Losing Bet

Simon

She looks up at me. She must still be accepting her fate. A royal flush. She was so confident with that straight, she didn't even consider a royal. Poor thing.

I let my poker face drop a little bit. I'm not the type to gloat but that crestfallen expression of doom elicits the wickedest smile I can conjure. That is until Carter Joins in. "Yeah Torres, Take it off." She turns to him and glares. Turning her eyes back to mine she reaches for the hem of her slightly oversized t-shirt. She was smart. A worthy opponent. She opted to remove her socks, then her shorts, hiding herself from us with her shirt.

Smart, smart girl.

But your luck has run out.

She drags the hem up, not breaking eye contact with me. She's so furious she's shaking. So embarrassed her whole body has a flush. Slowly, her shirt reveals more and more of her to me. But it does so to everyone else. Carters wolf whistling, I whip my head in his direction and whatever expression I had on right now must be a bit intimidating as he quickly looks away.

Looking back to Selene she turned her body away from the group slightly, facing my direction more, staring at her crisscrossed lap. I can see her underwear. Koalas are an interesting choice, I wonder if anybody else had seen those before tonight. Probably not. Good.

She has it up over her belly button now and I can see some of the freckles speckling her body.

God. That body.

This girl was born to be a siren and lure men to their knees.

I'm beginning to see the bottom of her bra come into view. Where her underwear was covered in little marsupials, I doubted the black lace slowly becoming more visible would be as 'cute'.

Don't react. Don't reach for her, don't touch her. Don't do anything. Breathe. Stay in control and breathe.

Good God.

I see it for a second before I'm moving.

Moving.

Grabbing.

Pulling.

I move to her, grab the hem of her shirt, and pull it down, shielding her body from everyone else. They don't need to see. They didn't deserve to. I didn't deserve to, but they certainly deserved so even less.

They hadn't won. I had. Only me

Only me and only her. That's how it should be.

Within my pulling her shirt down, I also must have pulled her into me because she sits in between my kneeled legs, arms leaning back to touch the carpeted floor for support. We're so close I can smell the mix of her sweat and perfume and by god it's the most intoxicating thing I have ever smelt.

My head is above the junction between her shoulder and neck so I lean into her ear and whisper, "While I truly to appreciate your tenacity to play by the rules and have good sportsmanship, I'm going to have to ask you to keep that shirt down," her breath hitches and I finish almost frantically, "For my own sanity and well being, no more games."

She maneuvers her head to look at me. "What?", "Why?" Letting out a resigned sigh, I say, "Because Selene, you deserve so much more than the first time you are seen so" I pause looking her up and down and turn my head to look her in the eyes, "intimately, it be shown as a prize to the greedy eyes of our peers."

She looks confused and surprised, maybe even flabbergasted. "But the rules, Simon, I agreed to this game and I lost."

"Damn the rules Selene, if somebody's seeing you, it's me. We both know, none of them have earned it. None of them were prepared to match your wager. I won, so if I say don't show them", I lean back into her body, back into that space against her neck and grit out, "then please, don't."

She seems so lost within this interaction, I've never acted this way with her before. Never. I've only ever been an onlooker from the sides. Like a shadow.

She nods and I shield her body so she can put her clothes back on unseen. "Games over." Carter tries to refute but backs down when I look at him as though he could use a little less teeth. I turn around and see Selene's slipped on her shorts and shoes. 

"Come on, I think we could both use something to drink." And I lead her away from, their peering eyes.