin held his hand up. “Hush Mr. Devlin, Ms. Bateman has the floor at the moment. She is a good enough player to be able to answer the question and played enough hands this week to have one that must stand out.”

That had given Tricia time enough to come up with an answer but she gave Jaime a grateful smile. “Well I guess the one I personally feel as best was in the last tournament I played. Nothing much had been going anywhere, the blinds were $100 and $200 and I had a little less than an average stack. I got the king and nine of spades in the big blind. There were several limpers, that table was unusually passive, and it just checked to me. Since nothing much had been happening for me I just checked too.”

Tricia went on to explain how she’d hit a very strong hand and had suck two players into a very nice little trap that had won her not only a big pot but enough respect from the other players at her table so that when she played a hand they were very careful with her.

When she was done Kevin nodded. “Excellent. That’s the kind of thing I hoped to hear from you. I’d say you played it about perfectly. Wouldn’t you gentlemen?”

Rick and Jaime both nodded assent.

“You’ve got good instincts Tricia and I particularly like the way you told us about the hand. You included everything that mattered and didn’t put in things that didn’t matter. You’d be amazed at how many players, when they go to analyze a hand, don’t even know which factors are important.”

“Thank you,” Tricia said, feeling herself blushing faintly at the praise.

“Now Jaime why don’t you tell us about the one you feel you played the worst and why.” Kevin asked quietly.

Jaime didn’t even hesitate but started right in with a very honest appraisal of a hand that Tricia had to admit from his description, he’d played badly.

Kevin looked at Rick and Tricia and said, “We do this a lot, as much as we can. It will help you if you can find somebody to do this with from time to time. Now Rick what would you have done with that hand?”

Rick looked very hesitant, glancing at Jaime and then at Tricia and finally back at Kevin as if he was afraid to offer an opinion.

“Come on Mr. Fannin. You’re a good player and that was by the man’s own admission a horribly played hand. I’m assuming you think you could have done better? I’m sure Jaime himself will admit almost any rookie could do better.”

Tricia looked at Kevin in shock at that but a glance at Jaime who was grinning told her that she didn’t need to be worrying.

“Ms. Bateman,” Kevin said seeing the look she gave him. “I am not attacking the man. I am just stating a fact. Why don’t you tell me what you’d have done differently.”

Jaime was looking at her encouragingly so Tricia spoke up and gave her opinion. Once she started Kevin was able to draw out Rick’s opinion as well. Then Kevin told them about the hand he felt he’d played the worst and they went over that one.

Tricia was surprised when Chris came over and said to Kevin. “Mr. James? I’m sorry sir but we’re closing. We’ve actually been closed but I saw no reason to disturb you all until I had to clean up this last table.”

Tricia looked around and sure enough they were the only people other than Chris and one other employee left in the room.

Kevin stood up. “I’m sorry Chris. I hope we haven’t made you late.” He took another bill out of his wallet and handed it to Chris who looked at it in surprise.

“Sir you took care of the tip very well when you paid your tab a while back. This isn’t necessary.”

Kevin clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Well I say it is. Split it with the other poor soul over there who I also made stay late.”

“Thank you sir but we’re really not late.”

Kevin looked at his watch. “Looks late to me and you don’t want to argue with a customer do you?”

Chris chuckled and said, “no sir.”

Kevin ushered Rick, Jaime and Tricia out into the empty parking lot.

“God I had no idea it had gotten that late,” Tricia said. “Kevin what do I owe you for my part of dinner?”

Kevin just looked at her and shook his head. “Your presence is all the payment I need beautiful lady. Without you I’d have had nothing but these two ugly mugs to look at all night.”

Tricia giggled and realized how tired she must be to giggle that easily. “Well thank you. I’m glad you invited me. I had a ball. I never had a chance to have a conversation like that about poker. I think I learned a lot.”

“I hope it won’t be our last,” Kevin told her. “I think you added a lot to it, what do you guys think?”

Both Jaime and Rick quickly agreed with him.

“You’re playing the tournament tomorrow right?” Kevin asked Tricia.

She shook her head. “I didn’t get a chance to play any satellites and I don’t want to buy in. The next one I’m playing is the ladies event the day after tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you meet me for breakfast tomorrow around ten at the café in the casino. Can you do that?” Kevin asked.

“Well I suppose I can,” Tricia said, wondering what he wanted. Was he making a play for her? She’d half expected him to whisk her into his car the way he had on the way to the restaurant.

“Good. Now Jaime would you mind taking Tricia back to her hotel? I need to talk with Rick some more. Is that ok with you Rick? I’ve got a proposal to make you.”

Tricia felt instant disappointment knowing that she and Rick were not going to continue the other night on this evening. She was happy for him though because she suspected Kevin might be going to make him some kind of sponsorship offer. The she smiled when she realized that her mind had been totally on poker and she’d not even thought about what she was going to do, or not do, later in the evening.

Rick looked at Tricia a bit apologetically and shrugged, “It’s ok with me Kevin, certainly.”

“And  don’t mind taking her back,” Jaime said. “You know if you would buy a real car or stop insisting on driving to these things instead of flying then we could have all fit in your car.”

“Mind your own business Mr.Devlin,” Kevin said with a smile.

Tricia thoughtthis must be some long running thing between them and had to smile at the interplay.

Alone in the car with Tricia on the way back to her hotel Jaime said, “I hope you will forgive Kevin. I have a feeling you had plans for this evening and I’m sure this wasn’t any part of it.”

Tricia looked over at Jaime in shock, wondering if he had guessed what she really had planned. His face looked impassive. “I had a great time. I ate too much. I’d already HAD dinner and didn’t need another one. The conversation was fantastic though. I loved it all.”

Jaime smiled, watching the road. “Kevin is a good teacher and mentor. I’m always glad when he has time for me like this. He could have taken any of a number of other people with him instead.”

“No doubt,” Tricia said. “I was wondering about that. I mean surely you’re not the only other player he’s helping along.”

“Hardly,” Jaime said. “He does seem to be focusing on me this tournament. I thought it was because it was my first with full sponsorship. You never know with Kevin though. He does things for his own reasons in his own time.”

“Is he going to offer Rick a deal like yours?”

Jaime shook his head, “I doubt it. Not that quick. He will start out with some kind of temporary deal. My guess is he’s going to set up some kind of one time deal for the main event.”

“What do you think he wants to talk to me about at breakfast?”

“I’m not sure,” Jaime admitted. “Don’t take this wrong but he doesn’t usually go for older women or I’d think that might be it. He does like you I can tell but he also respects your play. He would not have included you tonight if he didn’t think you were a player believe me. This is not something he would bring one of his women friends to.”

“He has a lot of woman friends?”

Jaime chuckled. “He’s a friendly guy. He makes friends easily. Some of them are women. Some think he is cute. Some even apparently think he’s really cute. I doubt he lacks for companionship when he wants it.”

“He is cute.” Tricia said seeing if she could get a rise out of Jaime. She could detect nothing from his face as he drove.

“Well maybe you’re not too old for him. You can give it a shot.”

“You wouldn’t be jealous?”

“I don’t have a right to be jealous,” Jaime said flatly. “You gave me my chance. I turned you down and said I wanted to be just friends. I still feel that is something I have to do so I don’t feel I have the right to be jealous.”

“Bullshit Jaime,” Tricia said feeling a flash of anger. “Jealousy is an emotion. You have the right to be jealous as much as I do. I was jealous when I found out you’d been with two people after me. I don’t really blame you but I was still jealous. If you don’t want to talk about it that’s ok but don’t try to sound all long suffering.”

Jaime shrugged. “I want you to do what you want to do without my opinions interfering. I plan to go on being your friend no matter what. Yeah I know women like Kevin and he likes women when he’s not focused on poker. You could do worse. For that matter you could do worse than Rick Fannin I suppose.”

“You suppose?”

Jaime shrugged again. “I honestly don’t know much about him. I can’t really say. I am not blind. To me it looks like there was something going on. It’s none of my business of course. And unless you really want to I don’t think I really want to talk about it.”

“Fair enough,” Tricia said. “I’m sorry Jaime. You aren’t mad at me are you?”

Jaime shook his head. “Of course not. I was happy to get to spend the evening with you. You held your own very well. I hope you’re going to be able to come to another of the circuit events soon.”

“Matt seemed agreeable when I talked to him last but I don’t have any idea when the next one will be that I can get to. I still have Matty to think about also.”

Jaime nodded. “Well here we are. Do you want me to walk you inside?”

Tricia shook her head, “You don’t need to and if you did I might try to drag you up to my room again and friends should not do that to friends.”

“Maybe not but it’s nice to know they think about it.” Jaime said with a smile.

“I’ve thought about it ever since the first time,” Tricia said softly. “Can a friend kiss her friend good night?”

“If the friend is a good looking woman then certainly.”

“Oh well then I’ll just shake your hand,” Tricia teased.

Jaime chuckled and Tricia leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for everything, especially for being my friend. I think we’re going to make this work.”

“I think so too. Sleep well.”

“You know I think I will. I think I will sleep very well.”

Tricia got out of the car and went into her hotel feeling extraordinarily content and ready for a good nights sleep.

Chapter 23

The action was already underway when Tricia and Sandy arrived at the area where the final two tables of the event from the day before were being concluded. There were sixteen players left and Rick was sitting on a good chip lead.

Gary waved them over and when they got over to him said, “Sorry I ran off on you. I wanted to see this start though.”

“That’s ok,” Sandy replied, “We had some good time for girl talk with you gone.”

“Not about me I hope.”

“No, about our boyfriends,” Sandy quipped causing Tricia to look at her in surprise. Gary just laughed it off and kept his attention on the players though.

The first break the players got was around two hours later. Sandy and Gary were still there watching with Tricia when Rick came over to talk briefly.

“You’re doing great Rick!” Tricia told him. “It looks like you’ve still got the chip lead.”

“Yeah,” Rick said. “A couple of those beats hurt but that last hand I picked up helped. We’re on the bubble for final table with eleven players. I’d just as soon somebody go out quick and we get to it.”

“How much does it pay to win?” Sandy asked.

“The sheet I saw circulating it was around $70,000,” Rick said.

“Wow!” Tricia said. “Wouldn’t that be great if you win?”

“It would be by far the biggest pay day I’ve ever had playing poker. It’s kind of mind boggling to be in the running for it really.”

“Well you’ve got a good shot,” Gary chimed in.

Rick nodded and then excused himself to run to the bathroom. When he got back the tournament director who had been talking to each of the players spoke to him and then Rick came over to Tricia.

“They have decided we probably won’t take a real dinner break. If you’re going to go to dinner could you bring me something light, like some kind of sandwich, when you come back?”

“I hate to miss seeing any of this,” Tricia said, “I’ll run out and get us both something though.”

“This may take a while,” Rick told her. “Why don’t you go get a real dinner. I’m betting you skipped lunch or just ate at the table again. You said you’d been doing that a lot.”

Tricia smiled. “Guilty. I’d hate to miss anything though.”

“I promise if you don’t take TOO long I’ll still be here.” Rick said.

“Well ok,” Tricia said and then looked over at Sandy. “Do you guys want to go to dinner with me?”

“Sure, sounds good to me,” Sandy said and Gary nodded agreement.

 

Tricia was carrying Rick’s sandwich as she, Sandy and Gary went back to the poker room. As the made their way toward the back to the area where the final tables took place Tricia saw Jaime standing at a table stretching.

“Oh crap! I forgot all about Jaime! How could I do that?”

“Lots going on,” Sandy said. “It’s hard to keep track of. He’s close to the edge over there maybe you can see from there. At least you’ll be able to see how he’s doing.”

Tricia led the way over to the spot on an aisle closest to Jaime’s table. He didn’t look like he had many chips. He turned around and saw Tricia and smiled. Then after he mucked his next hand he got up and walked quickly over to her.

“Hey,” he said. “How’s it going?”

“I’m doing ok. How are you doing? I’m sorry it took me so long to get over here to check on you.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if you’d been watching or not. Until a few minutes ago I was buried in the middle of the room anyway and you couldn’t have seen a thing. I’ve been short stacked all day and it’s getting old. I’ll win a decent hand finally only to have the blinds go up. Then I get nothing until just before they go up again.”

“Well you’re hanging in there.” Tricia said.

“That’s about all you can say for it.” Jaime said. “I’d like to at least hang on to make the money. It pays 27 spots and there are around 60 left so I’ve got a long way to go.”

“That means there were over 250 when it started right?” Tricia asked.

Jaime nodded, “288”.

“That’s a lot for a $1000 buy in event isn’t it?”

“The entries are running high for this whole series,” Jaime said. “This event is going fast though. They may actually get to the final table by midnight. Its going so fast that they aren’t going to take a dinner break. I’ve been trying to find a waitress to see if I can get some food. I hope they have something on the low end of greasy, most of the stuff they will let us order at the table is greasy as all get out.”

Without even thinking about it Tricia held out Rick’s sandwich. “I forgot. I got this for you. I thought you might need dinner or at least a snack. I remember dinner coming awfully late.”

<PCLASS=MSOBODYTEXTFIRSTINDENT style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 6pt">Jaime smiled big. “Thank you! You’re a lifesaver. I’ve got to get back now.”

“Good luck,” Tricia called as he went to his seat.

Sandy was chuckling and elbowed Tricia. “You’re slick girl. Acting like you had forgotten you got him dinner. I guess we gotta go back and get another sandwich huh?”

“Well I do anyway,” Tricia said wryly. “I can’t believe I didn’t check on him all day.”

“You heard him. You couldn’t have seen anything.” Sandy told her as they walked back toward the food court area.

“Hey guys,” Gary chimed in. “There is no line in the sign up area. Why don’t we sign you ladies up for your event on Sunday?”

Tricia and Sandy exchanged looks and shrugged. “Why not?” Tricia said.

That done and another sandwich in hand they went back to find that there were only 9 players left in Rick’s tournament. Rick had once again gotten a comfortable chip lead so Tricia suspected that he had recently been the cause of somebody’s demise.

Kevin James, sitting on the opposite side of the table from Rick saw them when they came up and waved to Tricia. She waved back and then waved again when Rick turned around.

As soon as he could he came over and got his sandwich. As Tricia watched the final table play she began wondering how easy it would be to get away from Sandy and Gary when it was over. She was thinking ahead to after the tournament in his room and hoped that it would happen.

An hour or so later with seven players left and Rick’s chip lead whittled down to where he was about even with second place Jaime came over and sat down next to Tricia.

She looked over at him in surprise, “Uh oh. You must be out. This seems a little early to have made the money.”

He held his hands up and shrugged. “It is. I didn’t make it. I just could not get anything going. I was holding on by a thread and the thread finally broke. There were only seven players between me and the money.”

“Oh wow, that sucks honey!” Tricia said giving Jaime a hug.

Just about then Kevin James busted out in seventh place. He came over to where Jaime was sitting with Tricia, Sandy and Gary.

“Pretty good showing Kevin,” Jaime said. “Better than I did today anyway.”

“Thanks,” Kevin said. “I did what I could. I heard you were short stacked all day.”

“Yeah, missed the money by seven places!” Jaime said.

“Shit happens buddy. Tomorrow is another day.” Kevin said philosophically. “How about we sit here and watch Tricia’s friend Rick. He’s looking pretty good. I like what I see.”

Kevin settled on the other side of Jaime leaving Tricia in the middle of what she was starting to regard as an appallingly large crowd. At one point Rick looked back and seemed surprised to see them all there. Tricia could not tell if it was just that he knew that they were all watching him or that he was thinking like she was and wondering how they were going to get off alone after it was over.

There were not a whole lot of people watching the final table although the crowd was increasing as the number of players dwindled. Whenever there would be an all-in everybody would stand and watch. Then when it was resolved they’d sit back down.

The crowd rose when Rick put one of the shorter stacks allin pre-flop. Tricia clapped when the cards were turned over and Rick’s pocket Queens were ahead of his opponent’s Ace King. Luck wasn’t smiling on Rick though as the flop brought not one but two Aces. Rick needed one of the two remaining Queens and it didn’t materialize. The beat cost him the chip lead but didn’t cripple him.

The player who had beat him went on a tear then and in the course of eliminating two more players became the new chip leader moving Rick down into third place.

“Things sure can change fast!” Tricia remarked.

“For sure,” Kevin agreed. “Don’t give up hope though. He’s a solid player. He can play his way back if he can get cards.”

Rick didn’t get cards though. He took stabs at a couple of pots and was forced to fold by massive re-raises. Then the chip leader took out the fourth place player increasing his lead in the process.

Still having enough chips to play effectively Rick didn’t seem to panic. Then he raised a hand before the flop and when the second place player re-raised Rick went all-in for his remaining chips.

Tricia clapped loudly when Rick turned over pocket Aces and his opponent, looking disgusted, turned over pocket Tens. The flop helped neither player and neither did the turn card. Then in a cruel twist of poker fate the river brought a Ten giving Rick’s opponent three Tens and sending Rick to the rail in third place.

He shook hands with the player but he looked stunned as he came over to where Tricia was standing. She gave him a hug and everybody in the vicinity was clapping him on the back and telling him he played well and it was just a bad beat.

Kevin shook Rick’s hand and said, “Tough break man. You did all you could. If not for a couple of nasty beats this would have been your tournament. On the other hand third place does pay nearly $20,000.”

Rick nodded, noticeably brightening at the mention of the payout. “That is my biggest win so far.”

“It won’t be your last,” Kevin said. “I don’t know about you but I didn’t have any real dinner. How about I take you all out for a good dinner and some drinks to celebrate Rick’s best tournament finish yet?”

Rick looked surprised and flattered. Tricia’s first thought was that she would never get him alone now. She looked at him though and to her it didn’t look like he was thinking about her. He seemed to be reveling in his win. She told herself that was as it should be and that maybe after all was said and done they would get some time alone.

Sandy and Gary begged off going, mostly because Sandy practically dragged a disappointed looking Gary away. Before they left Sandy whispered in Tricia’s ear, “Have fun honey but I don’t think it’s gonna go the way you want.”

They exchanged shrugs as they watched Kevin, Rick and Jaime talking, replaying various hands from the final table.

Tricia shook her head and gave Sandy a wry smile. “I wonder if they would miss me if I just went to bed?”

The answer to that came when Kevin loudly said to her from several feet away, “Ms. Bateman! Would you get your cute little ass in gear? There are three starving thirsty men waiting on your company!”

Startled Tricia turned toward Kevin and then just started laughing. “Geeze get a grip! I’m coming already!”

When she caught up with them Kevin put his arm around her propelling her a bit faster toward the casino entrance. “I’ve got the perfect restaurant in mind. Jaime knows where it is and we won’t all fit in my car so you can come with me and Rick can ride with Jaime.”

Triciagave him a look at that, wondering if he was coming on to her or just what he was up to. Jaime looked like he was trying not to laugh and Rick just looked a little stunned like he had ever since going to the cashier’s cage to deal with his winnings.

Jaime and Rick made their way to the parking lot while Tricia waited with Kevin for the valet to bring Kevin’s car up. Before long Kevin held the door for her as she climbed into his two seat Mercedes convertible.

“Don’t worry Tricia,” Kevin said. “I’m not coming on to you. I bet your wondering since my reputation may have preceded me. Jaime seems to think I’m more successful with the ladies than I am. I figure at best right now I’d be third in line behind both Jaime and Rick for the pleasure of your company anyway and my fragile ego could not handle that.”

Tricia laughed and said, “Fragile ego my butt.”

Kevin shrugged as he drove. “Believe what you want. I just liked the idea of having your two rivals have to drive to dinner together if you must know. We could have all gone in Jaime’s car.”

“They’re not my rivals,” Tricia said, “They are just friends.”

“Well you just stick to your story if you want.” Kevin smiled. “I am aware it’s none of my business. Of course that seldom stops me from sticking my nose into things.”

“I can see that,” Tricia giggled.

“I’m glad you’re taking this well,” Kevin said. “I have the feeling I’m royally screwing up some manner of plans of yours. I don’t know which of the lucky two was to be the winner and I don’t want to know.”

“I know Jaime told you all about us,” Tricia said. “He must have also told you that he wants to be just friends. He doesn’t want to have what happened a few years ago happen again. I can’t say I  blame him.”

“But you’d take the chance?” Kevin asked.

Tricia looked at him, wondering why she was having this conversation with a near stranger. On the other hand she had already had it with Sandy and she didn’t know Sandy much better than Kevin.

“Am I treading on ground where I have no business Tricia?” Kevin asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. The answer to your question is that yes. I guess I’d take the chance. God you must think I’m just a slut.”

“Never,” Kevin said. “I not even thinking about judging you. Are you planning to play more of these circuit events in the future?”

“I hope so.”

“Well then it seems to me you need to be very careful not to eliminate that which allows you to do so. A husband unwilling to allow you to come or trying to do this as a single mom would make it tough.”

“Yeah,” Tricia said studying Kevin’s face as he drove. “I think I see why Jaime seems to like you so much. You really care don’t you? You arranged things this way so you could give me this Dutch Uncle speech.”

“Well I’m a bit young to be your uncle don’t you think?” Kevin smiled.

Tricia laughed and gently smacked him on the arm. “You’re not all that much younger than I am.”

“Well I trust you will remember that if ever both Jaime and Rick are unavailable and you’re lonely.”

“You had better be careful I might just take you up on that some day in the future.” Tricia laughed.

Kevinjust nodded, smiling faintly. He whipped the car into the parking lot of the restaurant. “Here we are. Thank you for taking what I had to say the way you did. It really isn’t any of my business but Jaime likes you more than you know and I like him. I’m also coming to like you a lot and I don’t want to see you hurt. To be a bit more selfish I can see us possibly making some kind of a deal if you keep attending these events but we’ll talk more about that another time. Tonight is supposed to be about Rick and celebrating how well he did. Lets get to it shall we?”

Kevin came around and opened the car door for her and they made their way to the restaurant. Tricia was trying to absorb lots of things all at once. She could swear Kevin had made her the promise of some kind of offer similar to what Jaime had. She told herself she must have heard him wrong. Then her thoughts shifted to Rick and what she had hoped would happen tonight. She had no idea if it would now but she knew she would just let things go their natural route. She did want him to enjoy his excellent finish. She wondered what Jaime was thinking about all this. If Kevin had figured out how she felt about Rick she thought Jaime must have. Would he know that while she wanted to be with Rick she didn’t have nearly the depth of feelings for Rick that she still did for Jaime?

It was with those thoughts and more swirling through her head that she sat down at the table with Kevin, Jaime and Rick. There would prove to be several hours for her to ponder her future.

Chapter 22

Tricia’s first two satellites went badly but the third was going better. She ended up all in against the player in third place and when the dust settled she had nearly doubled her chips and was almost exactly even with the only other player left. She had played with him in the first tournament she had played and had been the one to take him out. Apparently he remembered that because as soon as he found himself heads up with her with equal chips he proposed they split even. Tricia might not have accepted choosing to try to win outright except that the first two satellites of the day had not gone very well and splitting now would leave her with at least a modest profit for the day so far. She accepted the deal and took the offered cash, leaving the other player with the tournament entry chips.

The first she was aware that Gary and Sandy had been watching her play was when she got up and nearly ran into them.

“Well hello! How long have you been there?” She asked, surprised to see them.

“There were six left when we got here,” Gary said. He was wearing the same Harley Davidson shirt he’d had on the first time they’d met, he was smiling and looked very happy.

“You look happy, what’s up?” Tricia asked.

“Oh,” Gary seemed momentarily confused. “I won enough between some of the smaller satellites and cash games that I just paid for my entry into the main event but that’s not what we wanted to talk to you about.”

“Hey that’s great!” Tricia said. “I’m still not sure if I’m ready to just buy in and I have not won quite enough yet. That $5000 buy-in is pretty intimidating to me.”

Gary looked at Sandy and laughed. Sandy just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“What’s the joke?” Tricia asked, confused.

Gary chuckled and said, “Well what I wanted to ask you to do was to convince Sandy to play in the Ladies only event on Sunday. Are you going to play?”

Tricia shrugged. “I don’t know. In a way it seems sort of insulting. It’s like they think we can’t play with the big boys. I may not be blowing their doors off but I think I’ve been competitive.”

“Sure you have!” Gary said. “But it’s being offered, why not take a shot? It’s even cheap. It would be good experience and good fun for Sandy too. I even offered to pay the $200 buy-in for her. She’s trying to chicken out on me.”

“Maybe she just wants to be here with you Gary, not play herself.” Tricia said then looked at Sandy. “I guess you never said if you ever played yourself.”

“Sometimes.” Sandy shrugged. “I’ve done some little tournaments at the casino back home and I’ve played really little ones online.”

“Well I know I’m prejudiced but if somebody was paying for me to play I’d play.” Tricia said.

“If Sandy agrees to play too,” Gary said with a smile. “I’ll pay your whole buy in for a 50% share of your winnings Tricia.”

“You’re kidding right?” Tricia asked in shock. He looked serious but she didn’t know him well enough to know if he was kidding.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to give up half her winnings,” Sandy said to Gary, sounding a little irritated. “You shouldn’t just spring things like that on people.”

“It’s ok,” Tricia said. “I’ve never had anybody offer me any kind of deal before.”

“Well you should get used to it,” Gary said. “If you keep doing this then you’re going to want to make saves and deals with somebody just to help keepyour expenses down.”

“I’m not even sure exactly what you’re talking about,” Tricia said. “I’ve kind of heard about stuff like that but have never really had anybody to explain it to me.”

“It looks to me like you’re moving in some pretty big circles here,” Gary grinned. “I saw you a couple of times talking to Kevin James and some friend of his who’s name I don’t remember. I know he’s an up and coming player though.”

“Jaime Devlin,” Tricia supplied the name and glanced over at Sandy who gave a little smile and a slight shake of her head that Tricia took to mean she had not told Gary about the talk she and Tricia had had about Jaime.

“Yeah,” Gary said. “Well ask them. They can tell you all about it. Better than I could. So what do you think? I really want Sandy to play this Ladies event. I think she really wants to she is just chicken. Having a friend in it might help her. What do you say?”

“You really want to pay the buy in?” Tricia asked. “You know there is no guarantee I’ll cash. It can’t be going to have all that many players so it may not pay more than 9 or at most 18 spots.”

“First of all it’s only $200 and second of all I have faith in you,” Gary said.

“If you have faith in her then do it for 25% of her winnings,” Sandy said, grinning.

Tricia looked at Sandy in shock. “Sandy!”

Sandy held her hand up, stopping Tricia. “Come on Gary. I’ll play if you pay Tricia’s buy in too and only take 25% of her winnings.”

Tricia would have expected Gary to look angry but he just looked amused. “Ok but then I get 25% of your winnings too.”

“Well shit,” Sandy said with asmile. “It’s a deal since I don’t think I have a chance of cashing.”

“So how about it?” Gary asked Tricia with an amused look on his face.

“I don’t see much of a downside for me,” Tricia said. “This is ok with you Sandy? Really?”

“It’s his money,” Sandy said and then added with a smirk. “Besides I am starting to like the idea of giving it a shot.”

“Why do I think I’ve been had?” Gary asked with a grin.

“Because dear, you have been. You should know better than to try to out fox even one woman much less two of them.” Sandy said making Tricia laugh.

Tricia saw Rick walking up looking toward her uncertainly. She wasn’t sure if he looked uncertain because of what happened the night before or because she was talking to somebody he didn’t know.

She waved him over. “Hey Rick! I hoped I’d see you before you started to play. How long do you have?”

He glanced at his watch. “About half an hour so I can’t dawdle. I want some time to get focused. I’m glad I ran into you though. I was looking for you in the cash game area and didn’t find you.”

“That’s because I was playing satellites,” Tricia said.

Then she looked at Sandy and Gary and said, “Rick is about to play the final table of yesterday’s event. He’s even the chip leader!”

“Hey that’s great!” Gary said enthusiastically.

Sandy was looking at Rick appraisingly and then looked at Tricia and raised an eyebrow in question. Tricia felt herself feeling warm and wondered if she was blushing. She hoped not.

She then introduced Rick to Sandy and Gary and they all shook hands.

“Tricia I really should get over there,” Rick said looking anxious. “I just wanted to say hi before I started.”

“I’m glad you did Rick,” Tricia said. “I’ll be along. I was planning to watch you. Don’t worry. And when you win maybe you can buy me another drink…but only one this time!”

Rick chuckled and agreed. Gary fell in beside him as he went toward the final table area and Tricia watched them go.

“That would be a nice mouse for the cat to play with,” Sandy said with a smile.

“Sandy!”

“I’m not blind Tricia. There is something there. He wasn’t looking at you that way just because you’re good looking. You are but there was more to it. I won’t pry though.”

Tricia sighed and then chuckled. “Maybe I was hoping you would. Especially since it seems you can keep things to yourself. You didn’t tell Gary about what I told you about Jaime?”

Sandy shrugged, “It didn’t come up and he wouldn’t care one way or another I don’t think. So what is up with you and Rick? Some kind of problem?”

“Hell I don’t know Sandy,” Tricia said. “I don’t know what I expected with Jaime here but it isn’t happening. He is sticking to the promise he made eight years ago and I can’t fault him for that. He wants to be just friends.”

“And you want more?”

Tricia blushed then. “I feel like a slut but yes I want more. Matt hasn’t been paying me all that much attention in the past couple of months and I’m feeling a little….”

“Horny?” Sandy finished with a smile. “There’s nothing wrong with admitting it.”

“But there is if you’re married and you do something about it with somebody not your husband.” Tricia said.

“Well it obviously wasn’t Jaime so I’m guessing it was Rick.”

Tricia nodded. “Sort of.”

“What does sort of mean?”

“That’s the problem. I’m not sure what it means.” Tricia said with a sigh.

“Why don’t you tell me about it. Maybe if you talk it out you’ll understand what it means.”

Tricia gave Sandy the bare bones of how she’d seen Rick playing last night and after they broke for the night they went to the bar and then to his room.

“He seemed better than I’d have expected,” Sandy said. “Guys get very sensitive about that kind of thing. I happens though.”

“Has it ever happened to you?” Tricia asked. “I mean….oh hell. That is way too personal Sandy. I’m sorry.”

Sandy chuckled. “So you think I’m willing to listen to you spill your guts about your personal life and you can’t ask about mine? Come on Tricia!”

“Yes,” Sandy said. “It has happened to me a couple of times. Guys drink too much or they just get plain nervous. The first time I sort of took it personally. I thought maybe he wasn’t really attracted to me. It didn’t help that he didn’t take it well. That one ended really badly. The next time it happened the guy was great about it. He was embarrassed of course but then he pretty much made me not care if you know what I mean. I didn’t feel like he wasn’t attracted to me, he proved he was and he took very good careof me. Eventually it all worked out anyway.”

“When it happened I did wonder if it was me,” Tricia said. “But then like you said he kinda made me forget about it. I got to wondering more this morning but seeing him just now he didn’t seem any different really other than he seemed a little nervous. That could be just going into the second day of his tournament as the chip leader though. I know this is the best he’s ever done.”

“Well I’d say go with the flow,” Sandy said. “How are you feeling about it? I mean from what you’ve said to me a couple of times I’d wonder if you were going to be feeling really guilty about it.”

Tricia shrugged. “I do at times and then I don’t. Shit I don’t know. I’m really not a slut Sandy but it just happened. Of course I didn’t try at all to make it not happen.”

“Well if you want my advice just be careful and have fun while you’re here.”

“I’m really here for poker you know.”

Sandy laughed. “I know you are. Trust me it shows. So what if something else happens. It sounds like you are getting something you needed. Maybe when you go home you’ll be more relaxed and things will be better.”

“Maybe,” Tricia said. “I had a weird talk with Matt this morning.”

“Weird how? You didn’t TELL him about what happened did you?”

“Good Lord NO!” Tricia said. “You would have to know Matt but after he found out about me and Jaime way back he got where I had to check in all the time. He would check the cell phone bills, he checked my email even. I had to account for every second of every day. That slowly got better but he’s still been kind of…possessive”

“Sounds like a control freak to me,” Sandy snorted.

Tricia shrugged. “Yeah, a bit of that too. But he let me go on this trip and not only has he not been checking on me he’s even been kind of hard to get hold of. I just get the feeling something is going on but I don’t know what.”

“Surely you’ve wondered if maybe he’s not been paying attention to you because he’s having a fling of his own.” Sandy said bluntly.

“You know I never thought that before coming here,” Tricia mused. “I know he was working hard. I do his books. Sure he could find time. Hell I probably could have even when he was checking on me so much. The thing is I didn’t think that was the problem.”

“But now you wonder?”

Tricia shrugged again. “I can’t help but wonder but it doesn’t feel like that. Maybe though. I just can’t believe Matt would do that considering how upset he was at me for doing it.”

“Honey you might be right. It might be nothing but it can happen to just about anyone.”

“I guess,” Tricia said. “It’s just weird how he’s acting. How trusting he is being. He even says he sees no reason I can’t do this three or four times a year.”

Sandy smiled and raised an eyebrow, intentionally misunderstanding what Tricia meant.

Tricia laughed. “I mean play the circuit events! You are so bad!”

Sandy laughed. “Well you could do both. Who knows maybe if you do this three or four times a year Jaime will thaw out and you can have some fun with him.”

“You think?” Tricia asked before she could censor the thought.

“Well you never know what might happen. Maybe he will find out about you and Rick andget jealous and want you for himself.”

“And maybe he will find out about it and never speak to me again.”

“Well that would be his loss,” Sandy said. “I wouldn’t recommend just telling him at any rate.”

“God no!”

“So what are you going to do later when Rick either busts out or wins? Are you going to console him or celebrate with him?”

“Definitely,” Tricia said. “At least I hope so.”

“And if things go the way they did are you going to give him a chance to redeem himself?”

Tricia blushed. “I wish I could say no. But I can’t. I don’t know Sandy.”

Over the PA system they heard the announcement of the second day of the Event from the day before. Tricia turned and looked toward the final table area.

“Lets move over there,” Sandy said. “I need to find Gary anyway. As for later just go with the flow Tricia but hell if it happens just enjoy it girl.”

They walked toward the final table area with Tricia thinking just about exclusively about later and what might happen. She admitted to herself that she hoped she got another chance with Rick. She felt plenty of guilt but it was being outweighed by lust at the moment. A part of her, she realized, still wished it was Jaime who wanted her.

Chapter 21

Jamie had slept well but woken with a very vivid dream about Tricia that felt so real he had to check to see that she wasn’t really in bed with him. He’d been uncharacteristically antsy all morning and was now pacing around near the poker room having arrived forty five minutes early for his tournament. That was too short a time to bother finding a cash game to play but long enough to allow him to begin to get a little nervous about the upcoming tournament.

He smiled a bit at being nervous about a tournament. It just felt different now that he had his sponsorship deal.

“Well you look like you got some last night,” Kevin James said, surprising Jaime as he came up behind him. “That is a cat who ate the canary smile. Was the canary anybody I know?”

Jaime laughed. “You’re way off man. I was thinking about the fact that I quit getting nervous about these things a while back and now here I am feeling nervous again.”

“Afraid to mess up in front of your girl friend?” Kevin asked with a smile.

“Man you need to get yourself laid, you’ve got sex on the brain.” Jaime shook his head but grinned back at Kevin. “She’s not my girlfriend, not anymore anyway. Actually I’m more afraid to mess up in front of you. I’m nervous because of this sponsorship deal.”

Kevin clouted Jaime on the shoulder. “Well no worries there. You’ll do fine. I know you will.”

“Thank you. And how did you finish up last night?”

“We didn’t make it down to the final table. We’ll be starting today with 16 players. Your girlfriend’s buddy is chip leader. I haven’t been on his table yet but he seems to be playing solid.”

“She’s not my girlfriend damn it,” Jaime said, starting to get a littleirritated.

“Hey Jaime I’m sorry,” Kevin apologized quickly. “It’s kinda too bad she’s not. She is not only pretty damn good looking but she’s also a pretty good player.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of a surprise,” Jaime admitted. “Not that I didn’t think she had it in her. I knew she was bright. It’s just kind of funny that it happened that way.”

“Maybe it’s no accident. Fate has a way of doing what it wants with people.”

Jaime shrugged. “Well we took our shot and it didn’t work. I won’t be the one to mess up her marriage again. We had a talk yesterday and I think we’re going to manage to be just friends. I hope it works because I had a good time playing in a cash game with her yesterday. Probably we can’t do that much though because we’d cut into each other’s profits.”

Kevin nodded. “She was watching last night. I guess you’d gone to bed.”

Jaime nodded.

“She told me how you’d played $4/$8 with her.”

Jaime knew Kevin was teasing him about the way he liked the low limit games even though he could easily afford bigger games. He didn’t rise to the bait though.

“So you spent some time talking to her huh? And you think she’s pretty good looking. Now that you know we’re just friends are you planning something?” Jaime asked, mostly teasing but also knowing Kevin’s tendency attract women.

Kevin chuckled. “Well if I was going to have a fling with somebody who is probably ten years older than I am she would be my first choice I guess except for the fact that I wouldn’t do that to you. You can say what you want about being just friends but I’m not buying it.”

“I meanit Kevin.”

Kevin nodded. “I know you do. I also know it’s not what you really want. Aside from the fact that the lady wasn’t looking at me like that I would not take a chance on screwing up our friendship that way. There are more fish in the sea.”

Jaime shrugged. “Your choice.”

Kevin gave Jaime a long look. “You know she wasn’t there last night to watch me right?”

“I never thought she was man,” Jaime said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not. I just wondered if you knew she was there to watch that guy.”

Jaime shrugged, trying to look more nonchalant than he felt. “When I told her I was going to bed she said she was going to watch him for a while. His name is Rick by the way.”

“I know. Rick Fannin. He played pretty solid yesterday but was also just catching great cards from what I’d heard. I’ve never played with him but I’ve seen him around for a while.”

“I’ve played with him I think although I never knew his name. My impression is that he was ok but not great.” Jaime said with a shrug.

“And you don’t mind Tricia spending time with him like that?”

“It’s not going to affect my tournament if that’s what you’re asking. I think I can keep my private life separate and focus on poker.”

“I know you can,” Kevin said. “That isn’t what I was asking. We’ve come to be pretty good friends Jaime and I think I know you well enough to know that no matter what you say about Tricia you still think of her as more than a friend.”

Jaime shrugged. “I have feelings for her but it didn’t work out the first time. The best I think I can salvage from it is that maybe now we can be friends ok?”

“Hey I’m cool with it,” Kevin threw his hands up in the air in mock surrender. “I hope you’re ok with it because I saw them in the hotel bar as I was heading for bed.”

“She’s a big girl,” Jaime said. “She can do what she wants.”

“Ok man. I’ll let it go,” Kevin said. “I was just worried about you.”

“Thanks,” Jaime said.

Kevin gave Jaime an affectionate clout on the shoulder and said with a big smile, “No worries. Knock ‘em dead today. It’s time you got your first ring.”

Kevin made his way deeper into the poker room and Jaime watched him go. His first thought was that it would be cool winning one of the circuit events and getting the ring that went with that. It was second only to winning a WSOP bracelet which he also hoped to do one day.

That was where his mind was when Tricia touched his shoulder and he jumped, realizing that she had been talking to him.

“Oh! Good morning!” Jaime said.

“Good morning yourself,” Tricia said with a smile. “You were pretty deep in thought there.”

Jaime smiled. “Kevin was just talking to me and when he left he said it was time I got my first ring. I was daydreaming about that and about maybe one day winning a bracelet at the WSOP.”

“Well I agree with him!” Tricia smiled broadly. “I’d like to be here when you win your first ring. I’m sure you’ll have quite a collection.”

“Thanks. I don’t know about that. I do want one pretty badly though.”

“Kevin gives you a pep talk before every tournament?” Tricia asked.

Jaime shrugged. “Kind of. He’s always like that. He knows a ton of people and he is always buzzing around encouraging them.”

“I like him,” Tricia said. “He takes a little getting used to but I like him. Did he tell you I talked to him last night?”

Jaime nodded.

“It kind of boggles my mind. I’ve seen him on TV even and he came over and talked to me. That was kind of neat.”

Jaime laughed. “You’ll find he’s just a regular guy. A very busy, very focused guy, but really just a regular guy. He doesn’t get all caught up in some of the superstar stuff some of these guys get into.”

“I can see that,” Tricia said and then biting her lip nervously asked, “Did he tell you I went to the hotel bar with Rick after they were done?”

“He mentioned it,” Jaime said. “He was worried about me because he knows about you and I. I told him we were just friends and that you are a grown woman and can do what you want.”

Jaime looked at Tricia and thought there was something she was about to tell him, and then wondered why she looked like she was about to cry but when she visibly wiped that look from her face he didn’t pursue it.

“I understand why you want to just be friends Jaime. I even admit it’s probably for the best. I really had a good time last night playing with you. I think I learned a lot too.” Tricia said. The way she looked and the way she said it made it sound like there was an unsaid ‘but’. He wondered what it was but didn’t feel he could, or should, pry.

“I enjoyed it too Tricia,” Jaime told her. “Ilook forward to doing it again. And maybe not at just this tournament. Do you think you’re going to come to any more of these?”

Tricia perked up then and smiled, practically jumping up and down in her excitement. “Yes! I talked to Matt this morning and it sounds like he’s actually figuring I’d do more of these! I couldn’t believe it. Actually it’s kind of odd but I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“Well that is great!” Jaime said, glad to have a safe subject and glad, also, to know that he would be seeing her again.

“The big thing will be that I may not want to leave Matty all that much but I can see coming to three or four a year. Do you think that would work?”

“I don’t see why not. Actually doing them all like I am this year turns out to be a real grind. I’ve been on the road constantly and to tell you the truth it’s not as much fun as I thought it would be. It’s starting to feel like work.”

“I wondered,” Tricia said. “But you’re still enjoying it?”

“Hell yes!” Jaime said. “It’s not that much like work and it’s work I enjoy. How many people can say they like their job?”

“It will help that I won’t need to do it for eating money,” Tricia said.

“That always helps,” Jaime said. “You know that’s where I am also although this past year I did make enough to have supported myself.”

Tricia looked at Jaime when he said that and he could practically be certain what her next question was going to be. He was right.

She cocked her head at him and asked, “Considering that you say nothing has really changed in your marriage and you’ve been on the road constantly does the fact that you could support yourself playing poker make youthink about changing anything?”

“Like getting a divorce?” Jaime asked and then shook his head. “Not as long as she is ok with the way things are. Hell in some ways we seem to be getting along better. The time we do have when I’m home or the very rare occasions she joins me on the road we’ve been better than we have in a long time.”

“You don’t worry about what she’s doing when you’re on the road all the time?” Tricia asked.

Jaime laughed. “Now how could I? I mean that would be pretty hypocritical. Besides she is still totally wrapped up in her career and not even thinking about that sort of thing as near as I can tell. Mostly what I know is that right now my life is pretty good and I’m not going to fix what ain’t broke. Maybe my life is weird but it works for me.”

Tricia shrugged. “That’s great Jaime. I hope you don’t mind my asking. I was just curious.”

“I don’t mind. I don’t see you deciding to leave Matt if you find you can support yourself playing poker.”

Tricia shook her head. “No. I wish he was more like he was for a while, attentive to me and to Matty but no, I want Matty to have both a mom and dad growing up. Jaime you don’t think I was fishing to find out if you’d ever consider leaving your wife for me do you?”

That had not been at all what Jaime had been thinking now, although he had entertained thoughts like that over the years, just never seriously. It surprised him that she asked.

“No that thought had not crossed my mind.”

“Never?”

Jaime smiled. “In the past it did yes but you know I’d never ask you to leave Matt. And I know you’d never ask me to leave my wife. We had that discussion and agreed to that long long ago. You haven’t started to change your mind have you? Are things that bad between you and Matt?”

Tricia shook her head, “No! I’m sorry. I don’t know why I brought it up. It was thoughtless.. It was just you saying you could support yourself with poker made me think of it I guess.”

“I wonder if you’re as comfortable being just friends as I am Tricia. For what it’s worth it’s going to be hard for a while…maybe forever. But I think it’s worth it. It’s also flattering that you seem to want more. Unless I’m being a jerk and reading in more than is there.”

Tricia’s eyes watered and she said quietly. “You’re not being a jerk. I feel horrible about it but I did want more. I guess I still do. I will do my best to just be the best friend you’ve ever had though.”

“I will too Tricia.” Jaime said, feeling a little like he was going to tear up too.

“It’s just about time Jaime,” Tricia said looking at the tournament clock which was ticking down to the start of the tournament. “I hope I didn’t distract you.”

“Not at all! I’m glad I got to see you this morning!”

“Ok. Well I’ll be pulling for you. I’ll be around and try to keep an eye on how you’re doing. Good luck!”

“Thanks!” Jaime said.

Tricia impulsively gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck Jaime.”

She as quickly released him and turned away, making her way toward the satellite sign up area. Jaime watched her go for a moment, thinking back to what Kevin had said. She was a pretty damn good looking woman. She was also a pretty good friend. He chuckled and turned, walking toward his seat with a smile on his face.