A BAD BET
CHAPTER 1
MAYA
The bass from the kitchen speakers was still thumping, but the crowd had thinned out. Beer cups littered every surface, someone’s hoodie was abandoned on the floor, and my head felt deliciously fuzzy.
I was already tipsy, warm from the alcohol and the heat of the house. That dangerous kind of warm where my filter tended to take the night off.
“Maya, you’re stalling,” Liam said from across the low coffee table, his grin sharp as a knife. His black T-shirt stretched over his chest when he leaned forward, his elbows braced. “Play your damn card.”
“I’m not stalling,” I muttered, squinting down at my hand of cards. “I’m strategizing.”
“Strategizing?” Jace’s voice was lazy but threaded with amusement. He was lounging against the arm of the couch like it was a thro
