"You know, the benefit of all my friends being girls and playing strip poker is supposed to be that I get to see a bunch of girls remove their clothes," Xander griped as he removed his pants, leaving only his boxer shorts as his remaining clothing.
Buffy shuffled the cards and smiled at Xander. She was barefoot and lacking pants, but otherwise doing fairly well. "It might have been a good idea to brush up on your poker playing before you agreed to play with us."
"I find this game very enjoyable," Anya said, staring at Xander. She was in the same boat as Buffy, pants and shoes deprived. "This would be a very good lead-in to sex, Xander. Can we play with just two people?"
Xander smiled, ignored the question and turned to his red-headed best bud. Willow was the smartest of the group. She had arrived for the evening in layers. She was fairly warm at first, but now, having removed a jacket, sweater and her shoes, she was left in jeans and a tank top.
"Will, why didn't you tell me your girlfriend was so good at this game? Totally not fair," Xander complained.
"I didn't know," Willow said. She shot a glance at Tara, who simply smiled smugly. All she had removed so far was her shoes, and she hadn't even dressed in layers. "Believe me, I'm disappointed."
"One of the few times I could actually tolerate my dad and brother was when we played cards once a week," Tara said. She looked at Willow with a raised eyebrow. "And did you honestly believe I would actually agree to strip poker if I didn't know I was good at the game?"
"I don't know. Maybe," Willow said, feigning ignorance. Then she gave Tara a coy smile. "Wishful thinking, I guess."
"We don't have to play poker for that," Tara said with a smirk. Then she remembered they weren't alone and blushed slightly.
"Okay, so one more hand," Buffy said, noticing Tara's embarrassment. "Well, one more hand if Xander loses."
"I feel good about this one," Xander said as Buffy dealt the cards.
"That's what you said last time, sweetie," Anya said, patting Xander on the leg. "Then you tried to bluff against Tara's royal flush with a pair of sixes, and you lost your pants."
"Thank you for the recap," Xander said dejectedly while the others laughed. He picked up his cards and looked to Tara questioningly. "How could you tell I was bluffing?"
"Your left eye does this little twitchy thing when you're bluffing," Tara said, examining her own cards. "And you lick your lips."
"No, I don't," he said defensively. He looked to the others. "Do I?"
"Yeah, you do," Buffy said with an apologetic smile. "Sorry."
"Everybody has a 'tell' when they bluff," Tara said. "Buffy twists her hair around her finger. Anya plays with her necklace. Willow shuffles her cards and avoids eye contact with anybody."
"And you scratch behind your right ear," Anya said as she sorted the cards in her hand. Tara looked surprised.
"Wh-what?"
"You scratch behind your right ear," Anya repeated. "During the first hand, when Xander folded and all you had was a pair of fours, you scratched behind your right ear. And later when Willow folded and you had absolutely nothing, you scratched behind your right ear."
"I love having an observant fiance," Xander said with a grin. He pointed at Tara. "Prepare to lose your shirt, Tara." He noticed the glares he was getting from Willow and Anya. "And I'm excited about that purely in a competitive way."
The hand progressed and everybody was very self-conscious about their 'tells' that had been revealed. Finally, Willow, Buffy and Anya had all folded. It was left between Xander and Tara, yet again. Xander watched Tara as she looked at her cards. He watched her scratch behind her right ear and smiled.
"Ha! I saw that!" he said excitedly, pointing at her and then laying his cards face up on the table. He had two tens, two nines and an ace. "I call. Two pair."
Tara smiled as she spread her hand on the table, and the others chuckled while Xander gaped. "Full house. Aces over kings."
"Dammit!"
"I knew you would think I was bluffing," she said. "Sorry, Xander."
"Poker is just not your game," Buffy said, patting Xander's hand. He sighed as Tara cleaned up the cards. He moved to put his pants back on.
"Well-played, Tara," he said. "You should go pro or something."
"Ooh, I hear you can make lots of money in poker tournaments," Anya said. "You should play professionally. I could help you. You could get famous enough to do endorsements and I could be your business manager and earn a ludicrous percentage of your winnings."
"Just because I can out-bluff Xander doesn't mean I can do that to the pros," she commented, smiling at Anya's proposition. "It's a little different than strip poker."
"Next time we should play something easier," Willow said, giving Xander a sympathetic grin. "Like strip go fish."
"Oh, I heard about something called naked Twister," Anya said. "That sounds like a lot of fun."
The others smiled and Buffy stood. "I think that's more of a two-player game for you and Xander, Anya."
Xander had reclaimed all of his clothing and looked at the clock. "Well, we should get going. I have to be at the site early tomorrow."
"Goodnight," the others said as Anya and Xander headed for the front door.
"Can we practice strip poker when we get home?" Anya asked as they walked to the car. Buffy turned back to the living room.
"Okay, I have pants around here somewhere," she said. Willow and Tara smiled. They headed for the front door together. "Goodnight you guys."
"Goodnight," they called. They left Buffy in search of her pants and started walking back toward campus.
"You really surprised us all with the poker playing," Willow commented. "You're really good."
"That's not the only game I'm good at," Tara replied, a mischievous grin curling her mouth.
"Oh? What else?" Willow asked.
Tara winked at her as she answered, "Naked Twister."