Chapter 6: The Living Room Aftermath
The hallway outside Jenny’s room felt colder, the air clearer. Aidan tugged his t-shirt back on, the fabric familiar and mundane against his skin. Jenny emerged behind him, her curls more chaotic than usual, her fingers deftly re-buttoning her jeans. She didn’t meet his eye, but a new, quiet confidence radiated from her, a slight sway in her hips that hadn’t been there before.
The living room was exactly as they’d left it, and yet completely transformed.
Catriona and Freya were draped over the sofa like a pair of lazy, knowing cats. The TV was on, some infomercial playing silently, casting shifting blue light over their faces. An empty whiskey bottle lay on its side on the rug. The deck of cards was neatly stacked in the center of the coffee table.
Catriona’s eyes, sharp and green, tracked them from the moment they appeared. A slow, wicked smile spread across her freckled face. Freya just watched, her expression unreadable, one finger tracing the rim of her glass.
“Well, well,” Catriona drawled, her voice syrup-slow. “Look what the cat dragged in. Or, you know, what dragged the cat.”
Jenny rolled her shoulders back, a paralegal preparing for cross-examination. “The game was over. The pot was claimed. No rules were broken.”
“Didn’t say they were,” Catriona purred. She lifted her feet, clad in mismatched socks, and placed them in Freya’s lap. “We’re just observing the aftermath. You two look… flushed.”
Aidan moved to his usual armchair, but Freya patted the sofa cushion right next to her. “Sit here,” she said, her voice soft but leaving no room for argument. Her blue eyes held his, and after a beat, he sat. The springs creaked. He was hyper-aware of Jenny settling into the armchair opposite, of the few feet of charged space between them.
“So,” Catriona said, leaning forward to snag the deck of cards. She began shuffling with a practiced, flashy rhythm. The snap of the cards was loud in the quiet room. “That was an interesting finale. But it did feel a little… exclusive.”
Jenny’s eyebrow arched. “It was poker. Winner takes all. That’s the definition of exclusive.”
“Mmm, true.” Cat cut the deck one-handed. “But see, Freya and I were left out here with our thoughts. And our whiskey. And it got us thinking.” She placed the deck down with a firm tap. “The night’s still young. We should play again.”
Aidan’s pulse, which had just settled, gave a hard thump. “What’s left to play for? The pot’s gone.”
Freya spoke from beside him, her shoulder warm against his. “Not the old pot. A new one.” She reached over to the side table and picked up two crumpled slips of paper. Aidan recognized them—the IOUs from the first game, including the one for a blowjob Catriona had scribbled with a giggle. “These are still outstanding. They’re valid tokens. We could ante those up.”
The air grew thicker. Jenny stared at the slips in Freya’s hand as if they were live serpents. “You can’t be serious.”
“Deadly,” Catriona said, though her grin was all mischief. “Come on, Jen. You just cashed in the big one. You’re sitting over there all… satisfied. Let the rest of us have a shot at the table.”
“It’s not a ‘shot at the table,’ Cat, it’s…” Jenny trailed off, her lawyer’s brain scrambling for a precedent. She looked at Aidan, a flicker of something possessive and panicked in her eyes.
He knew what she was thinking. Their moment in her room had been a contained explosion. Private. This was different. This was putting everything back on the communal table, and the rules had already been burned. He felt a surge of protectiveness toward her, toward what they’d just shared, but it was immediately rivaled by a dark, thrilling current of want. He looked from Catriona’s challenging stare to Freya’s calm, expectant one, to the faint love bite he could see peeking above the collar of Jenny’s shirt.
The friendship he valued was already in uncharted territory. Turning back now might be more awkward than plunging forward.
“What’s the game?” he heard himself ask. His voice was steadier than he felt.
Catriona’s smile turned triumphant. “Five-card draw. Simple. Pure. No wildcards.” She fanned the deck out and slid it toward him. “Cut for deal.”
Aidan reached out and cut the deck. He turned over the six of clubs.
Freya cut next, revealing the queen of hearts. She gave a small, secret smile and gathered the cards to shuffle. “Looks like I’m dealing.”
They pulled the coffee table closer. The four of them formed a tight square: Freya dealing, Aidan to her left, then Jenny, then Catriona. The silent TV provided a ghostly, flickering light. Freya’s hands were efficient and graceful as she dealt five cards to each player. The only sound was the whisper of cardstock on wood.
Aidan picked up his hand. A pair of eights, a king, a seven, a deuce. Nothing.
He looked around the circle. Jenny was studying her cards with intense concentration, her lower lip caught between her teeth. Catriona held her cards close to her chest, her eyes dancing over the top. Freya merely arranged her hand with a placid, yogic calm.
“Ante is in,” Catriona announced. She smoothed out her IOU slip and placed it in the center of the table. The words ‘One (1) Blowjob’ were clearly visible.
Freya laid her own slip next to it. It was the generic ‘Favor’ IOU. She didn’t elaborate.
All eyes fell on Jenny and Aidan. They had no IOUs.
“We’re not in the pot,” Jenny said quickly.
“Sure you are,” Catriona countered. “You’ve got skin in the game. Literally, like, an hour ago.” She waved a hand. “You can bet… a truth. A real one. Something the table needs to know.”
Jenny paled. Aidan felt a knot tighten in his stomach. This had spiraled beyond dares into something more exposing.
“Fine,” Jenny said, her jaw set. “I’ll bet a truth.”
Aidan nodded slowly. “Same.”
“Excellent,” Freya murmured. “Now, betting round. Aidan?”
He looked at his weak hand, at the two cryptic slips of paper in the pot, at the three women watching him. He wasn’t playing for cards anymore. He was playing for whatever was coming next. “I’m in,” he said.
The draw was a tense, silent affair. Freya took three new cards. Jenny took two, her face revealing nothing. Catriona discarded one, a sly look on her face. Aidan tossed his three useless cards, praying for miracles. The new cards slid to him: a ten, another seven, and the last eight. Three of a kind.
His blood hummed. It was something.
The final betting round began. Freya pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “I’ll see the bet,” she said, her voice a low hum.
Jenny chewed her lip. She looked at her cards, then at Aidan, then at the pot. “Raise,” she said suddenly. “I raise with another truth. A two-truth minimum.”
Catriona whistled. “Bold. I like it. I call.” She leaned forward, her red hair like a flame in the dim light. “Let’s see ‘em, kids. Freya?”
Freya laid her cards down with a soft sigh. “Two pair. Kings and fours.”
Catriona smirked and fanned out a flush, diamonds winking in the low light. “Read ‘em and weep, blondie.”
Jenny’s hands were steady as she placed her cards on the table. A straight, eight to queen. She’d beaten Catriona.
Aidan’s mouth went dry. It all came down to him. He turned his cards over. The three eights stared up, undeniable.
Jenny’s straight was better.
She’d won again.
For a second, no one moved. Jenny had just won Catriona’s blowjob IOU and Freya’s favor. And their truths.
Catriona slumped back against the couch, a laugh bubbling out of her. It wasn’t bitter; it was impressed. “Damn, paralegal. You’re on a heater.”
Freya just nodded, a curious light in her eyes as she looked at Jenny. “The pot is yours. Again.”
Jenny didn’t reach for the IOUs. She looked at Catriona, then at Freya, then finally at Aidan. The power was a tangible thing around her now, humming in the space between her fingertips and the table. She’d wanted control, and now she had an absurd amount of it.
“Okay,” Jenny said, her voice clear and deliberate. “Truths first. Catriona.” She turned to the redhead. “You wrote that IOU as a joke. But was it? Did you actually want to?”
Catriona’s flirtatious mask didn’t slip, but it did soften at the edges. She held Jenny’s gaze, then let it drift meaningfully to Aidan before returning. “Yeah,” she said, simple and unadorned. “Yeah, I did. Do. It’s not a joke.”
The admission hung there, raw and honest.
Jenny absorbed it. She turned to Freya. “Your turn. You’ve been quiet all night. What do you really want?”
Freya didn’t hesitate. Her serene composure was absolute. She looked directly at Aidan, her gaze dropping briefly to his lap before returning to his face. “Him,” she said. “I want to see what it’s like. All of it. I want him to finish inside me.”
Aidan’s breath hitched. The blunt, clinical desire in her words, delivered with such calm, was more arousing than any flirtation.
Jenna didn’t flinch. She simply nodded, as if filing away the information. Then she picked up the two IOUs from the table. She held them up, glancing between Catriona and Freya.
“The pot is mine,” she repeated, as if confirming it to herself. A new, speculative look crossed her features, one that blended her analytical mind with the newly discovered thrill of command. She pocketed the slips of paper.
“But we’re not cashing them in right now,” she announced. “The game’s changing.” She looked at Aidan, and for the first time since they’d sat down, she gave him a small, private smile that was all heat and promise. “Your truths are still owed. And as for these…” she patted her pocket. “I think I like holding the debt.”
She stood up, stretching, the hem of her shirt riding up to reveal a strip of smooth, brown skin. “I’m going to get a glass of water. This game is getting thirsty work.”
She walked toward the kitchen, leaving the three of them in the living room, surrounded by the wreckage of the game and the towering, unspoken question of what she would do with her winnings.
Catriona broke the silence, her voice a husky murmur aimed at Aidan. “Well, programmer. Looks like you’re not the only one with a competitive streak.” She kicked his foot lightly with her socked toe. “And now you owe me a truth, too. This should be fun.”
Freya simply rested her head back against the couch, a serene, waiting smile on her lips, her eyes fixed on the hallway where Jenny had disappeared.