Poker Face
I wanna hold em' like they do in Texas Plays
Fold em' let em' hit me raise it baby stay with me (I love it)
Luck and intuition play the cards with Spades to start
And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh,
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got
Can't read my,
Can't read my
No he can't read my poker face
(She's got to love nobody)
Can't read my
Can't read my
No he can't read my poker face
(She's got to love nobody)
I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be
A little gambling is fun when you're with me (I love it)
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh,
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got
"This is beginning to look like a poor idea, wouldn't you agree?" Johnny sighed, taking off his black t-shirt and tossing it sadly to the side.
"Affirmative." Spinelli agreed, peering over the top of his cards. Maxie and Lulu giggled.
"You guys are just bitter we aren't naked," Lulu hiccupped.
"Damn straight," Johnny snapped back.
"Come on, Spinnie" Maxie wiggled her eyebrows at him. "…Whatcha gonna bet?"
Spinelli looked at his sad pair of threes. "…John Zacchara…thoughts?"
"Spinelli…I am down to my boxers, dude…Obviously I'm not good at reading her."
Maxie bounced in her chair. "I'm awesome."
"Maximista…"
"Spuh nell lee…"
"…The Jackal concedes."
"Does that mean you fold?"
"Indeed. I fold."
"Whoo! Take it off!"
Grumbling, Spinelli tugged his over shirt off, leaving him with only a white tee, pants (& underpants) and one striped beanie in his Strip Poker arsenal. He neatly folded his button down and put it in the pile where his socks, shoes, and hoodie already had been discarded.
"This isn't fair," Johnny grumbled, looking at his simple pile of clothing scattered around the floor. "Spinelli wears like…five layers of clothing…"
"Johnny, pass me the tequila and quit complaining…This evening has been very fair if you ask me."
Lulu smirked and pulled her legs up into her chair, giggling at the fact that she had only lost her flip flops in the war. She probably wouldn't be winning for much longer. The tequila would be taking effect soon enough. Johnny dropped the bottle heavily in her hand and then crossed his arms over his chest.
"…You're going to hangover in the morning…," he pouted. Snickering, Lulu leaned over and pulled on the edge of his boxers in a teasing manner.
"And you are going to have no dignity in the morning…nice ducks." It was true, Johnny's boxers were covered with odd little ducks. He scooted his chair forward under the table more.
"Oooh" Maxie squealed, shuffling the cards for another round "…Lulu is feisty when intoxicated."
"I'm not intoxicated."
To prove her point she laughed heartily and buried her face in her knees. Spinelli reached out a swaying arm and petted her on top of the head.
"You're drunk, Blonde One…You're…really drunk."
Lulu stuck out her tongue. "…Still play poker better than you…Got almost all my clothes."
The tipsy Jackal looked down sadly at his chest as though aware that it's imminent exposure was looming.
"You know, The Jackal admits the game of Strip Poker doesn't exactly agree with his sense of modesty…"
"It's not exactly going the way it should…" Johnny downed a shot of tequila.
"You mean with me and Lulu in our panties and you boys snickering all accomplished?"
Maxie bounced in her seat, accomplished, and started dealing more cards.
"Exactly," Johnny and Spinelli said in unison.
"Hate to disappoint you…" Lulu leaned back in her chair and almost fell out. Johnny snorted.
Spinelli pulled his cards toward him, peeking at them wearily. He sighed. This hand sucked. Goodbye shirt. On the other hand, Maxie was grinning like a bandit who'd just made away with a cool million. Lulu had finally recovered her sense of balance and grappled for her cards and Johnny was stealing a look at his hand.
A moment passed as the quad contemplated what action to take next with their cards.
"Where did you learn to play poker this well, Maximista?" Spinelli quipped, deciding to bluff in the hopes of stalling the inevitable disrobing for just a little bit.
"Where did you learn to lose poker this badly, Spinelli?"
A sigh of contempt. "Touche."
"Is it so hard to believe I'm just amazing at something you are not?"
"Maximista has an entire list of things she is more accomplished at…"
"Spinelli you've had like…3 of those tequilas…how are you still able to form sentences like that?" Johnny asked, amazed.
"Hey, shuddup Johnny, he was telling me all about my skills."
Lulu threw a few chips into the pot. "I for one don't want to know what kind of skills Spinelli may be referring to."
"…The Blonde One surely doesn't not mean to suggest I would kiss and tell…" A bright red blush flooded his cheeks.
"Eww. Eww. No. Spinelli. Don't you start rambling…" Slapping her cards down on the table, Lulu covered her ears.
"Ramble, Spinelli!" Maxie egged on enthusiastically. Johnny was staring at his cards, ignoring the other three, his face paling from a doomed hand.
"No," Spinelli hastily tried to explain. "The Jackal did not mean to imply he was referring to Maximista's seduction techniques…"
"Something wrong with my seduction techniques?"
"No! No! They are most efficient."
"Efficient?!"
"Spinelli, efficient?" Johnny shook his head. "You are never getting any again…"
This seemed to upset Spinelli even more. He quickly tried to save himself.
"No! Maximista is an enthusiastic and skilled and dedicated and highly arousing--"
"La la la la laa," Lulu hummed to herself, plugging her ears and closing her eyes. Johnny hopped up from his chair quickly and grabbed for his jacket.
"Spinelli, buddy, let's go get some air!"
"BRILLIANT idea, Former Mob Prince." Spinelli was bounding towards the penthouse balcony as Maxie and Lulu burst out into laughter watching the duo exit in various stages of undress.
"Don't get a chill out there on the balcony…" Maxie wickedly called after them.
"They're funny. Boys losing is funny," Lulu dropped her head on the side of the table and spun the tequila bottle around.
"We should probably lose a round or two," Maxie sighed.
"Probably."
"…Eventually."
"Definitely eventually."
"You saved me in there, I thank you," Spinelli heavily leaned against the balcony. Johnny followed suit, looking ridiculous in his outfit that left little to the imagination. Glad that he was slightly more skilled than the Mob Prince in all things poker, he relished what dignity he had left.
"It's nothing. Look, we gotta strategize if we're going to start beating those two. They have to have tells, you know?"
Spinelli nodded in agreement. "The Jackal has been trying to read Maximista's poker face all night and has come up empty. At first, I thought she would lean her head to the left every time she got a good hand, but it seems I might be more intoxicated than previously admitted…"
"…And?" Johnny pushed.
"And, I was the one who was leaning…"
Swearing, Johnny tore at his hair. Spinelli shrugged sadly and started rifling through his pockets for something while commenting that he couldn't quite hack the code of womankind.
"This is a question of our manhood, Spinelli. Those girls are not supposed to be winning…it's…an unwritten rule of strip poker…"
"Well…they seem to be awfully stubborn…"
Finding what he was looking for in his pockets, Spinelli brought out a lighter and a cigarette. That surprised Johnny.
"You smoke?"
Spinelli smirked, lighting the end of the cigarette. "…Negative."
"Then what is…" Then realization dawned on him, and Johnny felt stupid. "Oh."
Weed. Of course. Johnny wasn't an innocent little flower but it was dark and he honestly hadn't thought of Spinelli as a stoner. The hacker was one a Shakespearean oddball…weed just seemed a little off character. He must have been making a strange face at this discovery because Spinelli hesitated in taking a puff from his joint.
"Has the Jackal attacked the Mob Prince's delicate senses?"
"I just didn't know you were the type…though…" Johnny thought for a second…The Zen, always talking about Gods and Goddesses and saving the earth…Was Spinelli a hippie? "It explains the affinity for orange soda and barbeque chips…Now that I think about it…It explains a lot…"
Finally taking a puff, Spinelli coughed and smiled. "The Jackal partakes only on special occasions."
"This is a special occasion?"
"…Mostly it's a Stone Cold is gone for the weekend occasion."
"All right Spinelli…" Spinelli was sneakier than Johnny gave him credit for.
"Want some?"
"Sure, what the hell…can't hurt our game at this point…"
"Just…don't get the smoke on you if you can keep from it…"
"Noted."
"No, seriously, Maxie…how are you winning?" Lulu poured herself another shot.
"…Seriously, Lulu, I'm just this good."
"Okay, my dad owns a casino…I was raised with cards in one hand and dice in the other…and I'm not as good as you are…"
"Well you are tipsy." Maxie explained in good spirits. She started counting all the poker chips she had won so far and felt extremely satisfied. It was good to beat Spinelli at something finally.
Downing the shot, Lulu shuddered as it burned. "And you aren't?"
"…Nope!" Maxie replied.
Lulu glared. "Cheater…"
"Not a cheater!" explained Maxie. "Just didn't feel like getting wasted. I've got to meet Frederico in the morning in Manhattan, didn't want to look gross or feel gross."
"Oh the glories of being the first assistant…"
"I like my job."
"I like my job too, but I'm like my whiskey sour too."
Maxie rolled her eyes and started counting her chips.
Johnny and Spinelli couldn't keep straight faces looking over the tops of their cards at one another. For a moment Maxie wondered to herself whether or not they had done something sneaky to the cards. It wasn't until later when she realized that Spinelli was coughing more than usual that she understood. The boys had smoked some weed. To underline her suspicions, Johnny started laughing out of nowhere.
"What's so funny," Lulu quipped in her 'serious poker player' tone. "Are your cards that bad? Are we about to see Johnny lose it all?"
Johnny just shook his head. "Nothing."
Spinelli found that hilarious and burst out laughing.
With a flourish, Maxie tossed down her cards.
"Maximista," Spinelli sat straight up in his chair. "…Did you just fold?"
Obviously he was eager to see what she would choose to remove. Lulu gave her a strange look.
Maxie rolled her eyes. "They're HIGH, Lulu."
Red rose into Spinelli's cheeks, embarrassed about being caught. Johnny however just burst into more laughter. Lulu smacked him on the arm playfully.
"Johnny!"
All he could do was shrug.
Leaning back in her chair, Maxie sighed. "Well, if it wasn't a slaughter before, it will be one now. I was on a roll!"
"Does this mean I get to put my pants back on?" Johnny remarked after a moment of Spinelli sputtering apologies.
Slipping out of her chair, Lulu sauntered over to Johnny in her best drunk, hot girl fashion. She plopped in his lap and playfully ruffled his hair.
"I object to the pants," she kissed him. "In fact, I think you were heading in a good direction…"
"Mehhhh Get a room," Maxie barked as the two embraced again.
Lulu drunkenly saluted Maxie. "Good idea. Johnny, how does a cab back to our place sound?"
In response he quickly began searching for his clothing with Lulu teasing him about his duck boxers the entire time. They waved and stumbled out of the penthouse door after Johnny declared "race you!". Maxie poured herself a shot and downed it. Spinelli seemed to be sobering up very quickly at the thought of aggravating Maxie.
"Maximista, it was not The Jackal's goal for his partaking in the sensational herb to cut the evening short…"
She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You guys were terrible anyways. Oh well, I had fun."
Relieved, Spinelli stood and began cleaning up the table, raking the poker chips loudly into their box. He was unaware of the look Maxie was giving him. Perhaps it was the weed, or the vodka, or his naivety, but Maxie Jones was looking at him like he was her prey.
"I guess Lulu and Johnny will be having some fun tonight…" she muttered, standing slowly. As Spinelli checked the lids of the bottles, Maxie sauntered over to the stereo. He seemed to think that the exit of his party guests meant the end of their evening and was going into "clean up and hide the evidence of social fraternizing from Stone Cold". While he was distracted, Maxie tuned the radio dials, coming across song after song, looking for something in particular. It needed to be sexy, whatever it was. Finally stopping on the perfect song, Maxie smiled to herself.
He had no idea what was coming.
The beat pulsed quietly. Maxie sashayed back over to Spinelli, who was now adjusting the pillows of Jason's couch. It was a good couch, she thought with a grin. Back at his side, Maxie tapped him on the shoulder. Just as he was turning, she pushed him backwards. He hadn't been expecting her to do that of course and fell back heavily against the cushions.
"Maximista?" He slurred slightly.
"Did you not have fun with strip poker, Spinelli?" Maxie began unbuttoning her blouse slowly, looking at him with an air of faux concern.
"…It was an adequate way to spend the evening," he gulped, watching her movements.
"Oh. Adequate, huh?"
By now the music had found a way of pulsing through her veins, and perhaps her quick shot of tequila was playing with her head. Strip poker was fun, of course, but a strip tease was just as enjoyable if not more so. The blouse was gone and Spinelli marveled wordlessly as she slipped her skirt off too. Maxie swished her hips with the music and swatted Spinelli's hands away when he tried to touch her. Holding back a laugh, Maxie marveled at her ability to beat Spinelli at another game. Maxie leaned forward and grabbed the back of the couch, inches away from Spinelli's face.
"A little gambling is fun when you're with me," she muttered along with the song, closing the gap between them with a kiss.