Chapter 2

Chapter TwoFor a brief moment, Gen questioned whether he had actually heard her. Yet, he kept sipping his whiskey slowly and deliberately, the occasional drag from his cigarette punctuating the quiet. The atmosphere around them was thick with smoke and the low hum of the bar’s late-night crowd, their voices blending into a distant murmur.“Look,” Gen pressed on, her voice steady despite the tension. “You don’t need to drive me home. Just walk me out of the bar. It’s not like I need to record our little session or anything.”He raised an eyebrow, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “And how exactly do you expect them to believe you?”Gen folded her arms, leaning slightly on the bar. “They’ll take my word for it.”He snorted, a sound half amusement, half disbelief. “Yeah, right. Like I said, you’re terrible at poker.”“Fine,” she challenged, “then tell me your go-to move for getting girls into bed, and I’ll tell them that.”