We ate as if weighing each other up, and then he said, "I hope you didn't mind that I ordered for you."

I lifted a spring roll. "No, this is great. I get to try a bit of everything." I laughed, "I hope you're a big eater because there's heaps."

He leaned back and took a mouthful of beer. "I'll take it home to my dog."

"You have a dog?"

"Yeah, got her from the RSPCA."

I swallowed my mouthful of food. "What breed is she?"

He shrugged, bewildered. "I don't know. She's medium size, tufty fur, brown eyes. Cute."

"Is she a good watchdog?"

"Yeah, not bad. Barks if she hears a noise, but if someone broke in, she'd lick them to death."

Our conversation progressed from dogs to cats, movies, books and music.

"You said you liked Nickelback. I love the sound of Chad Kroeger's voice," I gushed and then said, "Do you like Rob Thomas? He's my favourite."

"We must have the same taste in music. What song of his is your favourite?"

"All that I am, what about you?"

Adam shrugged. "I like all his stuff, including Matchbox Twenty."

"Yeah, me too!" I wriggled in my chair and then got embarrassed over my excitement of finding out we liked the same music. I told him I wrote. He told me he liked old cars, which explained his vehicle. I listened to him talk about an old Morris Commercial truck he was working on. I didn't know what one looked like, but he was passionate about it because his eyes glimmered when he talked. I didn't want him to stop talking because the sheer joy on his face had my heart skipping beats.

Kye came over, cleared our plates and asked if we wanted to join a game called "Cee-lo".

I hadn't heard of it before. Adam explained the rules.

I shook my head to indicate I didn't understand. He laughed, took me by the hand and led me into the back room where numerous people sat at a large round table rolling dice. Some smoked long, thin pipes. The smoke wafted above the table. The light cast from a large round lantern hanging from the ceiling caught the smoke in its loom. The haze thinned and faded until the next puff filled the vacant space. The Chinese men had piles of coloured counters in front of them. Adam told me it's what they gambled with instead of money. He chose a vacant seat. I stayed behind him.

The game was played with three dice and based on the combinations rolled. 4-5-6 was the highest possible roll. If a player rolled this, they won the pot of numerous counters each had put in the centre of the table.

Rolling three of the same number was known as rolling "trips". Higher trips beat lower trips, so 4-4-4 is better than 3-3-3. Rolling a pair and another number was called a "point". A higher point beats a lower point, so 1-1-3 is better than 6-6-2.

1-2-3 was the lowest possible roll. Any other roll was a meaningless combination and had to be re-rolled until one of the combinations occurred. In most cases, there was a single winner with the best roll.

It sounds boring, but the atmosphere created as the game went on was electrifying. Watching the Chinese play and listening to them laugh and call out strange words when they won, or sigh and tutted when they lost made me join in. Kye brought me my third glass of wine. When Adam rolled the dice, I cheered or sighed with the group. In one round, each person's dice roll beat the previous person's score.

Adam drew me onto his lap. He put his arm around my waist and whispered, "I hope you're not going to wet yourself."

I laughed and grinned at him. The wine was doing its job. I'm a two-pot screamer.

"If I do, you'll have some explaining to do because the front of your jeans will be soaking wet."

He laughed and surprised me by kissing me. Then he threw the dice. They stopped rolling and landed a winning combination of 4-5 and 6. I beamed at him and jiggled on his lap.

Adam raked in his winnings. He smiled and whispered, "It's not a good idea for you to wriggle around on my lap like that."

I gasped, stopped moving and made to stand but his arm tightened as he said, "I didn't say I didn't like it, just said it wasn't a good idea." He grinned, kissed me again and added, "You're giving me good luck." He put more counters in the centre and waited for everyone else to do the same, and then the person beside Adam rolled the dice.

Adam's fingers drew circles on my stomach. This subtle movement caused a multitude of sensations to ripple through my body. Panicked, I decided I had better get up. Again, his grip tightened. When I looked at him, he was studying me.

"I'll stand," I murmured.

His eyes sparkled, and he removed his arm. I stood behind him when he rolled the dice, three 6's, another winning throw. The people cheered. Adam put his counters back in the bank and said he was out. They groaned and urged him to stay. Adam laughed and shook his head.

He took me by the hand and led me into the dining room, where Kye cleared tables. "Thanks, Kye. We're off."

"Ah...you have a nice time?" Kye grinned and jiggled his head.

I laughed. "Oh, yes." He was such a likeable man. "A very nice time. Thanks, Kye. It was lovely to meet you."

"We see you gain. Groe bling you back." He shoved Adam on the shoulder and grinned at him. "You bling pretty girl back. Take care of her."

Adam laughed, raised his hand in farewell and led me out to his car.  

Has anyone ever played Cee-lo?

Photo copyright - Drink Playground

Word count 973