~
"Whadda ya say, Joey," Nick said, stepping up by my elbow right at that time, "ready to try your hand at a little craps?"
"Why not?" I answered, knowing I'd told him I would join him later when he'd asked the same thing just after we'd arrived. "Did you win some?" I asked, referring to his earlier time on the tables.
"Eh," he shrugged his shoulders, "not bad." I knew what he was really saying was that he'd given them some of his money and wanted to try and make it back.
"Where's Aubrey? Gone to the room?"
"Yeah, not so much into gambling. I enjoy it a little -- as long as I never gamble more than I can afford to lose." That Aubrey had gone to their room, exactly as Angie was going to ours, was another indicator that
maybe
they were playing too. I had to admit to myself that although I'd confessed that Jessica was my prime fantasy -- Aubrey was a close second.
"Isn't that the truth!" I reached in and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill when we got to the tables -- exchanging it for 20 $5 chips.
I'd played a little craps before; the summer that I'd had a project right near Las Vegas the boys had wanted to come play craps virtually every night. I wasn't into
every
night, but a couple of times a week I'd come with them. My rule of thumb was that I could afford to lose a hundred -- and when that was gone, I walked away. When I was on a winning streak, I rode it until it changed, and if I lost three straight times, I took what I had left and walked away. Some nights I was up a hundred or two, other nights it went to zero quite rapidly and then I just watched, but after playing a couple of times a week for most of the summer, I was up about $400.
Tonight, it went down the shitter almost immediately. A five-dollar bet, with odds, gone. Another, gone. Won one on a craps the next time coming out, and another couple of odd wins intermixed with multiple losses so I ended up with some odd single chips. Lose again, win again, lose yet again, and half an hour later -- I was down to $4 in chips on a table with a $5 minimum. I did what I'd never done that earlier summer -- just to 'waste' those last $4 in chips I said, "Hey Nick, loan me a buck." He was up a little, or probably close to even since I'd been there, but when I showed him I had only $4 and needed just $1 to make a bet -- he slipped me one.
It won. Doubled my money to $10.
I let it ride and doubled it again, so I was up to $20 on my $5 bet -- or "only" down $80 since I started.
I pulled that win back, bet just $5 and lost, bet $5 again -- and doubled that to $10 and once again I was back to $20 total. I let the $10 ride again, won on the come-out roll with a craps, let it ride again and three rolls later won that bet. One more time I let the bet on the table ride, added a bet on the odds, and suddenly instead of losing my last $4, I was up from the initial $100 that I'd started the evening with. All I'd bet all night was $5 chips -- but now, even being up a little, I was more interested in finding out who was waiting for me in a bedroom than playing craps for money. I changed up, bet $25, got the number, added odds -- and immediately hit my number on the first roll. Pulling back most of the winnings I left just the $25 bet and the number that came up was a 4. I added an odds bet, and then even knowing it was a sucker bet -- I added $25 to the "4 -- hard way" only to, two rolls later, have a pair of 2's show up: four the "hard way." Instead of losing my last $4, which I'd tried to do, suddenly in just a few rolls of the dice, I was up nearly $500 on the night.
"Damn Nick," I said, pulling all my chips off the table, "I think I got all of your money and a bunch of other peoples, too. I think I'm not going to push my luck tonight -- and I can play on house money for the rest of the weekend. I'm going to call it."
"Six," the dealer called out. "Odds?" he asked, tapping next to Nick's bet with his rake, having understood Nick's betting pattern. Nick reached out and added the odds bet.
"No way -- calling it quits while you're on a roll?"
"Just remembering I've got a hot lady upstairs waiting for me," I grinned. I didn't know whether he knew that hot lady was someone other than Angie, but I did.
"All right, all right," he said, "one more roll and I'm coming too." The call of "Craps, 7 Craps" from the dealer had him throw up his arms and follow me away from the table as the dealer now used the rake to pull all his money away.
"What floor?" Nick asked as we stepped onto the elevator and he pushed the 8th floor button. "10 for Angie and me," I answered, just as Barry appeared and shoved his hand in to stop the doors from closing.
"Hey guys! Calling it an early night?" I saw him glance at his key card, seeing the numbers printed on the back from Natalie and instantly knew that this wasn't the room his wife was in. This meant his wife Jessica was
not
in that room, and perhaps the card in my pocket matched with the room she was in. I couldn't help feeling my cock swell at the anticipation of meeting an unknown lover in just minutes, whether it was Jessica or someone else. "12 for me," Barry told Nick who dutifully pushed the button for the 12th floor. When the elevator stopped at the 8th floor and Nick got off, I still didn't have a clue as to which floor I was going to, nor did I have any idea whether Angie was still alone or not, so pushed the 10. Stepping off when it stopped, I walked around the corner, saw nobody, and quickly walked up to our door. A quick rap on the door and I heard nothing for a moment until Angie said, "Who is it?"
"Me," I answered, "Are you still alone?" She opened the door, answering the question by opening the door. "Just need my bag," I said. I reached down and picked up my bag, not missing for a moment that Angie was wearing nothing but the baby doll that I'd picked out for her earlier. That I would have liked to pull her to me and kiss her, I know that she knew, as although I stuck out a hand, she pushed it away and said, "Just go."
"Hey," I said, stepping back through the doorway.
"What?"