Poker Night V2 Part 03

It was hard for Henry to get used to his bigger body. The large gut mounted in front of him made it near impossible to lean forward. He ended up setting himself up on the bench and leaning over watching over everyone. “I can’t believe you had that…” he whined. “I thought I was going to win…”

“Quit cryin about it,” scolded Matt.

Henry went silent as he shuffled the deck. Lance wasn’t sure what to say. He could see just how much Coach Hildebrandt loved being in his twenties again. The coach clearly had been a strong college athlete as the heavy weight that had draped around his belly was now tightly formed muscles up and down his arms. He’d gotten up and stared at every bit of his reflection in the mirror. Making sure to check out every new cut angle that he hadn’t seen in years. “This time it’ll be different,” he smiled to himself as he plopped down onto the ground instead of the bench.

“Think you’re first bet buddy,” he said to Lance.

“Right…” Lance thought about his body right now. There was no way he could bet fat anymore. He was already at a dangerously low percentage. And he might have thought the six inches in his pants was a good size but that would also make the betting really high. The only thing he felt like he could get rid of was his height. He tossed a green chip into the center. “Guess I’ll just bet that…” he groaned. It’d be the last time he had to bet and he resolved not to play anymore after that. 

Matt tosses in 3 maroon chips. Despite losing the last match he still looked insanely defined. Judging by how dry and cut he still looked there was no way he’d be able to bet any fat. And Lance knew full well he wasn’t about to bet anything else. 

Henry started to deal the cards and Lance looked over his. Again there was nothing. Nothing that could even build off of, just five random cards that might pair up. He kept his groan to himself just in case. “You in?” Matt turned to Kyle. He suddenly seemed excited to play again. Kyle smiled and tossed in the same three maroon chips. “What about you coach?” Coach Hildebrandt threw in the same. “And you?” 

Henry paused looking over his body. “I don’t…”

“Don’t be a pussy. Even Lance is in,” the condescension seeped through Matt’s voice. “The dwarf bet a whole fucking inch of his height and you can’t even bet that fat off of yourself?”

“I’m not that short!” Lance interrupted. The foot drop was a lot but he was still fairly average. Average to guys not really on the football team that is. But the interruption seemed to have given Henry the courage to toss in 5 orange chips to the center. 

“Thata boy,” Matt grinned.

“How many..?” Henry asked.

“3,” Lance said. He just tossed the 2, 5 and 7 in his hand hoping that the Jack and Queen would actually give him something. They didn’t he ended up with another 2 and 5 making him toss his cards in frustration. 

“Just one big guy,” Matt seemed to be testing Henry even more. Henry dealt the card trying his best not to grimace. The comment used to be a joke between the two because Henry was always just a bit smaller out of the two. He’d always tried working harder to get bigger but Matt was always just a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger, and a little bit more confident about his body. But now Henry was the bigger guy and he didn’t like it. 

“I’ll take 2,” Kyle smiled absently. His buff hairy body looked really good on him. Even if he was 10 years older he looked far more skilled and stronger than he had been. Instead of the large rotund belly sitting under his pecs, his waist actually looked like it caved in towards his hips. But he wouldn’t stop running his hands through the dense hair that had sprouted up all over him either. Before the hand started, Matt kept giving him an angry stare as he adjusted his seating position. He just slightly scooted further away from the big guy.

“2 also,” Coach Hildebrandt said. He didn’t look too confident at his cards but at the same time he wasn’t about to risk anything either. He just put them down in front of him. He’d pushed himself onto the ground again feeling the bench was unnecessary. The school polo and khakis looked really good on his more muscular frame but he clearly needed a belt to hold up his pants.

“And then 3 for me…” Henry said to himself. He looked over his cards and a faint smile appeared on his face again. 

“Alright, fags out so I’m betting 10 pounds of muscle,” Matt declared. 

“I’ll actually fold,” Kyle smiled.

“Yeah me too,” Coach went back to the mirror still not over his body yet. He’d taken his shirt off to see the definition he’d had when he was younger. There was no way he was going to risk it on another card game.

Henry however bit the side of his mouth. He was thinking hard about what he wanted to do. “Ok,” he said as he was about to drop the 30 pounds of fat into the center of the pile.

“Hey,” Matt started off. “Is that really what you want to risk?”

Henry paused for a second. “What do you mean…”

“Look, all I’m saying is you clearly spent a lot of the last ten years just eating like crap and gaining all that weight. What if I gave you a chance to get some of that back?” there was a devious look in Matt’s eyes as he said it.

“What are you trying to say?” Henry leaned forward.

“It’s simple. You clearly have something in your hand right? Something that looks like it’s kind of decent. But what if I was willing to risk a little more than just 10 pounds of muscle.”

“Like what..?” Henry was taking the bait.

“Like, let’s say 7 years of my life? I’ll be an even 30 and you’ll be back in your 20’s. You can actually spend that time still partying it up and drinking and then maybe make a few better life choices. Ones that don’t include you… Well… I don’t want to be mean,” beating around the bush was far worse to Henry than just calling the guy fat. He’d spent most of his life doing his best to be in shape and now the only shape he knew was a circle. The firm belly was hard to move around in and his joints seemed to already be creaking.

“Ok, fine. But then what do I bet?” 

“All of your talent in football,” Matt confirmed.

“W-what!?” Henry was taken aback by the request. It was all he had to even get into the damned school. If he wasn’t on the football team there was no way his teachers would have let him slide by with the papers he’d turned in. Even some of the answers on the test were ‘accidently’ not marked wrong. “I-I-I can’t do that.”

“What are you going to do with it anyways? And if you win you still get to keep it. Plus the 7 years of my life too. Think about what you could do in that time. Miami and Houston’s been lookin at us a lot right now. Isn’t that right coach?” He called out to Coach Hildebrandt who gave him confirmation. “See? You’d be a senior, still fit and ready to go. But as you are now,” Matt added a scoff, “I mean really… The pros don’t look like that.”

Henry looked over his cards again. The sheer fear, grimace and hope all mixed on his face as he thought about what he was about to do. He’d be giving up nearly everything he’d grown up doing. But it would also mean he’d get his life back. He’d be able to enjoy it. And maybe get even more. 

“C’mon, don’t be like that fag over there. Actually risk something,” Matt barked. “Do it.”

“Fuck,” Henry whimpered as he placed his hand out in front of him watching several stacks of chips in front of him. “You such an asshole.”

“Don’t be like that, it’s just a game,” Matt smiled. He dropped in the 7 golden chips. “Pot’s right?”

“Pot’s right,” confirmed Kyle. 

“Sweet! 4 of a kind,” Matt smiled. “Luck’s really pulling out tonight,” he started pulling the massive pile of chips towards him. Henry’s mouth hung agape, unable to rationalize what just happened to him. The cards in his hand dropped one by one the more it downed on him that Matt had just stolen his football talent. 

“You’ve gotta… You’ve gotta be…” Henry couldn’t finish his sentence as he watched Matt start absorbing the height, muscle and talent into his body. The already large and broad shouldered athlete just looked even bigger. His chest pushed out a little further and he clearly had crazy definition all over his body. He started absorbing the talent chips into his hands and littler things about the width of each of his fingers and the length of his arms started to change. Just small minute changes to make his body even more perfect for the sport. His large towering frame just looked all the more impressive with each chip he took in.

But there was still a stack of chips in front of him. “Hey. What gives?” he demanded.

“You’re as skilled as you could possibly ever be,” Kyle laughed. “You’d technically be the best football player to ever live. You just gotta get there first.”

“What? So what am I supposed to do with the rest of these chips?” Matt demanded.

“Spend them later I guess,” Kyle shrugged. His heavy shoulders seemed to be uncaring as he handed his cards to Lance. “Looks like it’s your deal now,” he said. “Why don’t you deal yourself something nice?”