Walking Disaster

chips.
    Four hands later, Abby had tipped back the last of her third beer and watched Taylor closely. “The action’s on you, Taylor. You gonna be a baby or you going to put in like a
man?”
    It was getting very difficult for me to keep from being excited in other places. Watching Abby own my brothers—and a poker veteran like my father—hand after hand was turning me on.
I’d never seen a women so sexy in my life, and this one happened to be my girlfriend.
    “Fuck it,” Taylor said, throwing the last of his chips in.
    “Whatdya got, Pigeon?” I asked with a grin. I felt like a kid at Christmas.
    “Taylor?” Abby prompted, her face completely blank.
    A wide grin spread across his face. “Flush!” He smiled, spreading his cards faceup on the table.
    We all looked to Abby. Her eyes scanned the men around the table, and then she slammed her cards down. “Read ’em and weep, boys! Aces and eights!”
    “A full house? What the fuck?” Trenton cried.
    “Sorry. I’ve always wanted to say that,” Abby said, giggling as she pulled in her chips.
    Thomas’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t just beginner’s luck. She plays.”
    I watched Thomas for a moment. He wasn’t taking his eyes from Abby.
    I looked to her, then. “Have you played before, Pidge?”
    She pressed her lips together and shrugged, letting a sweet smile turn up the corners of her mouth. My head fell back, and I burst into laughter. I started to tell her how proud I was, but the
words were held hostage by the uncontrollable cackling shaking my entire body. I hit the table with my fist a few times, trying to get a hold of myself.
    “Your girlfriend just fucking hustled us!” Taylor said, pointing in my direction.
    “NO FUCKING WAY!” Trenton wailed, standing up.
    “Good plan, Travis. Bring a card shark to poker night,” Dad said, winking at Abby.
    “I didn’t know!” I said, shaking my head.
    “Bullshit,” Thomas said, his eyes still dissecting my girlfriend.
    “I didn’t!” I said.
    “I hate to say it, bro. But I think I just fell in love with your girl,” Tyler said.
    Suddenly my laughter was gone, and I frowned. “Hey, now.”
    “That’s it. I was going easy on you, Abby, but I’m winning my money back, now,” Trenton warned.
    I sat out the last few rounds, watching the boys try to win back their money. Hand after hand, Abby steamrolled them. She didn’t even pretend to go easy on them.
    Once my brothers were broke, Dad called it a night, and Abby returned a hundred dollars to each of them, except Dad, who wouldn’t take it.
    I took Abby’s hand, and we walked to the door. Watching my girlfriend de-sack my brothers was entertaining, but I was still disappointed that she returned some of their money.
    She squeezed my hand. “What’s wrong?”
    “You just gave away four hundred bucks, Pidge!”
    “If this was poker night at Sig Tau, I would have kept it. I can’t rob your brothers the first time I meet them.”
    “They would have kept your money!”
    “And I wouldn’t have lost a second of sleep over it, either,” Taylor sa id.
    From the corner of my eye, I caught Thomas staring at Abby from the recliner in the corner of the living room. He’d been even more quiet than usual.
    “Why do you keep starin’ at my girl, Tommy?”
    “What did you say your last name was?” Thomas asked.
    Abby shifted nervously but didn’t answer.
    I put my arm around her waist, and turned to my brother, not sure what he was getting at. He thought he knew something, and was getting ready to make his move.
    “It’s Abernathy. What of it?”
    “I can see why you didn’t put it together before tonight, Trav, but now you don’t have an excuse,” Thomas said, smug.
    “What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked.
    “Are you related to Mick Abernathy by any chance?” Thomas asked.
    All heads turned to wait for Abby’s response.
    She raked her hair back with her fingers, clearly nervous. “How do you know Mick?”
    My neck craned even more in her direction. “He’s only one of the best poker players that ever lived. Do you know him?”
    “He’s my father,” she said. It looked almost painful for her to answer.
    The entire room exploded.
    “NO FUCKING WAY!”
    “I KNEW IT!”
    “WE JUST PLAYED MICK ABERNATHY’S DAUGHTER!”
    “MICK ABERNATHY? HOLY SHIT!”
    The words rang in my ears, but it still took me several seconds to process. Three of my brothers were jumping up and down and screaming, but to me the