Then again, my dad always did warn me to never say never.

“Dude, if you spray your cologne one more time we’re going to need a fumigator in here.” I laugh, waving my hand to break up the cloud of Axe body spray.

“Ladies love this shit, man,” Kade says, pulling out the front of his boxers and giving a short spritz.

“Yeah yeah, just hurry up, will ya? You’re worse than the sorority girls on this ship when it comes to getting ready in less than five hours.” Kade checks himself one last time in the mirror and grabs his room key and phone, tucking them in his pocket. “Why are you even bringing your phone? We don’t have service.”

“Pictures, bro! Once the girls get wasted in the club, who knows what could happen. It’s Spring Break. Clothing is optional at a certain point.”

I shake my head and laugh as we close the door to our room behind us, heading down the narrow hallway to the main elevators. We all had dinner earlier and somehow Skyler and I ended up at the same table. Unfortunately, so did Erin and Adam. In fact, Adam wound up in the seat right next to Skyler. Even though she didn’t pay him much attention, he definitely had his eyes glued to her, which made me think he didn’t get her hint earlier this week that she wasn’t interested.

After dinner, everyone headed back to the rooms to get ready to go out for the night. Without our phones, I have no way to find out what Skyler’s plans are for the night, but Kade swears everyone will be at The Cove, one of the clubs onboard.

“So what’s going on with you and Skyler, man?”

I find the floor number for the club and click the coordinating button, shrugging as the doors close. “Nothing. We’re friends. She’s a cool girl.”

Kade rolls his eyes. “Seriously? She’s a cool girl? Come on, bro, this is me you’re talking to. I can see the way you two are looking at each other and if you don’t watch it, other people will start to catch on, too. It’s not over between you two, is it?”

Fuck. Kade is one of my best friends here, but he’s not exactly the brightest brother in our fraternity. If he’s catching on to me and Skyler, who knows who else has noticed.

“I don’t know. It’s complicated. We’re just laying low right now and figuring shit out. Don’t say anything to anyone, okay? Seriously.”

Kade throws his hands up, a shit-eating grin on his face. “My lips are sealed.” He’s quiet for a moment, but right as the doors open he speaks up again. “I’m just saying, I knew it wasn’t over. You two are like a fucking Rom Com, man. The drama is intense.”

I go to punch his arm but he dodges the hit, laughing and hopping around me as we make our way toward the club. We have to pass through the casino and I scan the tables, checking to see if I recognize any of the players sitting at the poker tables tonight. I’m sure if there are tournaments starting tomorrow, the pros are practicing tonight and probably making easy money off the amateur college students looking to “get lucky”. As my eyes scan the tables, I spot the same glittery dress Skyler wore to dinner. Surprisingly, though, she’s not at the poker table or even at a Blackjack one, but at Roulette, instead.

“Hey, I’ll catch up with you in a minute. I’m going to go try my hand at Blackjack,” I tell Kade.

His eyes follow mine and he sees Skyler, too. He laughs, cocking a brow. “Yeah, good luck with that game. See you later.”

Kade continues toward the club and I make my way to the table, watching Skyler as she sips her drink and leans forward, placing a bet on the table. She looks incredible tonight. Her long brown hair is curled and pulled into some sort of up-do with just a few loose curls hanging down. Her dress is a pinkish-orange and short in the front but long in the back, showing just enough of her killer legs. It’s mind blowing to me that this girl can look absolutely stunning in a fancy dress and yet still knock me on my ass in just sweatpants and a big t-shirt.

I walk up and stand behind her, assessing the bets on the table. “Why black number four?”

She smiles, keeping her eyes trained on the table but stepping back a little so that our bodies touch just slightly. “It’s a long story.”

“I’m in no rush. I’m actually on vacation, believe it or not.”

Skyler rolls her eyes, taking another sip of her drink as the other players place their bets. “My dad has this formula he uses to find out people’s lucky numbers. He used to do it all the time, sort of like his party trick, I guess.” She smiles, shaking her head. “Anyway, obviously he figured mine out the day I was born and it’s been drilled into my head ever since then that my lucky number is four. When I played little league sports, four was always my number. If anyone asks me to choose a number between one and ten, that’s my go-to – always. I have a tattoo with it, I purposefully buy scratch-offs that are the fourth ones on the roll, I mean literally anything involving numbers leads me straight to number four. And honestly, it really is lucky for me. I’ve won a lot of money by betting horses racing with number four and on the scratch-offs, too.” She pauses, turning to face me. “Except, something weird happens in poker. For whatever reason, anytime I’m dealt a black number four in poker, whether it’s spade or club, I lose the hand. No shit. Even if I have a pair of Aces in the hole, if a four comes up – I know I’m going to lose.” Skyler laughs a little. “Kind of ironic, isn’t it? My lucky number screws me in the game I need it most.”

She turns back toward the table, gesturing to her bet. “So, because I’m superstitious and a little crazy, I play black number four on Roulette. Every time. I guess I’m convinced that if a black four can hit for me here, it’ll reverse my luck with the cards.”

“Has it ever hit for you before?”

She scrunches her nose, thinking. “No, it hasn’t. So I guess my lucky number is kind of cursed in this game, too.”

I pull out my wallet and find a crisp one-hundred dollar bill. Flicking it onto the table, I squeeze in beside Skyler to grab the black one-hundred chip from the dealer as she exchanges it. “Maybe you’re just not betting enough. Maybe your lucky number feels cheated.”

Skyler’s eyes grow wide as I slap the chip down on number four, right on top of her bet. She turns to me, her head shaking furiously. “Kip! Don’t do that, that’s so much money. It won’t hit, it never does, I don’t want to be the reason you lose that!”

“No more bets,” the dealer says, all eyes turning to focus on the white ball as it spins around on the wheel.

“Too late now,” I say, grinning.

Skyler covers her face with her hands, shaking her head still. “Oh my God, I can’t breathe.”

I laugh, but keep my eyes trained on the wheel, my stomach in knots. I have plenty of money for the rest of the cruise if I lose the one-hundred, but I want to win this bet for Skyler.

“You have a tattoo?” I ask, trying to distract her. “I don’t know how I missed that.”

She laughs through her hands. “If you’re still talking to me after this, maybe I’ll show it to you later.”

“Looking forward to it,” I say quietly, leaning lower to say the words close to her ear. She nudges me playfully with her elbow but doesn’t take her hands from her face as the ball clicks against one of the metal number dividers and starts bouncing, making its way one more time around.

“I seriously can’t breathe,” Skyler says one more time. I close my eyes, too, waiting for the dealer to announce the winning number. My hand finds Skyler’s hip and I give it a gentle squeeze, trying to calm her. It’s just a silly bet, but for some reason, I really want this.

“Black four.”

My eyelids spring open and Skyler’s hands shoot from her face straight up into the air as she turns to face me, mouth open and eyes wide. We scream together and she throws her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into a tight hug before jumping up and down as the dealer places the glass marker on black number four, right on top of our bets.