Up The Stakes

Steve, Cassie, and Danny sit elbow-deep in cards when Cassie wanders off for chips. Danny leans in, eyes sparkling, and tosses out the dumbest wager alive: next loser has to fuck the winner's girlfriend. Steve laughs like it’s sitcom gold and shoves all-in on the joke. One bad river later the chips belong to Danny, and Danny’s face says he wasn’t kidding. Cassie storms back, slaps the felt with both palms, hears the bet, and turns a shade of crimson usually reserved for broken traffic lights. Fine, she snaps, and peels her top off so hard a button pings across the room. Steve’s chair scrapes, his face folds into a wilted apology, and he bolts for the door without looking back. The second the latch clicks, Cassie’s furious mask cracks into a grin. Danny’s already unbuckling, and the two of them high-five like kids who just raided the cookie jar.