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Chris suspiciously sniffed the glass. “What’s in it?”
“New beginnings,” Jay said and held his drink in the air. Chris hesitated but still raised his glass and touched it with Jay’s. “Damn,” he said after taking a sip. “That’s strong.”
“Nah, there’s barely any alcohol in there. Worst case, it might put some hair on your chest.”
“Yeah, I doubt that.”
“Melissa likes how smooth you are?”
Chris frowned like he was debating if the question was out of line. He finally said, “She likes it, but I think she prefers more hairy men.”
“Like Anthony?”
Chris glanced at shirtless Anthony. “Yeah, she mentioned once she thought he was hot.”
Jay smirked. “Well, at least you don’t need to worry about Anthony trying to steal her away.”
“Very funny,” Anthony said.
“Anyway, your drink is fine,” Jay said.
Chris shrugged and took another small sip, then put the drink down and moved it a bit away, clearly not liking the taste. Jay seemed annoyed, but he would have been more annoyed if he knew I had added much less alcohol to Chris’s drinks earlier.
Chris clapped his hands. “We’re playing or what?”
“Someone’s eager to show us his Johnson,” Jay said.
“Sorry to break your heart, but you ain’t seeing my Johnson tonight.” He spoke with confidence, but he still lost the next round and said goodbye to his belt. I lost the following round and remembered to remove my socks. The wooden floor felt warm beneath my feet.
In the following round, Jay signaled me again, and I gladly did my part since my cards were shit. Chris lost and mumbled, “Fucking hell.” He pulled down his pants underneath the table, and none of us commented. By then, Anthony and I must have been thinking the same thing: whatever Jay had in mind was fast approaching. The gravity of the situation left me edgy.
Jay lost the next round and pulled out his belt. It felt to me like he’d lost on purpose, maybe to give Chris an illusion of possible success. In the next round, Chris folded quickly, and Anthony was the loser who dropped down his pants. Chris was trying hard not to look, but he did glance a few times. Anthony managed to ignore those glances, but I could tell he was getting annoyed.
In the next round Anthony and I folded immediately, which left Chris and Jay who were watching each other like in a Wild Wild West duel.
“You’re going to fold?” Jay asked.
Chris looked at his cards closely, then raised his eyes at Jay. “I’m in.”
“You sure?” He smiled. “Doesn’t seem like you have much left to play for.”
Chris hesitated but eventually nodded. “I’m sure.”
“What have you got?”
Chris lowered his cards, spreading them for us to see. Jay whistled. “Flush. Nice one.”
Chris sat a bit straighter. “What about you?”
Jay lowered his cards.
“Damn,” I said. He had a full house. By this point, I didn’t know whether he had luck on his side or a better talent for cheating than I thought.
Chris rubbed his face. The look of defeat was not something I was used to seeing on him.
“Well,” Jay said, “guess I won.”
“You said whoever loses has a chance to win everything back,” Chris said.
