Four Of A Kind

Chapter 153: [3.55] House Rules

I had nine cards. The Valentine sisters were playing out their psychological warfare with the ruthlessness of people who’d spent seventeen years learning each other’s tells. My only advantage? They were so focused on destroying each other, they might forget about me.

Sabrina laid down a yellow six, her second-to-last card. Her face remained perfectly neutral, but her fingers lingered slightly longer than necessary. A tell.

“Uno,” she said quietly. Her eyes flicked to Cassidy.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Cassidy snapped, staring at her four remaining cards. “So much for ’temporary alliance.’ You’re actually trying to win.”

I glanced at my hand. Nothing yellow. No skips. No reverses. Nothing that could stop Sabrina from playing her last card on her next turn. But I did have a wild card.

“Blue,” I said, placing it down. Cassidy’s eyes narrowed.

“Why blue? Why not red? Or green?” Her suspicious gaze burned into me like she could read my strategy through my skull.

“Because blue is a pretty color. Matches your eyes.”

“Our eyes are purple!”

“Oh. Right.” I shrugged. “My bad.”

Cassidy made a sound like an angry cat and slammed down a blue two. “There. Happy now?”

Sabrina’s turn. Her fingers hovered over her last card. Victory was one move away.

“Sabrina,” I said casually, “before you win, can I ask you something?”

Her eyes flicked up to mine, suspicious but curious. “What?”

“Is this about our bet? The one where I lost the quadruplet guessing game and now I owe you four ticket favors?”

Her lips curved in a small smile. “Maybe.”

“So if you win this game, you’ll still have all four tickets. Plus whatever prize you get for beating me at UNO.”

“That’s correct.”

I leaned back in my chair. Relaxed. Like I’d already accepted defeat. “And if you lose, you still have your tickets. So really, you have nothing to lose here.”

Sabrina’s eyes narrowed slightly. She was trying to find the trap.

“I suppose that’s true,” she said carefully.

“But Cassidy,” I turned to her, “if you lose, you still have to study for two hours. After spending a whole week doing extra work. Seems unfair.”

Cassidy’s brow furrowed. “What’s your point?”

“My point is, Sabrina’s going to win this hand. She has one card left. It’s probably a blue, given how she reacted when I changed the color.”

Sabrina’s poker face didn’t crack, but her fingers twitched slightly. Bingo.

“So really,” I continued, “this game is already over. Unless…”

“Unless what?” Cassidy leaned forward.

“Unless you have something that can stop her.”

Cassidy glanced at her cards. Back at me. At Sabrina. Realization dawned on her face.

“You sneaky little—” She cut herself off, eyes narrowing at Sabrina. “You’ve been setting me up this whole time!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sabrina’s voice was perfectly even. Too even.

“Yes, you do! You made me draw four cards earlier, even though we’re supposedly on the same team. And now you’re about to win, leaving me with four cards and having to study for two hours!”

“That’s the game, Cass.” Sabrina’s smile was small but unmistakable. “Isaiah understands. Don’t you, Isaiah?”

I spread my hands innocently. “I’m just here to play cards.”

Sabrina raised her final card, ready to play it.

“Wait!” Cassidy slammed her hand on the table, making the card pile jump. “I have a proposition.”

Sabrina paused. “I’m listening.”

“New alliance. Me and Isaiah against you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Switching teams mid-game? Is that allowed?”

“House rules.” Cassidy’s smile was downright predatory. “And if it’s not, I’m making it one now.”

Sabrina considered this. “What’s in it for me if I let you switch?”

“If we win, Isaiah doesn’t have to sleep in your bed today.”

Sabrina’s eyes widened slightly. Interest.

“And if I win,” Sabrina countered, “you give me that hoodie plus you have to tell me what you and Mira talked about at the bubble tea shop.”

Cassidy’s ears turned bright red. “That’s… that’s private!”

“Is it? How interesting.” Sabrina’s smile grew. “Must be quite the secret if you won’t trade it for avoiding two hours of studying. But fine, if you win I won’t sleep with Isaiah and I’ll help you prep for the test Friday.”

Cassidy looked like she was calculating the exact force needed to flip the table without damaging the antique wood.

“Fine,” she growled. “Deal.”

Sabrina sat back, satisfied. “Your turn, then. Play.”

Cassidy glanced at her cards. Then at me. I kept my expression neutral, but my eyes deliberately flicked to the top card – the blue two she’d just played.

Cassidy’s eyes widened slightly. She got it.

She slammed down a blue reverse.

The turn order flipped again. Now it went from Cassidy to me to Sabrina.

My turn. I played a blue skip.

Cassidy cackled. “Sabrina’s turn gets skipped!”

Back to me immediately. I played a blue eight.

Cassidy followed with a blue five.

The game continued, faster now. Sabrina was no longer playing to win quickly. She was playing for blood. Every card she placed down was strategic, designed to force us to draw or skip turns. But Cassidy and I had formed an impromptu alliance of convenience, using our turns to protect each other when possible.

Three rounds later, I was down to five cards. Cassidy had three. Sabrina had four, after being forced to draw multiple times.

“This is taking too long,” Sabrina said, voice cool but eyes sharp. “Let’s raise the stakes.”

“How?” I asked, suspicious.

“If I win, Cassidy gives me the hoodie, tells me the Mira secret, and… you have to use one of your tickets to take me to the Botany Garden exhibit this weekend.”

My eyebrows shot up. “That’s not how tickets work. You’re supposed to use them on me, not the other way around.”

“House rules,” she said smoothly. “I can convert my tickets to invitations if I want.”

This was getting complicated. And sounded suspiciously like a date. I glanced at Cassidy, who was glaring at her sister with surprising intensity.

“No way,” Cassidy said. “That’s not fair.”

“Oh?” Sabrina tilted her head. “Are you perhaps… jealous, Cass?”