Poker Night V2 Part 02

Coach Hildebrandt seemed to be pretty happy that he was down a good 20 pounds of fat. Sure it was also 3 pounds of muscle but that had been one of the goals the doctors had set for him for his next checkup. Now it was all gone in an instant and he didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Lance watched as he shuffled the deck a little more giddily, almost humming to himself. He passed out the five cards towards each player.

Lance looked over his a bit apprehensively. He’d already tossed out his big blind of five pounds of fat but wasn’t sure if he really wanted to even bet that. Again there wasn’t much in his hand. Ace high was about all he had but the way Matt was staring down at him, made him really uncomfortable. But just like last time, no one wanted to reabsorb the fat pieces. By losing the 15 pounds of fat, he looked far more shredded that he’d ever been. The QB looked like he could step on stage and no one would think he was out of place at all. 

Matt place his hand forward and bet 3 maroon chips. Based off his dry six pack there wasn’t much more fat he’d be able to bet. Kyle smiled and copied the bet. What Lance couldn’t understand was how little he cared about the game. Even though he’d never even come close to winning a hand, he’d still happily bet as much as he wanted. “Something wrong?” Kyle asked.

“What? No,” Lance replied. It was like Kyle knew he was thinking about him. He looked away watching Coach and Henry each bet another five pounds of their fat. If he was already in, Lance figured he might as well see what he’d get.

“How many?” Coach asked.

“2,” Henry held up two of his fingers. When he looked at his cards he clenched his fist pulling it in by his side. A faint grin crossed his face as he clearly had something.

“4,” Lance flipped the ace of hearts. “I really need something,” he grimaced. Looking over the new cards it didn’t help him at all. Not even a pair. He pushed his cards to the center, clearly not wanting to bet. 

“2,” Matt grabbed the cards and looked at them. He had a surprisingly good poker face. His eyes trailed over the cards as he organized them. However, they didn’t seem to narrow. It was like he was just looking at his cards pretending than actually making it easier to see.

“Just 1,” Kyle smiled. He tilted back and forth on his giant ass without a care in the world. 

‘Does he have something? Or is he just an asshole?’ Lance stared down Kyle who wasn’t even really looking at his cards. He just didn’t seem to care at all. 

“One for me too,” Coach said. He grabbed the card and let out a deep breath. It was low and controlled but he kept it quiet enough that the other guys didn’t seem to notice. “First bet to you big guy,” he gave Henry a pat on the leg. 

“Ok. Well, 6 pounds of muscle and an inch in height,” Henry said as the 7 chips fell from his hand.

“You think you can beat a straight?” Matt mocked. “C’mon man, why you giving that shit away?”

“I guess you’ll have to see,” Henry barely flinched at the remark. Whenever Matt called him on something he always had a bit of a reflex but he was still standing firm.

Matt stared at Henry. He’d always had a glare that could pierce through just about anybody. The strong gaze was only more intimidating on the significantly more muscular man sitting there. “Fuck it, fold.” Matt tossed his cards in the middle and stomped his feet. “Whatever. I’m not about to get any shorter for you fucks.”

“Call,” Kyle smiled as the same chips dropped from his hand. 

“I’ll do the same but raise you 10 years,” Coach said dropping the 17 chips onto the ground.

Matt, Henry and Lance stared in a bit of disbelief. “Are-Are you joking?” Matt stammered. He saw the golden chips rain down over all the other ones and figured it had to be some kind of joke. “You’re really wanting to be older, old man?”

“I’m already old enough. Can’t imagine 58 being that much different than 48. Hell I’d just be closer to retirement,” he laughed. 

“You can’t be serious,” Matt added. Even if he didn’t have any skin in the game, he figured that was still too crazy to bet. That was just too much. 

“Why? It’s any part of what makes you, you. So if one of us were to win, we could just use the chip every year on our birthday and stay 22 for an extra 10 years. But if he loses then he’ll be 32,” Kyle explained. “Are you in?”

“Fuck…” Henry clearly had something. But he didn’t know if it was ten years of his life worth risking. And there was no way someone like Coach was bluffing on that either. That was a huge part of his life, even if he was acting like he didn’t care. He knew what it meant. He clinched his teeth as he held out his hand. 12 golden chips dropped from his hand.

“You’re raising?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah… 2 more years,” Henry didn’t dare look at the pot. He just stared at his cards hoping it was enough to get him through. 

“You tryin to make me retire?” Coach joked. His hearty belly laugh echoed off the lockers. 

“I don’t know. It just feels right,” Henry didn’t know how to defend himself. He just watched Kyle drop the same golden chips down and then Coach add two more. “Alright… Pot right?” 

“Pot right,” Kyle chanted back. “Whatcha got?”

“King high straight,” Henry responded by flipping his cards over. There was still a cautious grin on his face as he didn’t see Coach’s face falter at all. “Well?”

“Sorry buddy, 4’s over 6’s. Full house,” he started pulling the chips in front of him.

Henry seemed struck. “What…” his mouth hung open as he realized the ramifications of what he’d just done. The color had drained from his face as he felt the years ticking by. In seconds his proud hairline had already started to recede. His eyes had grown crow’s feet while his muscles were starting to lose their definition. He’d always hated working out and once he graduated he would have naturally stopped. But the amount of calories he took in was still the same; eating the same greasy food and drinking just as many sodas and beer, if not more. His belly pushed out in front of him, making it more difficult to sit cross legged on the floor. 

He leaned his body, exposing even more of his belly. It was wrapped tightly in the sleeveless shirt clinging to his body. Henry looked over to Kyle for some kind of assurance. If he’d gained this much weight, what happened to that fat ass? However, what happened to him was that he worked out even more. His body took to the weights and he lost a lot of the excess fat he’d had to be a linebacker. Instead of being big and fat, he was just big. He might not have had a six pack but his belly puled in closer to his body and easily hid underneath his pecs. The hair on his head seemed to have disappeared and grew out on his chin into a mighty beard. More dark hair seemed to cover the rest of his body in a deep forest layer.

“What?” Kyle asked.

“Why the fuck do you get to look so good?” Henry shouted.

“I dunno… Guess I didn’t stop working out,” he scratched under his eye. The over joyous smiled seemed a bit overkill as he said it. 

But then Henry’s attention turned to Coach Hildebrandt. All the age lines along his face tightened up, reigniting that firm jawline he’d always had in his youth. All of his skin tightened around his strengthening muscles as each year ticked back onto his life. He’d clearly gone through several different styles as his hair didn’t seem to want to stay the same way. It settled on a crew cut of his youth before he went to the military. “Fuck yeah,” he grinned, flexing his firm bicep. Even giving it a solid slap that echoed through the locker room. “Forgot how good this feels. God damn. Even just thinkin about it’s gettin me worked up. Hey Matt, you know anywhere we can pick up some chicks?”

“Pick up chicks? Fuck yeah. You’re my kind of man,” Matt threw his hand out to grab Dave’s. 

“Matt’s really good at picking up chicks,” Kyle laughed. “Because he always makes sure to let them down.”

Matt’s joyous mood went sour again as he glared at Kyle. He pushed his cards back over to Henry. “Your deal. How about you give me something nice?”

“Sure… Sure…” Henry started shuffling the deck, feeling the creeping amount of back pain in his lower back.