Game Night
"Are you sure about this?" I asked Phil, not looking away from my reflection in the mirror.
"Of course, love," he answered, stepping up behind me and staring over my shoulder to meet my eyes through my reflection. "You look great."
"Not that," I said, running my hands down the red dress that he'd helped me pick out. He was right that I looked great - the dress was tight where it needed to be to show off my curves without being too constrictive, sleeveless and thin-strapped to show off my arms and neck, and just short enough to draw attention to my legs without showing too much.
"Of course, Jess. Whatever happens, happens." He pressed a kiss into the top of my head. "Besides, it can't be any crazier than that New Year's Eve we spent in New York."
Images and sensory memory flicked through my head. There had been wine and dancing, low light and celebration. We'd met up with another couple spending the weekend in the Big Apple, had gone back to their hotel room, and...
"I remember," I whispered, my voice going low and sultry. "We went to their hotel and danced. We switched partners, me with him and you with her. And then all together, after that."
That had been a magical night. I swear the four of us must have gone through a whole box of condoms. Our rumination was cut off by the sound of the doorbell downstairs. That was just as well, since I could see a flush already creeping up my cheeks and my nipples peaking against my dress - it wasn't the kind that you would wear a bra under.
"I'll go down and get the door," Phil said, taking a half step back. "Do you need to finish up your makeup?"
I nodded in answer, and then gasped indignantly as his hand slapped down on my ass. "See you soon, Jess. Don't keep us waiting too long."
I watched him through the mirror as he left the room, and listened to him pound down the stairs. He was excited, that much was obvious, and I was too.
I sat down in front of the vanity, popping open my makeup cases with quick efficiency. I didn't need too much tonight. I was just starting on the foundation when I heard Phil open the door and greet his friend, and was flicking my eyelashes out with a mascara wand when I heard the two guys laughing in their loud, deep voices. I was dabbing on some subtle eyeshadow when the doorbell sounded again, and John invited a second friend inside.
By the time I got to the lipstick, the three men had already left the main floor, to start setting up the game downstairs.
I gave myself a last look over, and a nod of approval. Light concealer, subtle eyeshadow, long dark lashes, a deep red on my lips. I looked nice, without looking like I was trying too hard. This was a poker game after all, not a gala.
I grabbed a bottle of red and a glass on my way downstairs, and stopped short at the basement. The three guys were around the table, starting to count out coins and bills, and replacing spent beer bottles with fresh ones from the mini fridge. Michael was in the middle of telling a boisterous story, which I caught the tail end of: "So I told her, I says, 'Look, I don't wanna wear the damn condom, and you don't want me to wear it either. So stop pretending, and climb on up.'"
"And she did?" The other guy. Brandon, asked.
"Sure as I sit here today," Michael answered. "She rode me, bareback and all, and loved every second of it. Blew my load in her, maybe even knocked her up. I don't know or even care. All I know is no guy wants to wear a condom if he can get away with it, and most girls don't even want it anyway. I swear, half of them have a fetish for taking that bareback risk. Hey, Phil, your wife isn't still making you wrap it every night, is she?"
"No James tonight?" I asked before my husband had to answer the uncomfortable question, and the three of them looked up.
"His wife's sick," Brandon told me with a shrug, "so he's staying home with her. Three's enough for a game anyhow."
"But there's room for a fourth?"
"You wanna play, Jessica?" Brandon asked, looking surprised. "Usually on game nights you just stop downstairs long enough to freshen a couple drinks and watch a few rounds."
"Tonight you'll just have to freshen your own damn drinks," I said, and the three guys burst out laughing.
"Shit, Jess," Mike said with a guffaw. "You haven't played a hand with us in years, but there's always room for you. Even if you run out of chairs here, you can always sit on Philly's lap."
Phillip snorted and rolled his eyes, which was answer enough. I poured a glass of wine for myself before sitting down, and found that Phil had already split a bill into coins and put them in front of me. I did a quick count of the pile before looking up. "A hundred bucks? I remember when you boys used to play for dimes."
"Well, I'm regional coordinator at work now," Brandon said with a little smirk, "and Phil's been raking in the contracts, and Mike is Mike. We've got enough to wager, so we've been upping the ante a bit every now and then. Is it too rich for your blood?"
"It hardly seems fair," Mike grunted. "If the two of them each put in a hundred, that means I'm gonna be taking two hundred from their household when I walk out tonight."
"No need to get cocky," Brandon shot back. "After all these years, I've finally got your tell pinned down."
"You forget that I've seen you boys play a lot over the years," I countered. "I've got you all figured out. Deal us in, Mike."
He did, his grin turning into a stony neutrality as he started sliding cards across the table.
Second Glass
We were nine or ten rounds in, and I was two glasses of wine in, and things weren't looking great for me so far. My pile of coins and bills were under half, and both Brandon and Mike were looking pleased as peaches.
My mind wasn't fully on the game, though. When I had gotten up twice, first to use the washroom then to refill my glass, I had brushed against Mike a little too closely for him to mistake it for coincidence. He was watching me uncertainly now, like he was trying to figure out what kind of game I was running. Brandon's eyes were mostly on my cleavage, which he had gotten a good eyeful of once when I bent right over the table to collect my winnings from a round, and once when I leaned past him to grab the empty bottles from the table.
They were distracted, and I figured I had them beat. "I raise," I told them, sliding another bill forward before staring at each of the boys in turn.