Cheaters Always Prosper

"Alright man, next time?" Nate asked and Ricky nodded before he made his way to the fridge to grab a couple of beers. 'For luck', he said.

As their other friend made his way back into the lounge and finally almost slammed the front door behind him Nate and Cory turned to each other.

"Looks like it's just you and me, bud." Jenni's boyfriend said finally.

"Shall we get it started then?" Cory asked, confidence returning as he clapped his hands together before taking out his wallet.

"You bet your ass!" Nate replied eagerly and placed down the cards as he too reached for his wallet.

"It'll be you betting your ass by the end of this!" Cory responded and Nate laughed confidently.

Jenni hoped that her boyfriend had more than confidence to back himself up with or else he was going to be short of money come tomorrow again. He wasn't the best poker player in the world, even she knew that.

As the two bantered back and forth Jenni stood up. Nate looked up at her curiously as she stood beside him smiling.

"Where you going babe?" He asked as he reached for her side.

"I'm just going to go through to the lounge. Let you boys play." She answered warmly.

"You don't want to sit here for my big victory?" Nate asked smugly with a glance over to Cory who rolled his eyes.

"No, no. I don't want to distract you. I know how focused you like to get with these games." She replied, squeezing his hand on her side before stepping back to the doorframe.

"Ok, you'll be alright though?" Her boyfriend responded somewhat nonchalantly.

"I'll be fine." Jenni replied, feeling a little put out that he didn't really seem to be trying to keep her there despite his words.

That irksome feeling only grew a little stronger as her boyfriend nodded and let his hand fall away from her before he turned back to Cory and picked up the cards to shuffle them. Not that Jenni wanted him to ask her to stay. She really didn't want to be part of the game, not when Nate started losing especially. And Cory could be unbearably smug when he won. And his eyes did have a tendency to wander. Not to mention his hands. So she was glad not to be asked to stay. But he could have made more effort even so.

Slipping back towards the lounge Jenni kept her eyes on Nate and tried to ignore that Cory's lingered on her a little longer before he finally paid attention to what her boyfriend was saying. Grabbing a bottle of wine from the shelf in the lounge she sat down on the sofa with a glass and tried to pay attention to both what was going on in the kitchen and the television as she put it on.

If Ricky had been there she would have been in the kitchen with Nate and Cory, but with just her boyfriend and his one friend there she didn't want to see how far Cory would push things with her when Nate wasn't looking. He seemed to behave when more people were around. Right now he would be unbearable.

Enjoying the relax and the soft taste of the wine, Jenni leaned back into the sofa as her boyfriend and his friend began to play cards. The television wasn't all that exciting so she often found her attention wandering to what was going on in the kitchen. Well, that and drowsing a little as the wine started to take effect. Laughter and banter sounded from the room next door and Jenni was happily relaxing with her legs tucked under her when something her boyfriend said from the kitchen snapped her head around.

"...Jenni will do it. Honestly. But you've got to win first." Her loving boyfriend of a year and half was saying to his friend.

Jenni eyed the pair curiously, and cautiously, at that. What was Nate saying she would do? And what did it have to do with winning? She didn't have to wait long to find out what was going on.

"So you're saying that Jenni will clean up after me and be my maid if I win? That's your bet?" Cory asked with a mix of smugness and curiosity.

That suddenly hit the blonde girlfriend like a shot between the eyes and her own eyes shot open. What?? She would be Cory's maid?? Wait, Nate was betting that she would be Cory's maid if he lost?? Hold on...he was betting her in his poker game?? To his housemate?? Each of those thoughts hit Jenni like a battering ram and instantly she felt her irksome feeling from earlier light up into a full on annoyance.

Her boyfriend was not only saying that she would be Cory's maid if he lost, but he was betting her in his poker game like some...some kind of prize or something! And he not only thought that she would do it - he sounded completely confident of that! - but he was betting her without even asking her first! To his housemate!

Jenni felt her anger boil up inside her as she got up off the sofa and walked through to the kitchen doorway.

"What was that, Nate?" She asked in a too neutral voice.

Her boyfriend didn't even have the decency to look abashed as he turned to look up to her with a grin.

"What? Oh, nothing babe. You just go and sit down and enjoy your wine." He replied with a loving charm that reminded Jenni of why she loved him. Too bad she had heard what he said for it to work.

Folding her arms beneath her large breasts Jenni kept looking at her boyfriend with a look that even silence whatever smug thing Cory had been about to say. Her boyfriend's friend looked down at his drink when he caught her face.

"Nothing?" She replied with a hint of annoyance in her tone, "I thought I heard you betting me to your friend!"

"Wha...??" Nate sputtered and looked over at Cory before looking back at her again. His expression quickly changed when he clearly knew he had been caught. But instead of being repentant he just smiled that same charming smile at her again. "It was just for you to clean up after him. It wasn't like I bet him a blowjob or anything."

Jenni's eyes widened at that, but before she could get a word in Nate continued. A little more hurriedly this time as he registered the look on her face.

"Besides, that's only if he wins. And babe, he's not going to win this hand. Trust me."

Cory coughed up his drink in protest at that but before he could say anything Nate just grinned at him and looked confidently back to Jenni. So confident in fact that Jenni felt a little of her nervousness fading from her, taking the edge off her annoyance as well. Still...she was pissed.

"And you can't just bet money on this?" She asked acidly, her back stiff as she stared down at her boyfriend's stupidly grinning face.

"I don't have enough..." Nate began as he indicated the small pile of chips in front of him, "...And I really wouldn't make the bet if I didn't think I would win. You know me, babe."

For a second Jenni was tempted to snap that he shouldn't be betting her no matter what, but then she realised how silly she may sound. After all, it was just to clean up after Cory. Something she pretty much did anyway around the house. The three guys could be slobs at times. And it wasn't really that bad of a bet. And it wasn't like it was something Nate wouldn't come up with during a normal playful discussion with his friends. But he had still bet her, and without asking her as well! Like she was his to bet! Sure she was his girlfriend but that didn't give him the right to bet her away like that. And to Cory of all people! The guy would probably expect her to wear a French maid's outfit for him to ogle her in while she tidied up after him.

Not to mention that Nate really wouldn't have made the bet if he thought he would lose. He knew how she felt about Cory most of the time and wouldn't put her in that position. And he did seem extremely confident in himself and his hand.

As the thoughts passed through her head Jenni quickly felt a little embarrassment soaking through her anger. It was like she was blowing things up out of proportion when there was no need to.

And so, feeling her cheeks heat - whether from embarrassment or annoyance she didn't know at this point - Jenni tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked between the boys before eyeing Nate again.

"You promise you'll win?" She asked reluctantly.

"Babe, I can't lose." Her boyfriend replied confidently. That same grin fastened on his handsome face.

Whether it was his confidence, how handsome he looked right then, or how mixed up she was feeling about all of this Jenni finally nodded and turned to watch the action with a fluttering in her stomach.

The last thing she wanted was to be any kind of maid to Cory MacKenzie - he really would insist she wore a short skirt for it, she was certain! - but a small part of her felt a flutter pass through her at the thought that she was on the line. The same sort of feeling, she guessed, that gamblers felt when they gambled. A sort of thrill. It was only a small, passing feeling as she watched the pot and imagined herself in it, but it was there. There was something at stake now, something real. Her. Not just a little money that they normally betted, but her. And that made the beautiful blonde's stomach flutter gently for some reason.

"Alright, you've got my bet. Call or fold?" Nate confidently asked his friend over the table and Jenni looked over.

Cory was eyeing his cards and then looked up at her. For a moment his eyes stayed on her face but then quickly, almost so quickly you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it, they flashed down her body, taking her all in. As she stood there with her arms folded beneath her large, heaving breasts in her short summer dress. He no doubt had imagined her in that maid's outfit. Or maybe her wearing just what she was now. Bending over in this dress wouldn't be that much different from the maid's outfit now Jenni thought of it.

Whatever he saw his face suddenly beamed with delight as he looked confidently back over the table at Jenni's boyfriend.

"Alright, Nate. You've got a deal. Call." He said as he laid down a full house on the table and leaned back. "Boom!"

For a moment Jenni's heart skipped a beat and her stomach fluttered. There was a reason Nate's pile of chips wasn't big enough to cover the bet without her. She may just have found herself in Cory's possession.

And then Nate calmly and confidently laid his cards down.

"Four Aces." Was all he said smugly before he grinned at the shocked look on Cory's face.

Her boyfriend's housemate wasn't the only one who looked surprised. Jenni looked at the cards both stunned and like they had released her from a fate worse than death. Glancing back at her boyfriend Jenni saw him leaning back confidently, just as he had before Cory had laid his cards down. He had known he would win. Somehow he had. He must have. It wasn't the best hand you could have, but somehow he had known it would be enough.

Leaning forward Nate scraped the pile of chips in the centre towards himself and began stacking them up, smiling at Cory all the time as he did. For a moment there was silence then Cory let out a loud breath.

"Damn, that was a good call, Nate. I thought for sure you had been bluffing then." He said as he raked his hands through his hair.

Jenni just looked from the chips to Nate and back. Luck must have really been on his side tonight! Not only from winning but also for saving him from sleeping on the sofa tonight after betting her! All of her annoyance, Jenni realised, was gone. Washed away with the four aces that sat on the table in front of her. Luck. Nate was never normally lucky, and he always lost at poker. But that had been one of the best played hands she had seen the guys' play. Maybe tonight would pay off after all.

"Told you I'd win it, didn't I babe?" Nate asked smugly as he leaned a little towards her, contentedly counting his chips into his pile.

Nodding Jenni still couldn't believe what she had seen. And how, for the briefest of moments, it had been exhilarating to be in the pot herself. Even if it was to Cory and she would have had to clean up after him if he won.

"You won't doubt me again." Nate added with a grin before he looked back to Cory.

Jenni sure wouldn't. Not after a hand like that. Maybe Nate really had been practising to get good at poker. Either that or Lady Luck was sure with him today. Whatever it was, Jenni was suddenly not sure about Nate's abilities in the game anymore. And from the sudden solemn look of concentration on his face, neither was Cory. Now the game had really begun.

Walking through into the lounge with a cloudy head Jenni tried to think about what had just happened. Whether it was the wine or just the whole situation she found that she couldn't focus as she sat back down on the sofa and tucked her legs under her. She couldn't focus on the television either as she took another sip from her glass, her mind just swirled. Nate had bet her to his friend. A maid for Cory. The thrill of being in the pot. How Nate had won and how confident he had been. All of it. The wine buzz mixing with it all and spinning it around inside her.

Time passed and the sound in the kitchen continued to be good-natured and full of banter, even if Cory was clearly paying more attention to Nate than he had before. Sometime later Jenni had lost herself in her wine and the television and all of the feelings from earlier in the night had dissipated. It was then that the beautiful blonde girlfriend chanced to hear a snippet of the conversation from the other room as an ad break was on.

"...I don't think Jenni would go for that, Nate." Cory was saying.

Hearing her name coming from the other room perked her ears up and Jenni glanced over her shoulder into the other room.

Nate and Cory were still sitting at the table with cards in their hands but instead of playing the pair were staring at each other. The pile in the centre of the table was quite high and once again the pile in front of Nate was relatively small. Obviously his luck hadn't held out after that other hand and he was back to losing again.

It wasn't the look of the pair that snagged Jenni's interest, however. It was what they were talking about.

"Sure she will. It's not like I'm betting you a blowjob from her or anything..." Nate laughed, clearly he found the very idea ridiculous. "And I know you would think that more than covers the bet." He added confidently.

Jenni was curious what her boyfriend was doing again but this time she remained seated where she was, just looking over to the pair of them.

"If she went through with it, yeah. But there's no way she would." Cory replied with a hint of smugness.

"You leave Jenni to me." Nate said confidently, then added with a cheeky grin, "Besides, you won't beat me so she won't have to. But it's a more than fair bet, right?"

At this point Jenni's curiosity for what was going on was more than peaked, but for some reason she couldn't move. Clearly her loving boyfriend was betting her again in his poker game. To his housemate of all people! But what he was suggesting this time also clearly meant that he would have to talk her into it.

That strange feeling of being bet again flitted through Jenni's stomach and she thought that she should get up again and challenge her boyfriend on betting her a second time! Not to mention to also find out how he was betting her! But the strange confidence was back in his voice again and the need not to make a scene, mixed with the flittering feeling of excitement at being part of the pot...even if it was to Cory...had her sitting still.

She was just about to stand up when Cory spoke.

"So I call the bet and if I win Jenni sits on my lap?" He asked and Jenni felt her stomach flip as she watched Nate nod.

What was he thinking? He clearly hadn't had better luck than he normally did, even after that fluke of a hand earlier, and he was betting her again? And to sit on his friend's lap while they play poker? In her low-cut, short-skirted dress?

Jenni really should have stood up then but Nate spoke and the confidence filling his voice seemed to fix her to the sofa.

"If you win. Yes. But you won't, so there's nothing to worry about. See?" He said to his friend, but Jenni almost felt that he was talking to her, and like before she suddenly felt that there was no harm in the bet. Nate had this. She was sure of it. How she was so sure, she had no idea. But he was, and that made her certain.

The fact that he was still betting her, and to sit on his housemate's lap at that! Not even like earlier where the bet had been innocent. He must have been desperate to get Cory to call. With a pile the size of his that was not a surprise, but couldn't he have thought of something else compelling that didn't involve her sitting on his friend's lap all night?

It was at that moment that Jenni realised that she would do it if Cory won, and thus that she had already accepted the bet. Why she felt that way she had no idea...maybe because part of her was angry that her boyfriend would even suggest it, so it would serve him right if she did sit on his friend's lap all night. And let him get a good look down the top of her dress too! That thought made Jenni suddenly realise what it would be like to sit on Cory's lap...his hands would not be idle...nor would his looks and comments. But even so she sat there knowing she was behind Nate one hundred percent even as she was annoyed at him.

"And don't tell me you wouldn't like it!" Nate said amusedly to Cory.

"Well it's Jenni! Who wouldn't." Cory sputtered in response before suddenly realising what he was saying.

Here he was, winning at the game and clearly thinking that the earlier win was a fluke by now, and Nate had just offered him his girlfriend on a plate. To sit on his lap. Let him touch her legs no doubt. Stare down her top. It was too good a chance to pass up!

And so Cory nodded and placed his cards down. Four kings stared up from the table as Jenni leaned up to see what he had got. For an instant the beautiful blonde thought that she would have to sit on Cory's lap now, and that strange fuzzy feeling at being bet sparked a little at what she would hate to do but was somehow oddly exhilarating as well. Then Nate placed his cards down. Straight flush. Jenni's heart was in her throat and a feeling of relief washed through her all at the same time.

The look on Nate's face was a mix of triumph and 'I told you so'. He sat staring at his dumbfounded friend for a minute, basking in his victory, before he pulled the pot towards himself and began piling it back up. There was more there than the last time he had won big and Cory's pile was now smaller than Nate's had been. But for Jenni all that mattered is that he hadn't lost her to his friend. That he had bet her, again, suddenly fuelled her annoyance even as a flickering of that stomach-teasing feeling passed through her again. He had bet her twice now, and this time he had not bet anything simple like the first time! This time she would have had to do something inappropriate with his friend. After all, Nate was her boyfriend! She shouldn't be sitting on his housemate's laps like she was their girlfriend!

But still, he had won. And he had known he would again before he made the bet. So was it really as bad? Jenni tried to push that reasonable thought aside. It wasn't like he had risked her. He had known he would win with what he had! He barely couldn't have lost! But still the annoyance festered that she had to think this at all. He was her boyfriend for fuck's sake! She shouldn't have to be bet by him! No guy bet their girlfriend to another guy, especially a guy that they felt uncomfortable around!

Slumping back into the sofa and taking a long sip of her wine, Jenni decided that she was going to let Nate know just how pissed off she was later. For now she would just watch television and finish her wine. And ignore the reasonable thoughts that filled her head. She didn't want to make a scene and she wasn't exactly sure she would be right to. She tried to push those thoughts away even more at that and sank back into the sofa and finished her glass of wine off.