Red Queen Read Online Free PDF Page B

there. We’ll find what we’re looking for.”
    Alex strode toward the door. I had to struggle to keep up. “Why blackjack? We’ll get creamed without Ted’s help. Why don’t we play the slots?”
    â€œBlackjack’s the best game to meet guys,” Alex said, pulling a small plastic card from her purse. “You get to sit at a table and talk to the other players. It’s the only game where you really get to know them. Plus I got this cheat card—it tells you exactly when to hit and when to stand. It was designed by a computer, it gives you the best possible odds. We won’t lose too much.”
    â€œI don’t want to lose anything. I want to win. We need Ted.”
    Alex put an arm around me. “Sorry, sister, but that kiss you planted on his lips has made him radioactive for the rest of the summer. At least when it comes to you.”
    â€œI was drunk. He’ll forgive me.”
    â€œThe only way he’ll forgive you is if he ends up having sex with Debbie, and I don’t think they’ve made a cheat card that could compute such lousy odds.”
    â€œI don’t know. He ran after her pretty fast.”
    â€œWhatever. The point is, we don’t need Ted. There will be plenty of cute guys at the tables to help us play.”
    I studied Alex. “Are you planning on having a one-night stand?”
    â€œYou say that like I’m some kind of slut.”
    â€œWell, it would be a pretty slutty thing to do.”
    â€œThis is Vegas! People come here for three reasons: to drink, to gamble, and to get laid. Those are the only reasons this place exists.”
    I sighed. “All right. But if I give him a thumbs-down, you can’t bring him back to our room.”
    Alex took my hand and pulled me out the door. “Jessie, you can be sure whoever has the good luck to end up with me is going to have his own luxurious suite.”
    â€œYou’d sleep with a guy just because he has money?”
    â€œMoney and a dick.”
    â€œWhore.”
    â€œThere are no whores in this town. Only givers and takers.”
    Outside was the real Las Vegas. The sun had set and the town glowed with a million electric rainbows. Not to mention the fantastic fountains in front of the Bellagio. We stared at them, mesmerized, as we crossed the long entrance. The entire Strip looked surreal. Paris was across the street, New York was to our right. There was a pyramid and a castle down the road. I loved how so many of the hotels had adopted exotic themes. The sidewalks were jammed, with most of the people laughing and carrying on. The smell of booze was all-pervasive.
    The night air was hotter than at home, in the high nineties.I knew it would take all night for the temperature to drop another ten degrees. Then the sun would rise and another scorcher would begin. As we walked, our thirst quickly returned. We had barely reached the Tropicana when Alex pulled me inside.
    â€œThis is an old hotel but it has class,” she said. “Plus they have low minimums. We should be able to find a five-buck table.”
    â€œHow about a dollar table?”
    â€œSure. Hop on down to Mississippi and catch a steamboat on the river.”
    It being a Friday night, the place was jammed. We didn’t have our choice of blackjack tables. Indeed, it took a long wait before we found a table that could seat us both. Fortunately, they barely looked at our IDs.
    We ordered drinks before trading our cash for chips: four large Cuba libres—the name translates as “free Cuba,” in English—Coke, rum, and lime. The table drinks were supposed to be watered down but these babies packed a punch. I had barely finished my first when I began having trouble counting to twenty-one.
    The minimum was five bucks, the maximum ten thousand. Alex and I each bought a hundred bucks’ worth of five-dollar chips and prayed we didn’t lose it all in the first twenty minutes,