“It’s not the same,” Becky said, “I’m looking at my life and I’m starting to wonder about where I’m at. What I’m doing. Is this really my career, my life? Or do I want something more?”
“Like kids?” Joey prompted.
“You’ve been talking to Mom too much,” Becky said, “But yes. Maybe?”
I startled. I’d been talking about kids for the past year and gotten completely stonewalled. Now Becky was admitting she was at least thinking about it. That was big.
“I guess being home is part of it too,” Becky said, “I used to be so young and fun. Now here I am, feeling like an old lady. I like my life, you know? But sometimes I miss the young, wild me. I don’t remember saying goodbye to her, and now she’s totally gone. It makes me sad sometimes.”
The room was silent. I don’t think Becky had planned on going full monologue, but now that she had, it hit the room like a Hulk fist, smashing through our alcohol-induced good cheer.
“Sorry to be such a downer,” Becky said.
“It’s fine,” I said, “I wish you could say these things to me more.”
“I wish you’d listen,” Becky said. Somehow the room went even silent-er.
“It’s, um, your turn, Drew,” Sierra said.
“I think I’m ready for this game to be over,” I said. I looked at my wife and she nodded slowly.
“After you go, the rest of us can each take one last turn,” Sierra said, “I think it’ll be fun to finish it.”
The way she said it, it made perfect sense. I wasn’t looking forward to yet another fight with my wife. Doing something else for a little longer, even this silly boardgame, seemed like a better option. I looked over at Becky.
“Can we at least talk first?” I asked her.
She smiled at me and stroked my arm. “It’s alright,” she said, “We’re alright. I’m sorry I snapped at you. Let’s just have fun.”
“You’re sure?”
“Definitely,” Becky said, taking another swig of gin.
I took my wife’s word for it. I’m not sure what else I was supposed to do. I spun and landed on an orange dare.
I’ll be honest, I think we got complacent with the game. The fact that I was playing a sex game with my wife and another, college-aged couple — one of whom was my wife’s younger brother — slipped away at some point. The alcohol helped, for sure. The toughest part of the game had been a truth card, for God’s sake. That says a lot.
So, when I turned over my card, I was legitimately surprised. My heart leapt in my chest. My stomach dropped to the floor. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited and terrified at the same time.
“Ummm, OK,” I said, “I think I’m going to pass on this one.”
“You can only pass once,” Sierra said quickly.
“Since when?”
“It’s in the rulebook. I’m sure I said it before,” Sierra said. She handed me the manual as if I was actually going to check. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.”
I gave her a searching look. That was pretty confident coming from someone who didn’t know what the card said.
“Do you have to kiss Joey?” Becky asked, sounding a bit too enthusiastic.
I couldn’t even say the words. I just turned the card over so the table could read.
“Oh wow,” Becky said.
“Nice!” Joey said, then quickly recovered, “I mean, um, yikes.”
But it was Sierra who I was searching. The beautiful brunette stared hard at the card. She made her little processing face, which somehow only made her more adorable.
“Well, I guess I walked into that one,” she said, then smiled at me broadly.
The card said, “Get a one-minute handjob from the person of the opposite sex on the other team.”
“Sorry,” I said, truly meaning it. Yes, sure, this was my dream come true. But that’s the thing about dreams: they ignore some important aspects of reality. Things like the fact that the hot girl’s boyfriend and your own wife are watching it happen. That you both must and must not enjoy what’s going on. Any excitement I might have felt about the idea was overcome by my anxiety about its actual execution. Even the thought of taking off my boxer shorts in front of the incredible coed made me feel ill.
“It’s OK,” Sierra said, “I’m happy to do it for you, truly. It’ll be fun.”
My wife went around the table and sat next to her younger brother so Sierra could settle down at my side. Her bright green eyes shone wide at me. A smile played on her full lips.
The gorgeous girl slipped her hand down my bare chest slowly. “Start the timer,” she said, and dipped under my boxers.