Chapter 4 The Playboy Among the Triplets

Anna's POV

"Looks like I'm the last one to show up." Just then, one of Isaac's triplet brothers came down the stairs with him. Judging by his snazzy outfit, I figured it was the second brother, Nick.

Even though Nick and Isaac were identical, Nick had a thing for bold colors like dark green and deep blue. His whole vibe was way more luxurious compared to Isaac's cold, minimalist style. Nick definitely gave off more of a rich kid vibe than Isaac.

Nick's eyes weren't as intense as Isaac's; they were a more captivating lake blue. I remembered how sincere they looked when he tricked me with that cat ear headband.

Seeing that I had already filled two cups with ice, Isaac sneered, "Trying to take the waiter's job?"

He held out a white silk handkerchief with a few hundred-dollar bills. Knowing their habits, I took the money and handed it to the waiter.

The waiter, all smiles, took the cash and helped me fill a few more cups with ice.

"Thanks." I knew Isaac was annoyed, thinking I was embarrassing their crew, so I quickly thanked the waiter and found a seat on the edge.

People were a bit surprised to see Isaac tipping me to give to the waiter.

Susan and Jane had just come back from touching up their makeup. They wanted to sit where the hot guys were, but Nick plopped down next to me, so they picked this spot.

Susan had a thing for handsome guys. According to her, dating one of the Allen triplets would be like getting to know the enemy. Jane and I always joked she was just justifying her taste.

"What's up, not happy?" Nick asked, turning to me.

I had planned to sit on the edge to leave seats for other girls, but as soon as Nick sat down, my spot became the center of attention, and people started adding chairs around us.

Isaac was more popular with the guys because he famously didn't care about the girls.

Nick, on the other hand, was a hit with the girls. Even though everyone knew he was a playboy, they still thought it was worth bragging about if they could hook up with him. Plus, Nick always knew how to make a girl feel special.

"No, I'm just worried there won't be enough seats," I mumbled, looking down.

Him asking me that was just stirring up trouble, like I'd be jealous of other girls fighting over him.

I knew his standards were sky-high; he usually dated models.

Once, when he was drunk, he tossed me his car keys and asked me to take a beautiful woman, who I recognized from a magazine, home. "Take her home for me."

"Sure, Mr. Allen, but I don't have a driver's license. I'll find a driver," I replied nervously.

The model in the car tried to ask me a lot about Nick, and I carefully dodged personal questions, amazed by Nick's ways of charming women.

A group gathered around Isaac, picking a board game to play.

"Are you guys choosing NSL? This game needs mixed-gender teams. Isaac, team up with me," Tina said, looking up at him hopefully.

"No, Tina, I'll deal the cards," Isaac declined politely but firmly.

Tina looked a bit let down, but soon enough, other players invited her.

Danial glanced at me and started to come over.

But Nick pressed down on my forearm and looked at Danial. "Sorry, I think Anna's pretty good at shuffling cards for me."

Danial's face showed a hint of disappointment, and he backed off from the game.

No one seemed too surprised, probably because the Allen triplets targeting me was old news.

NSL was the hot new game among young folks. I usually didn't get invited to these gatherings, so I was a bit out of the loop.

Luckily, Tina explained the rules to everyone. She held up a few cards to demonstrate, "You need to team up with your partner to play cards. The first team to get rid of all their cards wins. Besides regular cards, there are function cards. Just follow the instructions on the cards."

"Got it?" Nick blew lightly in my ear.

My earlobe almost hurt from the psychological effect, maybe because I was too scared. After all, no one but me knew how cruel the Allen triplets could be.

I wanted to find Danial immediately, but I was afraid leaving the game so soon would upset Nick. I had to wait until he got tired of me and switched to another girl.

"Yeah, I get it," I quickly nodded, afraid he would do something terrible.

This game required a lot of teamwork. Once it started, partners couldn't communicate directly and had to use agreed-upon signals or gestures to indicate what cards they had. It was a game that really helped build relationships.

Unfortunately, Nick and I had the worst teamwork in the room; our cooperation could only be described as terrible.

"Drink or do a task?" Another round of loser penalties came.

"Drink." I knew many people saw me as a joke, but I didn't want to embarrass myself by doing those prank tasks in front of so many people.

I was once pulled into a similar task, recorded the whole time, and the video was spread in various school groups.

"Wasabi rum, that's too harsh!" They knew I wouldn't dare let Nick take the penalty with me, so they kept finding different ways to mess with me.

I raised the goblet, drank it all in one go, and tried to keep my face from showing a grimace as I painfully swallowed, knowing someone would definitely record me.

My throat felt like it was burning, incredibly swollen and painful. The strong alcohol mixed with the wasabi flavor spread in my nasal cavity, almost suffocating me.

Isaac frowned at me. I must have looked like a clown with my face red from the spice, just as he wanted.

"Want to win?" A voice filled with laughter and mockery came to my ear.

"No, this is fine." I looked at Nick and shook my head.

As long as I was a boring clown, people would get tired of teasing me after a few times. As long as no one paid attention to me anymore, that was fine.

"No, you need to follow my lead, or my good luck will be wasted by you all night." Nick lazily leaned back in his chair.

Even though he was only a year older than me, when he got serious, he became a different person. I found that he almost had a photographic memory, able to recall what cards everyone played in previous rounds.

He analyzed thoroughly how everyone would play their cards.

He didn't ask me to remember the cards with him; I just needed to remember the high-value cards each person played to analyze how many cards they had left.

In the short break, I was amazed by his tactics again and again.

Everyone discussed strategies with their partners before returning to the table.

When dealing the cards, Isaac pushed three random initial cards to Nick, who was farthest from him. "Nick, if you embarrass us again, you'll be doing the dishes at home this week."

Nick seemed to find it amusing, observing Isaac's expression and laughing. "I accept this challenge."