KISS One-Shots

Gene and Ace

"Alright come on, let's go all in. This is it, I've almost got a full house, there's no way I can lose," I said, pressing a few keys. "Come on you bastards, fold." I watched gleefully as most of the other players around the table folded, but to my surprise, Username SpaceAce74 didn't fold. In fact, he raised. "Oh alright, a bold one," I said under my breath. "You wanna bluff, you can bluff," I said, dragging more of the digital poker chips to the center. 

The dealer flipped over the last card and a huge smile split my face. "Yes! Full house! Give me all your money, SpaceAce74!" I cried triumphantly, showing my hand. SpaceAce74 flipped over his cards and I felt my heart drop. "Four of a kind?! No!" I wailed, watching as all my money went to him. "Aw, dammit!" 

A chat window popped up on my screen and I felt my eyes narrowing. 

Username SpaceAce74: haha bitch

Me: that was stupid

Username SpaceAce74: ur just mad bc u suck at poker you dumbass

Me: Not even. You got so lucky, that was bullshit

Username SpaceAce74: u hate me bc u aint me curly

Scowling, I closed the chat window, turning to the voice chat. "Look, I'm gonna head out after that one, I don't want to lose any more money," I said. "That's what happens when you suck at poker!" SpaceAce74 shrieked, dissolving into cackling laughter. Rolling my eyes, I just logged off, shutting my laptop and trying not to scream. I hated playing poker with SpaceAce74. He always seemed to pull some victory out of thin air and I was still somewhat convinced he was cheating. 

"Whatever. Who even cares, it's just one round," I muttered, rising to my feet and looking at the clock. "Damn, 2 AM. I gotta get to bed," I said, stifling a yawn. "Maybe that's why I lost. Too tired." Shaking my head, I walked over to my bed, flopping onto the pillows and crawling under the blankets. I couldn't get his stupid laugh out of my head. I had to hear it almost every weekend when I inevitably got a win stolen from me. "One of these days, SpaceAce74. One of these days," I growled, closing my eyes and falling into an uneasy sleep. 

I didn't sleep too well during the night, still pissed off about the poker game. Scowling, I stifled a yawn, walking down the aisle in the grocery store, looking for the right brand of bread to buy myself. "Yeah so get this curly, my friend's the dealer, right, and so he's been sorta feeding me tips on when to fold and stuff so I'm absolutely crushing this damn poker group! Oh man this one guy, he always gets so close and I keep beating him and he gets so pissed!" a man on the phone said, rounding the corner as he dissolved into laughter. 

A laugh I recognized all too well. 

"Anyway, I gotta run, I'll catch you later!" the man said, hanging up and immediately grabbing a French baguette off the shelf. Eyes narrowed, I crossed my arms, scowling at him. "So. You have been cheating, haven't you?" I snapped. He jumped, whirling to give me a confused look. "Sorry, do I know you?" "Oh trust me, we know each other, SpaceAce74," I snarled. His eyes widened, face going red. "Oh you wouldn't...you wouldn't happen to be...you wouldn't be MoneyBags49, would you?" he asked slowly.

I raised an eyebrow, mouth pressing into a thin line. "I would be him, actually." The man cringed, face growing even redder. "Well that's...unfortunate," he said. "You've cost me a lot of money, and you've been cheating the entire time," I said. "Aw come on curly, it hasn't been that much money! Just a couple hundred!" he protested. "It's been $487.32. And I want every damn cent of that back," I hissed. 

"Okay well I might...not have all that in cash right now. Oh, but let me make it up to you! I'll take you out to a nice dinner to start, we can like swap phone numbers and all that so you know I won't bail!" he said, giving me a dazzling smile. I felt my face flush and shrugged, trying to act casual. "Yeah, sure." "Perfect! I'm Ace, by the way," he said, holding out a hand. "Gene. I would say it's nice to meet you, but I mean I am annoyed about all the money you've essentially stolen from me." "Sorry. It wasn't like on purpose!" he said, and I raised an eyebrow. "Really? You just accidentally cheated?" I asked. 

"Okay when you put it like that..." he grumbled, before perking up and giving me another wide smile, melting my heart almost effortlessly. "Anyway! Here lemme get your number and then I'll take you out for dinner tonight!" he said. "Oh alright, sure," I said, a bit taken aback by his personality. After swapping numbers, he patted me on the shoulder. "Alright well send me your address later and I'll stop by and take you out!" he said, giving me a wave and flouncing down the aisle. 

"Oh...wow," I murmured, feeling my face grow redder, heart a puddle in my chest. All the anger at him basically cheating me out of money had evaporated at this point and I finished grocery shopping before heading home, eager for him to come and pick me up for dinner. A few hours later, my doorbell rang, and I pulled it open, giving Ace a smile. "Hiya curly! Ready to go out?" he asked. "Oh l-like a date?" I asked hesitantly, and he shrugged, eyes shining. "If you want it to be! Now come on, let's go!" he said, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward his car.

I let out a laugh in spite of myself, sliding into the passenger seat. "So where are we going?" I asked. "Well I feel bad about taking your money so I got it all back!" he said, grabbing an envelope and pressing it into my hands. "But I'm still gonna take you out to dinner because I wanna get to know you! I'm gonna be honest, I mainly kept playing poker with the group because I liked the sound of your voice," he said, giving me a nervous smile. 

Grinning, I set aside the envelope in favor of turning his face toward mine and kissing him. He kissed me back before pulling apart. "Mm I raise," he purred, going in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around me as I very happily did the same.