The Four

"Wow, this Travis guy sounds... ballsy," Tori mused, sorting coffee cups absentmindedly.

I glared at my coworker. Admittedly, Tori was the only person I planned to tell about the Penthouse Incident. She didn't go to Columbia, so I could trust that this wouldn't be the talk of the university by the end of the night. I needed someone to vent to, and Tori was all ears on this quiet Tuesday night. And, well, she was my only friend outside of school.

"Narcissistic is more like it," I replied.

I had replayed the confrontation in my head dozens of times since leaving Travis's. It was all so surreal: the black car picking me up, that jaw-dropping penthouse, all the way up until that stupid proclamation.

"I'm letting you be my girlfriend."

I scrubbed the grates of the espresso machine vigorously. The nerve of that guy.

"So are all of those Four guys arrogant? Or is he just the worst?" Tori asked.

I pondered this for a moment. Truth be told, I had never met Sebastian or Noah. Strictly by association, I figured they had to be bullies, too. Nothing they'd done so far had proven otherwise.

But Alex wasn't a bully.

"Well, one of them..." I started slowly, smiling to myself. "One of them is different."

"Different?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

At that moment, the cafe door swung open, causing the bell overhead to chime. We both snapped our heads up as three tall, familiar men wandered in.

I stiffened. Sebastian was taking the lead, followed closely by Noah and then Alex.

What now?

"Hi, welcome to Roots," Tori chirped, as she was trained to do. She floated to the register to greet them as I stood dumbly in place behind the counter. My eyes fixed on Alex, blonde hair flopping up and down, as he approached the counter before me. He smiled at me, then looked up and behind me at the menu, leaving me gazing at him. He hadn't uttered a word.

"Well hello," I heard one of the others say. I looked over as Noah leaned forward on the counter in front of Tori. He smiled, flashing his pearly white teeth and tipping his glasses, making her giggle. Sebastian joined Alex in reading the menu, stroking his chin.

"Alright," I said, looking back and forth between them. "What are you three doing here?"

Sebastian finally made eye contact with me, and his hazel eyes lit up, as if surprised to see me. "Well, what a coincidence!" He proclaimed, slapping the counter and grinning at me. "It's the ball-buster herself, you guys."

I crossed my arms defensively. "I have a name, you know."

"Analeigh," said Alex, blue eyes fixing on me. I swallowed and focused on moving a stray piece of hair from my face.

"Ah yes, Analeigh," Sebastian corrected himself. "You work here?"

"There's no way you didn't know that. We're in Brooklyn."

Tori appeared at my side and nudged me. "Do you know these guys?"

I nodded, keeping my eyes closely on them. "I was telling you about them earlier, actually."

"All good things, I hope," Noah chimed in, clapping a hand on Alex's shoulder.

"Not entirely."

He threw a hand over his chest dramatically, feigning a broken heart. "And here I thought we were friends."

"Ok, seriously. Why are you here?" I shot Sebastian a look. "I somehow doubt it's for a latte and banana bread."

"I'm more of a bagel man myself," Sebastian replied smoothly. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll have a cold brew. Tall, please," Alex said nicely. He smiled at Tori, who blushed and got to work on it, leaving me alone with them.

"So," Noah leaned forward, "are you ready for Monday?"

So that's what this was about. That stupid poker chip.

"I already told Travis, I'm not playing you."

Alex raised an eyebrow at me, but stayed silent.

"Really? I'm sure that went over well," Sebastian joked.

"Really. I'm not playing," I said, shrugging. "Sorry to disappoint."

"That's a shame," he replied, clicking his tongue. "I was really looking forward to beating you and that little friend of yours."

"There's no honor in beating two people who can't play poker to begin with."

"No honor, but so, so much pleasure," Noah interjected, smirking.

I turned my glare on Noah as Tori reached across the counter, cold brew in hand for Alex.

"Thank you," he said, sliding over a bill. "Keep the change."

"Thanks," she replied. Her voice had raised at least ten octaves. I grimaced at her.

"You know, Analeigh," Noah mused, capturing my attention once more, "as the challenger, you get to set the terms for the match."

"Meaning?"

"Well, if you don't know how to play poker, for example, we could play a different game. One that you know how to play." He wagged a finger. "Must be cards, though."

I looked at him skeptically, then Alex. He was sipping away on his cold brew, blue eyes studying me over the lid.

"Any card game?" I asked. There had to be a catch.

"Any," Sebastian confirmed.

I crossed my arms self-consciously - all their eyes were on me. I bit down on my lip.

"I... I already told Travis I'm not playing."

Noah chuckled, "I'm sure he'll forgive you."

I exhaled sharply. "Fine."

Sebastian smacked the counter in victory. "Yes!" He shouted. Noah high-fived Alex, who didn't share half the excitement of his friends.

"We will see you Monday, Ball-Buster!" Sebastian cried as they filed out the door.

Yeah. I was going to regret this.

---

On Monday at 4:00 p.m., a literal crowd of students had gathered around The Four's meeting room in the business school. They chatted and giggled amongst themselves excitedly, shamelessly snapping photos as Evan and I stood before the towering wood door. I looked over at him - he was chewing off his lower lip and shuffling his feet, gawking up at all The Four's celebratory banners.

"Hey, it's going to be fine," I assured him. "Just like I told you, okay?"

He nodded rapidly, causing his glasses to clatter to the ground. He scrambled to pick them back up and fixed himself.

I sighed. "Here goes nothing." I walked ahead and pushed through the heavy door. I heard the chatter behind me heighten in anticipation.

My heels clicked against the solid wood floors of the open space, made louder by the surprisingly tall ceilings. My eyes were immediately drawn up: two wooden staircases on either side of the entrance, flush against the wall, traveled up to a second story that was really just a narrow walkway lined by fully stocked bookcases. The path was lined by a black iron rail, offering anyone up there a 180-degree view of the unobstructed space below.

A single, heavy-looking wood table and four matching chairs sat in the center of the room, but otherwise, it was almost entirely empty. A glowing chandelier hung high over the table, where a perfectly stacked pile of cards sat pretty in the center.

Travis sat in the chair facing the entrance, while Noah sat to his left side. Sebastian stood behind them, arms crossed like some sort of bodyguard.

I felt my heart drop. No sign of Alex.

"Evan, Analeigh, welcome," Sebastian said, his voice smooth as chocolate. "I'll be the referee today. Come in."

I was first to reach the end of the table opposite of Travis - Evan fell in next to me. I met Travis's eyes, which were already boring into me, and promptly tore away, looking down and letting my hair shield me. As confident as I'd been coming in here, I was suddenly overcome with nerves, and mute as a statue.

"What an intimidating pair," Travis observed. "I'm a little worried, aren't you, Noah?"

"Shaking in my boots," Noah agreed, smirking at us.

"Let's decide our terms," Evan said in what I could tell was mock confidence. "If we win -"

"You won't win," Travis cut him off harshly.

I winced down at my feet, but Evan recovered. "If we win, you'll leave Analeigh alone for the rest of the school year."

"What if I win?" Travis asked.

"Well... what do you want?"

There was a pause. I felt Evan nudge me, and when I looked up at him, he tilted his head toward Travis. My eyes traveled to him - he was shooting daggers at me.

As if he'd been waiting for my attention, he answered: "You do whatever I want."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Evan beat me to it. "Okay."

I shoved him. "No!"

"Let the game begin," Sebastian said cheerily, pulling out the chair opposite Travis for me. I exhaled and slid in, feeling like I'd already lost.

"What are we playing today, ladies?" Noah asked, taking the deck in his hands.

"We're gonna compare cards," Evan said matter-of-factly. "We each pick one, and whoever has the highest card wins."

Travis leaned forward. "What is this, kindergarten?"

Evan shook his head rapidly. I stared down at my hands, locked together in front of me.

Travis sighed and nodded to Noah, who began to shuffle the cards with the kind of skill I'd only seen in the movies. "A deal's a deal." I gaped as the cards flew and fanned between his hands before he spread them, face down, across the table in a perfect arch.

Travis held up a finger at me. "One round. After you."

I swallowed. I reached out and hovered my hand over the center of the pile, fingers poised to choose. I stopped, holding them steady, but I scanned over the identical black cards nervously. I felt all five pairs of eyes on me.

I looked up at Evan, who nodded at me reassuringly. "You've got this."

I offered him a weak smile and looked back down. Might as well get this over with. I moved my hand a few inches to the left and lowered my finger onto a card, sliding it out. I sucked in a breath and flipped it.

Ace of hearts.

My eyes widened, and Evan clapped me on the back excitedly. "Hey! Analeigh, you did it! You got the ace of hearts!"

I beamed at him in astonishment, and turned to Travis, grinning. "Your turn."

"Unless you get the ace of spades, we've won," Evan added.

Travis's black eyes were steady on mine, and the corner of his mouth lifted. My heart sped up, grin fading.

Why is he smiling? He can't possibly think he can beat the second-highest card in the deck.

Noah, who had stood up, leaned down by Travis's side and joined him in leering across at me. He reached out and, without hesitation, picked a card on the far right side of the spread. I followed it, suddenly sick to my stomach, as he pulled it up to himself, then flicked it across the table. It landed, face up, inches from me.

Ace of spades.

My jaw dropped, and I glanced anxiously Evan. He was staring at the card, white like a ghost. He met my eyes in bewilderment.

"H- how... How is that possible?" He gaped at Noah.

In response, Travis silently picked up the five cards on the end of the pile.

"Five of clubs," Noah said, refusing to break eye contact with me. Travis held up the first card in his pile: five of clubs.

"Eight of diamonds," he continued. Travis flashed the eight of diamonds.

"Four of hearts, six of spades, king of clubs." Travis fanned out the last three cards deliberately slow, smiled, then flung them to the table. Noah chuckled, and Travis raised an amused eyebrow at me.

No, this was impossible. This couldn't be happening.

"Did you really think you could beat the reigning college world champions of poker?" Sebastian stepped forward, clapping Evan on the shoulder. "Noah has lightning fast eyes. He's second to none."

They'd said we could play any game.

Then, it hit me like a train. I looked at Noah, then Sebastian.

No... any card game.

"You... you guys tricked me!" I stood up, chair screeching against the floor.

They both grinned at me. "I know, I know," said Noah, shrugging. "No honor."

"This isn't fair!" I cried.

"The terms were to compare cards. Noah's was the highest," Sebastian cut in. "Sorry to disappoint."

Before I could reply, Evan declared loudly, "Fine, you won. What do you want from us?"

I watched Sebastian and Noah give each other a look. Noah moved towards Evan as Sebastian gripped his shoulder, and Evan's eyes widened at it in concern.

"This is between Travis and Analeigh," Sebastian said, yanking him from my side. He and Noah began to drag him toward the door.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Evan thrashed, but didn't stand a chance. The two were hauling my friend like a sack of potatoes as they paraded out the door. "Analeigh!" I heard him shout, before it slammed shut abruptly. It was dead silent in the room.

Oh no.

Travis was standing from his chair as I turned to face him. Our eyes met from across the table. Silently, he walked toward me, taking deliberately lengthy steps. I craned my neck to keep eye contact, as his hulking frame closed in on me.

He wasn't stopping.

Panicked, I started to back up. For every step he took, I took two, just trying to keep myself from losing balance and tripping over my feet. I couldn't keep more than a foot between us as I stumbled backward, until I finally hit the wall. I shrunk against it, trapped.

He reached out and placed his hand on the wall beside my face, leaning down even further. I couldn't be any flatter against the wall if I was made of liquid. My chest rose and fell rapidly, my heart racing in my chest. His breathing, on the other hand, was deep and even.

"What... what are you doing?" I asked breathlessly. He was so close, I could see small flecks of green in his black, piercing eyes.

"Treat me to dinner."