It was a normal winter night, the streets were quiet and it wasn't really cold compared to the previous weeks, yet Aomine cursed while closing his car; he forgot his gloves and his hands were freezing. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked as fast as he could towards the bar's entry.

He used to go to that bar a lot during his early days as a policeman, and even before. A little drink from time to time after a hard day at work never hurt, and Aomine was very famous there; not only thanks to his ability to attract people (he wasn't even sure why people would always come and talk to him), but also because he was known as an incredibly good poker player, or "the town's unbeatable player" to be precise.

However, he stopped playing a year ago, and the only reason he kept going to that bar was to get a drink sometimes or to talk to his friends.
Honestly, "being busy with work" was just an excuse, the real reason he stopped playing was because he lost interest: since he was known as an 'unbeatable player', his opponent were already expecting to lose before they even started playing and Aomine, in addition to being frustrated, was bored.

That night, however, Aomine decided to play again. He didn't feel like getting drunk, but he didn't feel like going home and spending the night alone with his thoughts either; not after the way he and his colleagues failed miserably to find the rapist they've been chasing for weeks already.

When he opened the front door, the warmth of the place sent chills down his spine, he sighed with satisfaction; the cold weather definitely wasn't something his body was made for. He quickly rubbed his hands together before cupping them to his mouth and breath in them, trying to warm them up as fast as he could. He walked towards the bar, taking his scarf off and waving at the many men who greeted him when he walked in.

"Not wearing your uniform ? I guess you're not here for work, huh ?", the blond bartender leaned in to rest his forearms on the counter, smiling at Aomine.

The bluenette sat in front of him. "Good observation skills, Kise, maybe you should become a detective.", he said in a sarcastic tone while putting his scarf on the counter.

"Thanks but that job isn't for me.", Kise said, resting his chin in his palm.

"It was obviously sarcasm, Kise-kun. A client has been calling you for two minutes now, what are you doing ?", a soft and calm voice said.

Kise turned around and gasped when he realized his coworker was behind him, cleaning a glass with a white towel before pointing at the table where the clients were.

"K-Kurokocchi, since when-"

"That's right, Kise, stop talking and do your work instead.", Aomine said, waving at him the way people do when they're tying to get a bug away from them.

Kise rushed towards the table, "I'm supposed to talk to my clients, that's my job !", he said before apologizing to the client who waited for him.

"It's been a while since we've seen you here, Aomine-kun.", the short man said, turning around to get a bottle of Aomine's favorite beer before pouring it in a glass.

"Yeah.. Been busy with work.", he chuckled when Kuroko handled him the glass of beer, "You still remember what I drink though."

Kuroko smiled.

Aomine took a sip before continuing, "But I'm not just here to drink tonight. I'm in the mood to play."

The shorter man smiled even more, "I'm glad you decided to play again."

The tanned man shrugged, "Well yeah.. Not wearing my uniform today so I thought I could come here after work.." He took another sip, "..So, any exciting player ?", he leaned in, smirking at the shorter man.

"You'll see.", Kuroko answered, nodding.

Kise came back with an excited look on his face. "There's a really interesting guy ! He started playing here a few months after you stopped. That guy basically replaced you, he's the one who attracts clients now."

The last phrase caught Aomine's interest. He took his glass and got up, smirking "Oh.. Really ?"

"He was there to beat you, Aominecchi ! He was disappointed when we told him you didn't play anymore, but he kept coming here anyway.", Kise said, getting a bottle of whiskey for another client.

"Interesting," he took his scarf with his free hand, heading to the back door.
He walked towards the two guards who were standing in front of the door with their arms crossed, and casually nodded at them. They moved out of the way without a word, Aomine was definitely famous here.

As he opened the door, the smell of tobacco filled his nostrils. The smoke was rising towards the ceiling, just above the round table that was in the middle of the room.
He walked towards the table with confidence, as if he owned the place.

After shaking hands to the players he knew the most, he sat on a chair, putting his glass on the table before getting his coat off.

There were five other men around the table. Three of them -the ones he knew- asking Aomine how he's been while the two other ones were listening to him.
One of them was wearing sunglasses, which caught Aomine's attention. He was wearing a red sweatshirt, and a silver necklace with a ring on it that was shining whenever he moved.

After a few seconds, they started playing.

Aomine didn't really have to try to keep his composure while playing poker, he was always wearing that bored, and -according to his friends- intimidating expression no matter what cards he had in his hands. He didn't know much about psychology or mathematics, but he somehow became extremely good at bluffing after some times, he unconsciously learned how to confuse his opponents with the irrational and unpredictable way he played; and even though he wasn't the kind to fake a smile or pretend to be pissed off to bluff, nobody knew when he was bluffing or when he wasn't.

So here he was, after three rounds and only one loss, with only a pair of eights.
He was lucky during the last three rounds but this time his hand was pathetic. He still raised the bet and three men gave up and folded. He laughed internally because all of them had a better hand than him.

Suddenly, a rough and unfamiliar voice broke the silence.
"You're bluffing.", the man who spoke rested his chin on his palm, it was obvious he was observing Aomine even though he was wearing sunglasses.

"What makes you say that ?", the tanned man asked with his usual uninterested expression.

"Just my gut feeling.", the man answered.

Aomine literally felt his blood warming up a little. The rare men who weren't scared to call Aomine bluff always did so when he wasn't; it was the first time someone called him bluff when he really was bluffing. He couldn't help smirking.

"Keep playing, then.", Aomine said, pointing at the pot.

The redhead called, betting the same amount of money as the tanned man. The other man who didn't give up yet did the same, that guy's confidence must be contagious or something.

Aomine was thrilled.
How come it was the first time he played against someone like this after all that time ?

"I'm going after that, I might as well take some risks before going.", the man with sunglasses said, smirking.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were working during the night. Man.. Being a fireman must be tough.", another man said.

Aomine didn't even need to think, it was obvious that man was the one Kise and Kuroko talked about earlier. He didn't even know him but he was sure the man's hair and sweatshirt color matched his personality: Red.
The color of life, anger, blood, fire, warmth… Lust.

Aomine took a sip of beer, carefully looking at the redhead. His hand squeezed the glass when his gaze fell on perfectly kissable lips: not too thin and not too plump, the lower lip was just full enough to bite and suck during a kiss, Aomine thought. His eyes traveled down the man's neck and, shit, it looked so delicious he felt like sinking his teeth into that appetizing looking skin. The redhead scratched his collar bones, which made Aomine snap back to reality. He looked at the redhead's face again, who was probably looking at him behind those sunglasses.
He softly sighed, wondering if he ever felt so excited just by looking at someone. He didn't know when he started to think about doing naughty things to that man, but he was strangely okay with it. Aomine put his glass on the table again, and started rolling it around unconsciously, looking at the other men around the table quickly before looking at the redhead again.

Okay, alright, he wanted to touch more than just the redhead's cards, but it wasn't the time to think about it right now; they were still playing and Aomine knew he was going to lose this round.

He was right.

Well, it wasn't really losing since he still had a little more money than he had when he walked in, and he won two rounds out of four. The redhead apparently was in the same situation, he had a bigger amount of money than when Aomine started playing. The bluenette was frustrated about the fact that the man was leaving when none of them won yet.

The redhead smirked triumphaly as he took his money and stood up, he put his leather jacket on and looked down at Aomine who was still sitting, "That was interesting. Let's play again someday."

Aomine chuckled, pointing at him with his drink in his hand, "You better bring more money if you don't wanna end up betting all your clothes and wind up naked because of me, pretty boy. I don't want you to catch a cold."

Aomine sighed internally, he was glad he was the only one who knew he was flirting. He didn't want to flirt because that guy was probably married or something anyway, but it was the first time someone excited him that much, he really couldn't help himself.

The men around him laughed, excited that the two best players were finally going to play against each other on a regular basis. Aomine's eyes never stopped staring at the redhead, who rubbed his neck nervously and waved at everyone while opening the door to get out.

Aomine's eyebrows were raised as he chugged the rest of his beer. The lighting wasn't really good in that room but.. Did that guy.. Blush ?

Wait. Of course he was blushing.. He drank.. But he didn't even drink that much, right ? Maybe Aomine made him uncomfortable with his sexual innuendo.. But then again, a straight man wouldn't even think that Aomine was flirting, right ?

Aomine decided to stop playing, his mind was filled with thousand thoughts and he really couldn't play cards even if he tried. He got up, saying he had to go home and that he'll be back in a few days. He put his trench coat on again and opened the door.

"That asshole better look good without sunglasses.", he thought as he walked towards the front door, putting his scarf on at the same time.

"Ah, Aominecchi-", the blond bartender said with a cheerful tone.

"Be back tomorrow or the day after. See ya.", Aomine said without even looking at him.

Kise looked at Kuroko with a confused look, and the shorter man shook his head, smiling.

Aomine cursed when he went outside. There was a little wind now and it was way too fucking cold. He put his hands in his pockets and looked around for the man he literally ran after.

Where the fuck did he go ?

It was way too cold to just stand there, Aomine thought. He headed to the parking lot, which was behind the bar. Why did he even run after him when they could talk later anyway ? That was stupid.

When he got in the alley between the bar and the shop that was next to it, a man was walking in front of him, towards the parking lot.
The masculine silhouette turned around to see who was behind him and stood there for less than three seconds before walking towards Aomine.

The man had an obviously muscular body. His strong quadriceps were perfectly visible in his jeans, he had broad shoulders and strong arms, which made his leather jacket look slightly too tight for his arms when he crossed them once he was close to Aomine. His red hair was a little messier than before, probably because of the wind but it looked absolutely stunning on that face.

And wow, that face was breathtaking..

The redhead wasn't wearing his glasses anymore and he was so hot Aomine couldn't find the right words to describe him. He shivered when red and fearless eyes were looking at him from head to toe.

"You're the guy who never lost, right ?", he asked.

Aomine chuckled and leaned on the wall, "Pretty good way to start a conversation.. Yeah, that's me."

"I'm Kagami Taiga, the guy who's gonna beat you. When are you playing again ?", he asked, staring at him with a fiery and determined gaze.

Aomine shrugged, "Who knows. I'll try to come a little more often now that there's someone I didn't beat yet."

Aomine stressed the last word of that phrase and smirked as Kagami's eyes narrowed as soon as he said it. The redhead leaned in closely, daringly, so close Aomine held his breath for a second, he could feel the warmth emanating from his clothes and smell his cologne.

The bluenette cursed the cold weather when he realized he couldn't even feel his hands anymore. He quickly rubbed them together, and when he was about to put them in his pockets, the redhead took Aomine's right hand in his own and brought it closer to his face.

"Sensitive to the cold, hm ?", Kagami asked, looking at Aomine again.

The bluenette didn't answer, he only stared at Kagami, his heart beating louder and louder as the redhead slowly brought his hand close to his lips, still looking at him with that heated gaze.

He rubbed the skin with his thumb before blowing out warm air on the tanned hand. After a few seconds, he brought the hand closer to his lips, and slowly pressed them on Aomine's knuckles.
The tanned man's heart stopped for a solid two seconds, or at least he was sure of it. He somehow managed not to look too surprised, but his brain and body were both screaming incoherent things to him. He wasn't playing poker and yet it felt like he was betting. Betting what, he wasn't sure but he knew resisting the tentation was the only way to lose.

He pressed his hand harder on the redhead's lips, who parted them just enough to run his hot tongue on the cold and dry skin, his darkening and challenging red eyes never losing contact of Aomine's blue eyes.

The bluenette licked his lips and swallowed hard.

Kagami softly parted his lips wider, and lightly bit the tanned skin.

Aomine clicked his tongue and roughly ran his hands under the leather jacket before putting them on the fireman's hip and pulling him closer to his body.
Kagami laughed playfully as he stepped closer to him and pressed his body to his, not even trying to resist the bluenette. Aomine decided he wanted to hear that laugh again as soon as possible.

Aomine's back was pressed against the cold wall and the redhead's body was so warm it felt like he had a fever; probably a contagious one because Aomine was starting to feel hot too. He softly rolled his torso against Kagami's, who purred before doing the same.

"Mmm.. You're pretty damn hot for someone whose job is to put out fires.", Aomine said, stroking the other man's lower back with one hand and stroking his red hair back from his forehead with the other one, chuckling at the sight of those weird eyebrows.

"You're one to talk, you're a cop but you look like a criminal.", Kagami answered.

Their lips were only a few inches apart, and the idea of sticking his tongue in the redhead's throat was the only thing he had in mind. He parted his lips and slightly leaned his face closer to Kagami's, but the redhead pulled away and stepped back.
Aomine growled at the sudden lack of warmth.

The redhead took a step forward again, pressing his body against the tanned man one more time and running his hand on his muscular chest. They rolled their hips a little harder this time and Aomine tried to kiss him again. Kagami laughed as he stepped back before their lips could touch, licking his smiling lips as he looked at Aomine.

The bluenette was going crazy because of the transition from hot to cold, literally and figuratively speaking. It was like the redhead knew Aomine liked that. He has never been a patient man but he definitely loved when something wasn't easy to get.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, slightly smiling. Aomine slowly reached for Kagami's hand while the redhead stepped forward again.

"Hard to get huh.. Guess asking if you wanna go to my place would be useless.", he whispered in Kagami's ear, putting the redhead's hand on his waist.

The fireman chuckled.

"That's too bad, I thought you could keep me warm during the night.", Aomine said as he softly kissed Kagami's slightly pink ears.

Kagami's breath hitched, "..Aww.. So you're a lonely guy."

Aomine laughed, it was definitely true. All he ever did was going to work and sleeping alone. He didn't care at first, but he was 26 now and he really was starting to feel lonely, whether he admitted it or not.

"Give me your number and I'll call you before you fall asleep. I'll sing a lullaby just for you.", Kagami said.

Aomine laughed. "I don't think I will."

Kagami stopped stroking the bluenette's chest and stepped back, looking at him with brows raised in confusion, "What ?"

Aomine shrugged and crosses his arms, "Yeah, I don't feel like giving you my number.."

Aomine's licked his lips as he observed the redhead's reaction: he clenched his jaw, narrowing his eyes, frowning in irritation and his right hand was already forming a fist.
Was that guy angry because he didn't like to get 'no' for an answer or because he felt fooled by Aomine ? Probably both but whatever the reason was, Aomine realized he wanted that man so, so bad.

He chuckled and continued, stepping forward to grab Kagami's fist and unclench it, "..Unless you give me a kiss."

The redhead's eyes widened. He looked at the floor and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, shaking his head and smiling, "You're such a bastard..". He looked at him again, "I know Kuroko is a friend of yours, I can ask him your number anyway."

Aomine smirked, "Maybe. But I'm not gonna pick up the phone if you do th-"

Kagami grabbed Aomine's scarf before he could finish talking. He quickly pressed his lips to his, and despite the fact that it was just a peck on the lips, Aomine's heart was beating as fast as it did during his most dangerous missions at work.

Kagami pulled away after two or three seconds and looked at the bluenette with an impatient expression on his face and slightly pink cheeks.

Man, Aomine only knew him since a few minutes ago and yet that guy showed him so many different faces already. That was probably a dream or something.. How could someone look so dangerous and sexy and then look cute a second later ?

"Why the fuck are you blushing just because of that ?", Aomine chuckled, he was glad the other man's hand wasn't on his chest anymore because the fact that his heart was doing backflips in his chest just from a little kiss wasn't something he was proud of.

"S-Shut up. Just give me your damn number before I break your face !", Kagami shouted.

Aomine laughed, "I hope you don't usually threaten people to get their number.", he said before grabbing the fireman's wrist and asking him to follow him as he started walking towards the parking lot. He was glad it was too cold for him to get a boner, at least the cold was useful tonight.

"Hey, why do you play cards with sunglasses ?", he asked as he opened his car. He took a pen and a piece of paper from the glove box and started writing.

"..Because it's too easy to read me.", the redhead confessed, crossing his arms before quickly scratching his cheek.

"Hah, yeah I kinda noticed.. That's cute.", Aomine smiled, handling the paper to the other man.

"No it's not.", he answered, taking the note from Aomine's hand in a brusque manner. "Why the hell is there a question mark here ? You want me to guess the last digit ?", he asked as he raised his brow and pointed at the note.

"Exactly.", Aomine crossed his arms.

Kagami sighed and shook his head, a little smirk on his face. "Are you shitting me.."

He walked towards his motorbike, which was just behind Aomine's car, and unlocked his helmet lock. They both laughed about the coincidence and while Kagami sat on the bike, Aomine realized he had another question, "Hey, wait. How did you know I wasn't straight ?"

Kagami looked at him and shrugged, smirking.

"Just my gut feeling.", he said before strapping his helmet and waving at the man.

And he started his bike.