ind so many people there. Three tables sat nine players each, and all the seats

he players' hands were shown on TV. But Xander had played enough in his last g

and government types mixed in. It reminded him of some

. Most players seemed tight, meaning they didn't risk their money unless they had a go

they tended to have more chips in each hand. All it took was for them

f the aggressive guys lost three con

d pulled out a couple h

eally want to risk it?" a woman in an

y assumed she didn't know what she was doing. He f

in, I shouldn't play. While I won't be happy if I lose it all, I

at?" the w

me what be

sistently makes rookie mistakes that lead to them steadily losing. That was the type of player any se

e you've played a game

id you'd all go easy on me, so

ss the room, "Remember what I to

all the same color,

dpa Davidson

etting that,

ts. For these poker sharks, it was confirmation there was blood in the water. It di

s go-around, he'd used a trick at the World Series of Poker called 'set mining.' It was when a small pocket pai

t way, if he missed the flop-meaning cards came out h

unbeatable hand. The best part was that two diamonds came out with it, increasing

players raised to twenty dollars, but it did surpris

ards, he took on a stubborn visage and threw in twenty dollars. The two players be

ve two pairs (aces and sevens or kings and sevens), a hand that usually won. If

lowing two folded. Xander swallowed hard and called. The next guy called, but the l

er smiled and shove

act after him to call, so he s

ou should fold," the w

a pair," X

nto the center. The guy behind him decided h

ush. Next, the guy who went all in showed he had pocket kings, giving him a full

eaningless three of clubs. He looked

e aggressive

ye. "You little sandbagger. I won't fall for your clueless act

given all her chips to Xan

you to bring all that money with yo

t only seems fai

me over to see how he'd done. When he saw all the chips, he just shook his

ted when his grandfath

the bank first thi

n he remembered his dad. His grandfather was righ

'd ignored it yesterday because it usually was some spam message. People lov

chirp

umbled and chec

s class. Somehow, he'd been included in a gr

esembled a raccoon with his two black eyes. Xander chu

rned when Pam announced

r was clueless, so he ran inside to track down his little sis

no idea what this means," Xander

t into gales of giggles. At le

d with a smirk. "Rizz comes from the word charisma. Guys

what's a R

irls and getting them to ... uhm ... like

ory to him, but he understood how he might seem like that when his peers were thirteen and

-of-town girl who'd begged them to fuck her. It didn't

I respond?"

him like he'd

ou become s

reed to be my girlfriend. I don

look from his sister, but then she b

phone, typed a res

" Xander said, trying to sna

ou can thank me

out having rizz. I'm just lucky P

essages inst

your rebound whe

nder needs to g

e how-to would

ouldn't know what t

ults ricocheted back and fort

am: 'I'll save you a seat on the bu

ho squealed and c

one back with a

ent something go

Rizzmaster, big brother. I can't

he imagined Izzy's friends all stari

shower before his little

th his reason: a new girlfriend. Kelly and Pam had saved Izzy and Xander's seats. Izzy was excited

m asked as Xa

quick kiss as a response. That

girl with a boyfriend for the rest of the trip to schoo

ly to go ahead of him. Pam gave him a wink when she caught him checking out her

am. He entered the school to drop off his backpack and get his first class's textbook and notebook, and mentally c

nnie appeared. The boy held up his hands

mark Friday night. Looking bac

ecognize this v

is opinion of his ex-best friend. While he disapproved of the way Donnie treated women and was stil

n't need them to be arch-enemies, either. Besides, Donnie woul

d a better way to handle that. Just remember that if you do something

e chu

but I'll be re

nk we're done he

want to fit in, and starting a fight with you would

er been stupid

you from making friends, bu

duce me to some

Pam and let her spread the word about not trusting Donnie. She'd not been happ

t to homeroom

I'll see yo

room. I'm su

ted to say, but his th

inside of his mouth not to laugh because he couldn

d Xander for a moment. Then he remem

carefully and not let Donni

dance to go out with them. He had to think hard to remember what dating in middle school entailed. They couldn't

have to be careful not to use his foreknowledge to move their relationship along too quick

edge. For example, he busted out laughing when Karen let loose a loud fart before lunch. Yes, farts were funny,

ent years being a problem solver, which spilled over into his personal life. Most women would tell

o 'save' them. A good example was John, who claimed he'd gotten more than a kiss from Barb at

g Pam in front of her. He figured it stemmed from that 'girls' night out.' De

s bragging soon got back to Barb. At lunch, she marched up, gave

n for the rest of the guys, but KJ couldn't help but try to embellish his

hn will be dating each

doubted it. Teenagers

e. While it had been years since he was last with a woman, he'd read enough romance and watched an ungodly amount of porn to have pushed thing

ut those skills, word would quickly spread. Just as people said, girls matured faster than boys. It wouldn't take long for some o

tely, porn set certain expectations that real-life teens would never measure up to. Guys that age were just starting to matur

else even touch him, he can't believe how much better it is than his own hand. And anything

er. But the girls also watch porn and see the supposedly incredible orgasms the women have, then wonder why

to train his new body to last long enough so that when the tim

at least twice a day, if not more. At a minimum, he did it once first thing in the morning, and then in the evening because he could

is savings account. Since it didn't earn that much interest, he talked his grandfather into opening a checking account wit

ed with the wisdom of havi

buy something online: a sex

ndurance trainer. He first worked to identify criteria that fit his needs. They in

the visual sort. Some models had a more modern design, but th

o doubt it would get frequent and vigorous use. That being the case, he d

to buy something hard to clean up afterward. Xander searched for one that would use simple household products

at others thought. This was still an excellent measuring barometer, unlike in t

d had a suction cup, making it usable for hands-free fun. Xander thought about it, and he couldn't remember the last

ail and open it. She assumed anything that came was for everyone, which explained why no one ordered h

rowth spurt feeling painful the first time around. Frankly, it had just happened, and he'd g

guys were working out. But when he looked closely in the mirror, Xander saw visible changes compared to the previous month's pictures. He'd

first time, and it was only November. He was already five-eight, which meant he'd grown four inches in three months. That explai

eded to buy him new clothes again. He'd given most of his t-s

measured his package the last time through, but Xander thought it seemed as big as his old adult self. Part of that

his body taken to the increased activity? Xander was working out his junk with his new pocket p

ed a trick to get them involved, telling them girls preferred fit guys. The walking hormones desperately wanted girls

no longer needed to kiss him as often. He remembered that, come freshman year

mself if he wanted t

ancy scare. Her parents wouldn't allow her to see the boy any longer. In fact, Xander couldn't remember Pam ever datin

egnancy was purely conjecture. But it would

omething he'd never achieved before. In the past, he'd been a guy in the crowd that no one t

d that she'd become a friend, a friend he didn't want to see hurt. He would let th

uilders. His dad built cookie-cutter homes because he could build two or three at a time right next to

onstruct, but Grandpa got a higher margin on his houses than his dad did on his. His grandpa cha

s usual painter was tied up full-time, working for Xander's dad, so Grandpa Davidson gave Xander and his

the use of AI had slowly taken over that work. He'd been lucky enough to work for

fice now, Xander casually ment

dered using an AI to

clients, collects their needs, and then sends

I could do a better job than his

an and had no idea how to design a kitchen. It was completely functional, and

brace something like that. He's been do

e 'This is how we've always done it' justifi

oftware package and ask it to optimize the living space. Show it to Grandpa and see what

to tell him if he has q

I'll show you what I do so

should

int colors on this ho

ant to say

ecorator AI to render what a room can look like before Grandpa buys

tely agree with