Dear Reader

Thank you for reading the first chapter of the book called, Gamble With My Heart.

Gamble With My Heart was originally written as an Interactive Story Game. I am in the process of adapting it into a novel form.

The original version contains a great deal of dialogue to fit the platform for which it was intended.

Though you can enjoy the story in its interactive format too as currently published.

eg when Damon speaks, the format will be as this: Damon ~ "It was not Ava; it was Amé."

Full adaptation is dependent on the popularity of the Interactive Story.

Let me know what you think, of Gamble With My Heart.

Happy reading, Tatum Whispers

PS. Gamble With My Heart was a winner in the Chapters Interactive Stories' Writing Contest in 2020.

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I open my eyes one by one trying to avoid the bright light that is streaming through the windows. I stretch every perfectly formed muscle in my body. I look on over to the blonde that is spread all over the bed next to me. There is a big smile on my face, and I am feeling great.

If there is something I do well, then it is rolling out of bed the morning after. Now by rolling, I mean getting my ass out of the bed I found myself in the night before. I live by one rule, and that is, I do not take girls home. Yes, sometimes I find myself in some tight spots and rough places but never once will they ever come over to my place.

I am meeting the boys at Crazy Beans this morning, so best I get my ass back home to shower and shave. We meet up at the coffee shop around the corner from the office as a routine every day, mostly for kiss and tell the morning after. This morning it seems I am the only one telling since they both went home empty-handed last night.

An hour later, I walk into the coffee shop where they are already waiting.

"Look what dragged his ass out of Ava's bed," Brody hollers over the crowd.

"It was not Ava; it was Amé."

"Same difference, bro. What is up with the third in a row?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Don't act stupid; you know exactly what I am talking about."

"What the fuck is a third in a row any case?"

"It's the third time you have taken her home," Mason says as he joins the table.

"She has taken me home." I correct him.

"Whatever, it is still the third time, man."

"She is a nice girl."

Brody nearly topples his espresso over as he nothing but laughs at me. "And the whole of Myst thinks that too."

Pulling my worst frowning face at him, I place my order with the waitress.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask him in utter annoyance.

"That she is not the kind of girl you go home with for the third night in a row."

"And what kind is that?"

"The chick likes the fun, the lifestyle, she does not like you. She is playing with you."

"Fuck that. I am done with her; nobody plays me. I am the only one doing the playing here."

I see Mason staring at me with a big smile on that wise-ass face of his. "If you want to do a third, even a fourth, then you need a decent girl."

"I can get a decent girl."

Brody joins Mason in his damn teeth parade. "Can you get a decent girl that would want to take you home with her?"

"How difficult can it be to pick up a decent girl and go home with her?"

"Not as easy as what you think," Mason now says to me.

"There is plenty of them at the club."

"I said a decent girl, not a decent slut." Brody says as he gets this big wide-eyed look on his face.

I don't know where this is going, but I think I should keep my mouth shut while I am still ahead, but that male part of me who loves a challenge is not bound to back off now.

"I say let's place a bet" his wide-eyed look is now turning serious. "You can't get a decent girl that will take you to her place."

And, of course, Mason tries to push it further. "I am going to push it up; you can't get a decent girl to fall in love with you."

"Whoa there," I raise my hands as I pull back into my chair. "Fall in love with me?"

"Yes, the real you," Brody says. "Not the one with the money or any of that shit. And you not paying some chick to pretend she loves you either!"

"You asking me to get someone to fall in love with me for real?"

"Yes," Mason confirms. "I say half a mill that you can't."

Then Brody adds, "I raise it with another half mill that you won't."

I match the stupid smiles on their faces even better. "I can get any decent girl out there to fall in love with me. Many decent girls already do want to be in love with me."

"Are you in?" Brody asks.

"I am in. How long do I have?"

"I give you a week to meet the girl," Mason says.

"And I give you three months for her to say the words," Brody adds.

"Game on! Now, where do I meet this girl?"

"You are supposed to figure that one out yourself."

"Come on, a little help here would be great. I don't know everything, well I almost do."

"Don't tell me that you have never had a decent girl before?" Brody laughs, finding his own wise-ass comment funny.

And who would Mason not be if he cannot add his own five cents? "His decent less ass has never even been in love before."

"Oh, you got to be kidding me," Brody's laughter echoes the room. "I going to raise the stakes. Another half a mill says you fall in love with her."

"You have two chances of that happening, slim to fuck all. No women will put me under her spell." I think I should officially shut my mouth now; if I continue talking, who knows, I might be getting engaged next. I don't think I realize what my dumb ass has let himself in.

But my dumb ass could so do with a whiskey right now, but I got a meeting in an hour. I call the waitress on over to bring me a strong cup of espresso.

"Yes, sir, what can I get you?"

"Please don't call me, sir; I am probably the same age as you. Not that I am saying you old, I just..."

"No problem, I get what you mean. What can I get you?"

"Double espresso, please."

"Sure in a second."

She walks off to the counter to get the order. I can see these two staring at her ass. Yes, it is tight and just the perfect handful. My eyes can't help but wander down her sculpted legs. Watching her move in those reds stilettos makes my heart race and my blood boil in places it shouldn't. The thought about her and that empty table definitely crosses my mind.

Brody sees me watching her so intently. "There you go, what about that waitress?"

"Come on; I am not seeing a waitress."

"What is wrong with it" Mason looks at me, disgusted as he asks. "She looks like a decent girl?"

"It just feels weird; I have never seen myself going out with a waitress before."

"Don't judge so easily; she probably thinks you are a jerk."

"Okay, it's her then. That is the girl that I will get to fall in love with me."

But it is not her that brings me my coffee; it is another girl. "Here you go, sir."

"Thank you. Sorry for asking, but what happened to the other waitress?"

"Oh, that is not a waitress; that is the owner; she just helped out cause I was on the phone."

"The owner? Has she left?"

"No, she is just back in the office."

"Is she here every day?"

"Yes, she is here most of the days."

"That's great, thanks."

I turn back to the table. This is going to be easy; I will just come to drink more coffee during the day. My head might just be buzzing more, but if it gets the girl, then it is worth a shot of extra espresso a day.

I do not see her again in the shop after that. We finish our coffee and head our different ways. Usually, I'd be going with Mason, but I have a meeting on the other side of town. I take the short fifteen-minute walk; my mind keeps returning to the coffee shop owner.

"Perfect, I don't even know her name."