The words take me back to the night before graduation. It's stupid, not to mention bad for my bank account, but I can't help thinking back.

"Ante up, Witter."

I look over the cards in my hand at the woman across the table. Everyone else is out, sprawled around the room in various stages of unconsciousness, but Joey and I are still going strong. She's got a smug grin on her face and I know that she's holding some decent cards. But I've never been one to give up a fight. "What do you say we start to make this interesting?"

"What do you have in mind?" She lifts her glass and takes a sip. She and I came to play cards so we'd been taking it easy on the booze that had been flowing, but now that it was just the two of us, she was being a little less cautious.

"I'll see your wager, Miss Potter," I drawl out her name, knowing how much it irritates her, as I toss the chips into the center of the table. "And I raise you…a kiss."

"A kiss?" Her eyebrow arches up and she smirks at me. "With you?"

"Well, you're welcome to paw some of the knocked out boys, but I thought you might like a…willing participant."

"And you'd be willing? To kiss me?"

I grin, knowing that she's caught me. "Well, not unwilling. I mean, sometimes you have to make sacrifices. If you think the cards are good enough."

She sits there for a long moment, contemplating. "All right, Witter. You think you've got the goods on me? I'll see your kiss. And I'll raise you."

"Raise me?" My grin widens. "How you gonna do that, Josephine?"

"I'll raise you…" She emphasizes the word, the double entendre hanging in the air. "A grope."

I pretend to shiver. "You mean I get to put my meaty paws all over your delicate skin? Under the shirt? Over the bra? Under the bra?"

"Great, now I have to put up with you quoting movies as well."

"I'm just defining the terms."

She looks over at Dawson who's laying on the couch, more than three sheets to the wind. He inhaled a bottle of rum somewhere along the line and I doubt he'll be feeling too perky come morning. "Whoever wins the hand makes the call."

"So…say I win," I lay my cards flat on the table and raise my glass. Staring at her over the rim of it, I take a quick drink. "I turn those babies over, I got the winning hand, I choose what I get to grope?" Disbelief fills my tone. "Joey Potter, Ice Queen of Capeside, is going to let me slide my hands under her shirt, under her bra and get a happy handful?"

"If you win." She nods and I begin to wonder exactly how much drinking she's actually done. "But if I win…"

"Yes?"

She shrugs, "I'll return the favor. In my own way, of course."

"So either way, I win." I shrug and pick up my cards. "All right. Lay 'em down."

"Pacey?"

I turn my attention back to the game at hand and nod at the rest of the guys at the table. "I fold."

"You can't fold, man!"

I finish my beer and toss my cards into the pot. "I'll see you guys next week."

"Witter!"

"See ya."

She holds her cards against her lips as I flip mine face up. Four of a kind, all aces. I had her dead to rights. "Come on, Potter. Pay up. You wanna go to some place a little more private? Or are you looking forward to the audience of drunkards?"

When she pulls the cards away, I can see she's biting her lower lip, which, as always, sends a jolt of desire through me. I may not be the man Joey Potter wants, but I'm sure as hell the man who wants her most. She licks her lips, torturing me on purpose now and lays 'em down one at a time. "Eight of hearts. Nine of hearts. Ten of hearts. Jack of hearts. Queen of hearts. Now, what was it you were saying?"

"You…damn." I shove the rest of my chips toward her, knowing that I'm going to be paying in cash in a few hours. "Damn woman. Where the hell did you learn to play poker?"

She gets up, standing and stretching, her lithe body setting my nerve endings on fire. "I believe you taught me. Just another way you helped me misspend my youth."

I stand as well, my breathing more than a bit labored. "So…this wager?"

She nods and reaches across the table to take my hand. I follow her into the bathroom, moving aside as she locks the door behind us. "Shall we start with the kiss?"

I've never seen her move that way, all seductive and sweet at the same time. She places her hands on my shoulders and presses up against me, forcing me back against the wall. Her lips hover over mine and I, for the life of me, can't figure out how the hell I got in this position. "Joey?"

"Shut up, Pacey. For once in your life?" She moves again and I'm kissing her. My tongue is wrapped together with hers, licking and tasting the inside of her mouth, sweeping over her teeth. She catches it and sucks on it lightly before releasing me and pulling away. I've paid the bet, but she leans forward for more, this time a succession of kisses, each hotter than the one before.

Funny, I don't remember wagering my soul, but I'm pretty sure she took it in one of those searing moments.

I'm shaking, barely able to stand when she pulls back completely. She looks completely in control except for the swollen lips and the harshness of her breath. She's smiling softly and I remember what she used to be like before her family life went to hell, when she was all soft and innocent and… Hell, I'd forgotten how long I'd had a thing for her.

"You're almost paid up."

In my mind all I can think of is the fact that she knew the cards she was holding when she made this bet. So she wanted this. She wanted to find the next level with me. I don't pretend that she and Dawson haven't explored all this territory by now, but it means something that she wants this, maybe as much as I do.

"I always like to settle my bets as quickly as I can."

She nods. "Sound policy." Her hands move to my waist and she tugs at my shirt, pulling it free from my pants. I hadn't actually given any thought to where she might be groping, but as her intentions become clear, my body does its level best to catch up. She smiles as she notices my erection, already visible from our steamy kisses, grow even more prominent at the thought of her hands.

She makes short work of the zipper, pushing my pants and boxers down until they're about halfway down my thighs. Her gaze fixes on my cock and I can't help but wonder if she's comparing me with Dawson. Which means I really can't help but wonder how I measure up.

"Well, at least you're not welching on the bet." She whispers as she takes me in her hand, covering the length of it in one long, smooth movement. I close my eyes; sure that they're rolling back in my head as her hand continues to stroke me. My hands clench into fists, grabbing the towel on the rack behind me as I brace myself against the wall.

I can feel myself shaking and I know that, if she's only copping a feel, I'm going to be in a world of hurt when she's done. I only hope no one feels the urgent need to purge their system while I'm jerking off in her wake.

"Pacey?" She's still whispering, but I can hear the uncertainty in her voice. Gone is the vixen that's been torturing me for the past few minutes. "Aren't you…?"

I look into her eyes. "Joey, I didn't win the bet."

Her hand stops moving and she gently swipes her thumb over the tip of my cock, sending ripples of pleasure through me. "Pacey?"

I groan and release the towel, moving my hands to cup her breasts. Her nipples are already hard, pressing against the fabric of her shirt. I rub them through the thin material then bend my head to take her in my mouth. Even the rough cloth feels like heaven as the tip of my tongue dances over the hard tip. My hands move down to the bottom of her shirt and I'm pulling it off of her, hating that she has to stop touching me to take it off.

Not wanting to prolong my agony, I remove her bra at the same time then let my hands roam free over her silky skin. Her eyes are closed now and the control is gone. She finds my cock again without looking, stroking it faster as my hands knead her soft flesh. I can feel myself getting closer and I know that I have to stop her. Pretty soon this is going to be more than a wager, pretty soon it's going to be messy, both physically and emotionally.

I pull away from the succulence of her neck, where I've been planting kisses, sucking light enough not to leave any marks. I'm panting like crazy, teetering on the edge of ecstasy. I catch her hand, stilling it. "Jo."

She takes her hand from mine and holds it against her bare stomach. Her eyes are wide and shocked, glazed with passion. "I'm sorry, Pacey. I…" She stops then, moving forward to kiss me. I grab the towel behind me again, barely registering as the towel holder snaps and breaks free of the wall. Without anything to hold on to, my hands wrap around her and I lift her, carrying her over to the edge of the counter.

She shoves me away and now her eyes are wild. This simple bet has spiraled out of control into something neither of us knows what to do with. Her hands start unfastening her jeans and she shoves both them and her panties to the floor. Okay, she does know what to do with…whatever this is.

I don't think. I can't think. I lift her up onto the counter and slide between her legs. I stop, my short nails digging into her thighs. "Jo…"

"Pill," she mumbles, biting my shoulder as she urges her hips forward. I groan my defeat and slide inside her, burying myself as deeply as I can. We thrust against one another in abandon, neither of us caring about the people on the other side of the door.

Her legs wrap around me and she's grinding against me and I lose what tenuous hold I have on my senses. I sink my teeth into her shoulder as I climax, too far gone to care that I've left evidence of our indiscretion. Her muscles contract around me and I can vaguely feel the warm rush of her orgasm as she bites her lower lip to keep from crying out.

We both stop moving at the same time, unable to meet each other's eyes. I rub lightly at the teeth marks in her skin. "Shit. Sorry."

She looks at her shoulder. "They'll fade."

I pull away slowly and look around the room, not knowing how to look at her. "Jo…"

"I'm going to shower." She slides off the counter and kicks her jeans and panties off all the way. "Wanna join me?"

"I shouldn't. Hell, you're my best friend's girlfriend."

"Pacey?" She steps into the shower and holds her hand out to me. "Don't make me kick your ass at poker again."

"Back so soon?"

"I was losing."

"Really?"

I nod and take the bag of pretzels off of her lap and snag a few. "I couldn't concentrate."

"Who was winning?"

"Dawson."

"Did he have a good hand?"

I sink down beside her and pull her into my lap. "If he didn't then, he probably does now, since I stole his girl."

"I was talking about the cards."

I think back to the night that we told Dawson what had happened and how. He insisted, since that was how it had all started, that we play a poker game to decide our fate. It really wasn't a fair game. Joey and I are consummate bluffers and Dawson doesn't exactly have a poker face.

It really didn't matter though, since the outcome would have been the same, no matter who won.

I kiss her softly, "So was I."

3/20/00