Darius straightened his bow tie as he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. He had been working at the esteemed cybersecurity business, Soteria Group LLC, for more than four months now, but he still felt excited about working at his dream job. The years his parents struggled to build a good future and the years of sacrifices they made for him have finally begun to pay off.
In just the four months that Darius has worked, he made the same amount of money as his father did in the whole year. Darius nearly fainted when he saw his first three thousand dollar paycheck, easily paying for the month's expenses.
Darius had been saving up money to pay off the car he managed to get when he was midway through college.
"Take care of yourself first," his parents would always tell him. "Don't worry about us. We'll be okay."
He frowned as those words crept through his head.
Darius managed to find a townhouse less than a fifteen minute drive from his work, and within two months, he was able to upgrade his second hand furniture to his new contemporary furniture. He sighed.
I will make this work.
Darius, like usual, made sure to arrive fifteen minutes early to his shift, allowing him enough time to organize himself and his items.
He was one of the youngest tech workers in the company, being hired right out of graduate school. He worked hard to impress both his other coworkers and manager. Darius stretched in his chair before he stood, clocking out from his lunch break and heading to the break room.
There were a few others, talking and eating together. One man in a group with two others waved at Darius and gestured to the empty seat across the table from himself. Darius hurried over, setting his lunch and water down in front of him.
Shawn, Drew, and Vinny were all around the same age, around five years older than Darius.
Drew was the tallest of the three, and pretty much the majority of the company, standing around six feet and five inches. Darius couldn't help but stare at his well sculpted body when Drew wore his tight trousers and short sleeved shirts. Drew always kept his dark almond brown hair short and combed back behind his ears. His medium olive skin paired well with his moss green button up shirt.
Vinny, the other Italian at the table, was only a little shorter than Darius, being around five, eight. Like Drew, he had medium olive skin and dark brown eyes, but he had near black hair. The sides of his head were shaved down to his scalp with the rest of his hair being long enough to be pulled back into a ponytail.
Shawn was taller than both Vinny and Darius, standing around six feet. His dark brown hair was slightly longer than Drew's, but still wasn't longer than a little beyond his ears. His arms and legs were built to be admired. The only problem with him was that his fashion sense wasn't one of his strongest skills.
Darius frowned as he stared at Shawn's stark white shirt.
"How's it going?" Darius asked after a moment.
"We wanted to ask you something," Vinny said quickly.
"I guess we're starting this conversation now," Drew murmured.
Vinny's face grew a faint red as he lowered his gaze. "S-sorry."
Shawn cleared his throat, shifting slightly in his seat. "You know Patrick?" Darius nodded. "Well, a few years ago he started this poker night that happens about once a month. We were wondering if you'd like to join us?"
Darius smiled faintly. "When is it?"
"It's this Saturday," Drew said.
"Would it be just us five?" Darius asked.
"No," Shawn said with a shake of his head. "Michael, Elijah, and Ricardo will be there as well. So with you, there's eight of us."
Darius knew the other four men.
Patrick was the oldest out of all of them, being forty. He was just as tall as Shawn, only thinner and less built. He had medium brown hair down to his shoulders. Ricardo was also older, nearly being as old as Patrick and was a little shorter than him. He had light chestnut brown skin and hair that was shaved down nearly to the scalp. Elijah was around Vinny's age and height. He was paler than Shawn with bright red hair and a face full of freckles. Michael was taller than all, except Drew, being around six foot, three. His blonde hair was cut and styled in a way that framed his face nicely.
"Are they all coming?" Darius asked.
"If you're coming, everyone's gonna be there," Vinny said with a laugh.
"Am I really that popular?" Darius asked, raising his brows.
"Well--," Drew started with a shrug. "We talked and debated on a few other men, but we all agreed on you."
"We had to make sure that he was someone like us," Shawn explained.
"A gambler?" Darius asked. Both Drew and Vinny chuckled softly.
"No," Shawn said. "And he had to open to the idea of a little extra fun."
"I don't mind extra fun," Darius said, smiling wide.
Vinny blinked at him. "You agreed pretty quickly."
"Yeah," Darius said. "I've never done it before so, honestly, I'm gonna be looking forward to it."
"Wow," Drew murmured. "That was easy."
"I'll text you the details," Shawn said, pulling out his phone.
"Seeing how this would be your first time," Vinny said, turning towards Darius. "Are you sure you want your first time-- with us?"
Darius went quiet for a moment. "Yeah. I'm sure. It's better with friends, right?" He bit into his sandwich as Vinny and Drew glanced at each other. Darius's phone vibrated.
"There," Shawn said. "Just sent you the address and the time. Dress comfortably." He smiled across the table. "We're gonna be looking forward to you being there with us."
Darius anxiously waited until Saturday rolled around. He straightened his bow tie before pulling off the lint off of his baby blue cardigan sweater. His hands trembled.
Time to get high as a kite.
Darius frowned as he saw that he was the last to arrive at Patrick's home. He rang the doorbell. It only took a moment before Patrick opened the door.
"Hey, Darius," Patrick said sweetly. "Come in." He gestured inside, closing behind the two of them. "Honestly, I've been trying to get you here for a few months now."
Darius looked at him. "Really?"
"Yeah. Do you smoke?" Darius shook his head. "Okay. We're downstairs in the basement." He started to lead him to the basement stairs, but Patrick stopped at the back door, opening it and stepping out. "Drew, Mike, Shawn! Darius is here."
The three of them rushed to finish their cigarettes as Patrick and Darius went downstairs. Vinny and Elijah were sitting on the couch, playing a round of Mortal Kombat on Patrick's PlayStation 4. Ricardo was sitting near them, sipping slowly on his glass of whiskey.
"Darius is here," Patrick said. "After that round, we're gonna start."
"Okay," Elijah said. "I'm about done getting my ass kicked anyways." He groaned again as his character fell to the ground. His character then promptly died. "Well, so much for that."
"That's eighty-eight for me," VInny said. "You wanna try best eighty-nine out of one, seventy-seven next time?"
"Maybe you should play me at some point," Ricardo said.
"Nah," Vinny said, shaking his head. "I prefer winning."
The three of them chuckled as they stood. Elijah shut off the game system, taking out the game disc, putting it back into its case, and setting it back onto the shelf. The other three smokers came clambering down the stairs. Darius grabbed one of the chairs.
"Actually," Patrick said, causing Darius to pause, "we kinda assigned the seats."
"Assigned seats?" Darius asked.
"It's meant for the inexperienced guys to be near the more experienced guys, so they can show them the ropes and stuff," Michael said. He replaced Darius's hand on the chair. "This is actually my seat."
"You'd be sitting in between me and Drew," Patrick said, sitting down and gesturing to the seat to his right.
"I'm making whiskey on the rocks," Drew said. "Anyone else want one?" Shawn raised his hand as the others shook their heads. Darius sat down beside Patrick. Elijah sat on the opposite side of Patrick. Shawn sat across from Darius with Michael to his right and Ricardo to his left. Vinny sat in between Ricardo and Drew.
Drew set a glass in front of Shawn before he found his seat.
"You know the rules to Texas hold 'em?" Shawn asked, looking at Darius. He nodded quickly. Shawn started to shuffle the cards. "Good. Now, shoes, socks, and accessories are worth one chip. Shirts are two chips. Pants are three, and underwear is four chips. You cannot remove a lower layer without removing the top layer first." Shawn looked at Darius. "Understood?"
Darius blinked. "I didn't realize that we were doing strip poker. I probably should have put on more layers."
"That would make the game last longer," Ricardo said.
"Ante," Shawn said. One shoe seemed to be enough for the ante, so Darius bet one alongside everyone else. Shawn dealt out the cards to everyone.
It really didn't take long for the round to end and clothing to be shed. Darius anxiously rubbed his palms together.
"Don't be nervous," Patrick whispered into Darius's ear. He gently placed a hand on Darius's thigh.
Darius stared down at Patrick's hand.
Is he-- flirting with me?
Patrick only removed his hand to collect his cards that Shawn dealt him.
By the third round, all the men had lost their shoes and socks. Darius lost his bow tie, and Ricardo lost his belt. Patrick, Drew, and Michael lost their watches. By the sixth round, their jackets and shirts were being shed.
Darius felt his face grow hot as the river was revealed. Vinny groaned as they both realized they did not hold the winning hand, and thus were going to lose their pants. Vinny was the first to stand, undoing the front of his jeans to the hoots and hollers of the other men.
Then they all turned to him.
"It's okay," Patrick said, placing his hand back onto Darius's thigh. "We're not gonna make fun of you." Darius exhaled then stood, shimming his pants down his legs before folding them and setting them aside. He quickly sat back down. "You know, I've never said this to you, but you have beautiful skin."
Darius smiled, chuckling nervously. "Thanks. I use lotions and oils."
