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Recap: Oliver discovers that Andy has a college-age boyfriend who is clearly out for one thing. He wants to tell Tommy, but Andy persuades him to leave it in the hands of a poker game – if she wins, he'll have to keep quiet. Sam joins the game and meets Andy for the first time.
True to her word, Andy manages to persuade her father to let her sit in on the poker game.
"Small crowd tonight," Oliver comments, seeing that it's only Tommy, Sam, himself, and Andy. There are usually six regulars, and tonight's the first night both Sam and Andy are sitting at the table with them.
"A lot of last minute cancellations," Tommy says, nodding in agreement before taking another swig of his whiskey.
"So uh, how well does your daughter play?" Oliver asks, trying to sound casual.
Tommy glances at Andy, a smile breaking out on his face. "She can hold her own," Tommy replies, though the look on his face suggests she can do more than just that.
"If you'd hurry up and deal then you'd find out," Andy says, smiling over at the man she calls uncle, despite having no blood ties and having only known him for a year.
"Like I said, watch that one," Oliver warns Sam.
Tommy clears his throat. "That one is my daughter," he says, though he's biting back a laugh.
"And that one is sitting right here and can hear every word you're saying," Andy says, smirking. "So whenever you're down talking, maybe we can actually play?"
She starts off slow, not really playing much unless she feels confident. Usually when her dad plays poker she's out in the other room, but she'd periodically stop in, so she feels like she has a good enough idea of how Oliver and her own father play. Having never met Sam before, she can't quite get a read on how he plays yet. On the front porch she'd jokingly said he didn't look like a risk-taker, but as she'd said it, she saw the fire in his eyes. The thought makes her smile. She'd heard about him. He's apparently a really good cop, one of the best to walk through her father's division in a long time, but he's also said to be intimidating at times, despite his alleged inability to keep women away. She can't understand why.
She takes a moment to really observe him. His brown eyes seem to change depending on his mood, but they have such depth that it's hard not to look at them. Her gaze shifts slightly, and Andy notes the way his t-shirt clings to him – it's clear he works out. Then there's the dark hair and slightly tanned skin – he looks a little rugged, but in an attractive way.
"Earth to Andy," Oliver says, chuckling.
Realizing she's been staring at Sam and it's now her turn, she says, "Thanks Oliver, but I heard you the first time."
"You sure about that?" Oliver teases, grinning.
Andy forces herself to keep her composure – the last thing she wants is to blush. "Yeah, I'm sure. Just trying to get a read on the new guy."
Sam looks up at her, watching as she bites her lip before his gaze moves up and he meets her eyes.
A smile breaks out on her face. Oliver and her father have already folded. "You're bluffing," she states.
Sam continues to stare evenly at her, determined not to give anything away. The way she'd said it though was with such confidence that he wonders if he should back out. It frustrates him that in such a short amount a time a complete stranger seems to be able to read him so well, but then again, perhaps she's just guessing and trying to get him to slip up. "Am I?" he inquires, smirking.
She answers with her actions. She raises again.
Her father gets up and leaves to go to the washroom. Once out of sight, Andy grabs his glass and takes a sip.
"Andy," Oliver hisses.
"What?" she says.
"Really, you're going to pull that card?" Oliver asks. "You're not even legal yet. You can't drink that."
"That is whiskey, and try telling my dad that, he's the one that leaves it all over the house."
Sam frowns. Oliver has a point: she isn't legal yet, although most people her age are already getting plastered every weekend. What strikes him more though is the fact that she actually seems to like whiskey. He's dated a lot of girls and none of them have, including his present… girlfriend? Fling? He forces his eyes away. Already he can tell that this girl is toxic.
"It doesn't mean you should drink it," Oliver chides. "And in a house with three cops!"
"Likely soon to be two," Andy says, causing both Oliver and Sam to raise their eyebrows. She shrugs. "What? It's not like it's a secret that he's an alcoholic. That's gotta have some kind of impact on his job sooner or later."
"Your father's a good cop," Oliver says sharply.
"Was," Andy corrects, taking another sip of whiskey.
"Andy," Oliver hisses again. "You—"
Andy picks up a stack of her chips and puts them in Oliver's pile. "For your silence," she says, interrupting him, a smile on her face.
"That's not how this works."
Andy says, "That's exactly how this works. You disrupt his perfect image of me and he'll only hit the bottle harder."
Sam looks back up at her, frowning.
When Andy turns to face Sam, she shrugs. "He needs to be bribed, but I don't think you do."
Sam raises his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah," Andy replies, thankful for the escape. "Sam Swarek, the bad-boy. You're not gonna rat me out. Maybe if I drank the whole bottle, but not for that."
"You sure about that?" Sam asks.
Andy smiles. "Notorious rule breaker?" she says, quirking an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm positive."
"Gambling of any sort is a bad habit to get into," Sam says. "It's hard to break."
"It's not gambling if there's no risk."
"No risk?" Sam says, quirking an eyebrow. "How?"
"Simple. You have nothing to gain from ratting me out, and even if you did, you don't want to."
He raises his eyes again to study her, gradually shifting his gaze upward until their eyes meet. They stare at each other for a moment; the intensity of the look growing the longer they hold each other's gaze, but neither one is able to look away.
"So are we still playing poker or what?" Oliver asks, trying to steer the conversation back to the game. When he doesn't receive a response, he looks from Sam to Andy and back again, his eyes widening. "Whoa guys, do I need to get the hose monkeys in here? Or remind both of you that you're seeing other people, and that this is out of the question, not going to happen, forbidden. Wrong. Very wrong."
That snaps them out of it.
Andy looks away, just as her dad starts coming back into the room. She sees Sam steal a quick glance at Oliver who has his lips pressed together. "Not done yet?" Tommy asks, surprised.
Andy shakes her head. "Officer Swarek here seems to be taking his time."
Sam withholds a sigh. This girl is definitely getting to him. He's just thankful that she'd changed into a t-shirt and pair of sweatpants, although if he's honest with himself, even with the loungewear and her hair pulled up in a messy bun, she still looks gorgeous.
The bets increase to the point where Tommy says, "Andy sweetie, are you sure about this? That's an awful lot."
"Uh huh," she says. "Positive," she adds as she looks back up at Sam.
He studies her for a moment before the final card is flipped. Sam has an okay hand, but nothing great. He's banking on Andy having even less though – actually, he thought she'd pull out much earlier but when she didn't, he just kept going. He knew it had gotten a little out of hand, especially given he didn't have a solid read on her yet, but the look in her eyes made him continue.
Oliver looks back and forth. "Reveal," he says.
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