The Wager

by Rene Folsom

  “Ahh, Jack Daniels and Coke,” she answered, lifting her glass up to examine it as if she didn’t know it was empty. “Man, I drank that quickly. Must’ve been thirsty.”

  “Want another? Jack is my poison of choice too.”

  “Sure,” she said, following me back toward the bar area. “Nice place you got here.”

  “Thanks. I don’t usually have people over often.” I also seemed to blabber about nonsensical stuff when I felt uncomfortable or nervous. But she didn’t need to know that. Grabbing her glass, I decided to make more normal conversation. “So, how do you know Sk— oh, I mean, Lolita.”

  “She’s been a buddy of mine for quite a few years now. We hit it off after meeting in a line on Black Friday, waiting for our turn to snatch up the new Xbox.”

  Grabbing the drink I offered her, our hands brushed together for a moment, and I couldn’t help but notice how much I was acting like a goddamn teenager.

  “Thanks,” she whispered, placing the straw to her lips again and watching me make my own.

  Just as I finished mixing my drink, I noticed her staring at me, intently studying my features. I’d never had a woman gaze at me so fixedly, as if she wanted to lift the mask and meet the real me. Before I could speak, she smiled and softly said, “The Angel of Music never had such stunning blue eyes. I bet if he did, Christine wouldn’t have been able to resist.”

  “I have a confession to make,” I said, crooking my finger for her to come closer. With her face close to mine, I bowed my head and said, “I’ve never actually watched Phantom of the Opera. I just thought the costume was cool.”

  Backing away, she gasped, placing her gloved hand over her lips in mock horror. “That’s got to be criminal. How can you dress like a character you know nothing about? You must watch it right away.”

  “Eh, I’ve never been a fan of musicals. I got the gist of it with a few quick internet searches,” I said with a shrug.

  “Well, I might need to force feed it to you one of these days. It’s a classic,” she said with a giggle, and the idea of seeing her again was probably a damn good reason to suffer through it.

  “Looking forward to it,” I said while leading her out onto the terrace where things were a bit quieter.

  It didn’t take long for the conversation to start flowing, only taking breaks to refill our drinks a few times. Before I knew it, at least an hour had passed with us jabbering on about our interests, especially our love of the game. The winter night air was quite chilly, especially for Tampa, and I wondered if she was warm enough.

  Suddenly, it seemed as if our conversation took a turn for the serious and we began to talk about our wishes and desires. It seemed a bit heavy when we were just getting to know each other for the first time, but we’d already had a few drinks and they seemed to be going straight to our head. So, I just flowed with it.

  As she settled down on the chaise next to me, she looked through her masked eyes and asked, “So, if you could have only one thing before you die, what would it be?”

  “Your name,” I whispered, the answer falling off my tongue before I could even think of anything else. The blush that filled her face was so adorable, and again, I wondered what she was thinking at that moment. “How about you?”

  Her blush deepened as she looked away, her silent embarrassment making the answer even more intriguing. With a single finger, I turned her head back to face me, prompting for some sort of answer. “What do you wish for, Black Cat?”

  Without saying a word, she inched her lips closer to mine, the black lipstick worn off a bit from the drinks we’d been sucking down. Feathering my fingers over her soft cheek, I watched with fascination as her mouth moved closer to mine, my heart hammering in my chest over the possibility of kissing her.

  This was the first time in a really, really long time that I was actually nervous about kissing a woman. Usually, I felt the need to out of obligation, not desire. This time, however, I wanted nothing more than to feel her soft lips on mine, taste her, breathe her in.

  With a final gasp of air, our mouths collided in a soft embrace, enveloping each other in warmth. The kiss seemed both passionate and gentle, all in the same moment. Wrapping my hand behind her head, threading my fingers into her white hair, I deepened the kiss, parting my mouth marginally to offer her more.

  And she took it.

  Pushing her entire body against me, she strengthened our embrace, thrusting her tongue out to dance with mine. She tasted so amazing, like whiskey mixed with a unique blend of sugary sweetness. I could feel the familiar stirring in my body, an ache that would definitely need to be satisfied soon if she kept moving her tongue like that so expertly.

  Loud counting as they waited for the ball to drop came from just inside the door and caused us both to jump like guilty teenagers. With a quick glance, I could see no one was paying much attention to us—all their focus on the large television inside. Well, not all. Some morons were in my dining room, causing me to have a panic attack with their antics.

  “Goddamn it,” I cursed, holding her to me so she wouldn’t go anywhere.

  “What?”

  “They’re playing beer pong on my dining room table. Not that I ever use the thing, but it’s still driving my OCD mad,” I whispered, touching my lips to hers once more for a quick peck.

  “Want to go stop them before they screw something up?” she asked, looking through the holes in her mask and into my eyes.

  “Naw, I’d rather stay here with you.” Placing my lips to hers, I delved in for another passionate kiss, wanting to devour her, fill her with warmth, and make her need me just as much as I needed her in that moment. Pulling away slightly, I mumbled against her lips. “You never answered my question.”

  “What question?” she asked, touching my lips with her fingertips, feeling my soft skin beneath her touch.

  “What do you want?” I probed again, wanting her to answer the same question I did—which seemed like ages ago.

  “Right now, I only have one thing I want,” she said, again being vague with her answer.

  “And that is?”

  “You… in bed.”

  Her words caught me off guard. I’d never expected her to say something so straightforward, and I couldn’t help but question whether it was the alcohol talking or not.

  “And how much have you had to drink tonight?” I asked, half joking.

  “Enough to go straight to my bladder,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m completely lucid. Just because a girl wants to have a good time doesn’t mean she’s gotta be drunk to do it.”

  “Good to know,” I said, placing another light peck on the soft skin at the corner of her mouth. “So, you want to have me in bed and I want your name. Whatever shall we do?”

  “I know just what to do,” she said, backing away as a broad grin crept across her face. “Let’s settle it in Smash.”

  Chapter Six

  Maci: Settle it in Smash

  “So, we’ll play Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Best two out of three. If you win, I’ll give you my name and number. I win, and you take me to your bed—no names. Agreed?” I said, holding my hand out and waiting for him to take the bait.

  “I guess we don’t get the best of both, huh?”

  “Nope,” I said, popping the P to finalize my wishes. I honestly wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, but I sure as hell wanted to have some fun with Mr. Phantom tonight. “Oh, and don’t tell any of your friends we have this wager.” The last thing I needed was them thinking I was a total slut.

  Reaching for my hand, he slid his palm to meet mine and squeezed, shaking up and down in a slow motion. “Agreed.”

  After a quick run to the bathroom, I grabbed myself another drink, along with one for Phantom, and looked around for where he went. Poking his head out of a side room, he said, “In here.”

  I couldn’t help the smile that made its way on my face. Making my way through the throng of people, I followed him into the room. My jaw once again dro
pped to the floor at the sight.

  It was a game room.

  Plush leather couches surrounded a huge television, with several game consoles set neatly on the shelves beneath it. To one side was a full wall of nothing but games, games, and more games. It was a gamer’s wet dream come true.

  And the sound system… drool. I couldn’t seem to keep the saliva in my mouth at the beauty this room held.

  Setting the drinks in a center console built into the sectional, I sat on the couch and sighed with the feel of the luxurious leather beneath my ass.

  “You ready?” Phantom asked, handing me a classic GameCube controller.

  “Oh, thank Christ you have these. I thought for sure I’d be stuck with the damn nunchucks,” I said with a laugh as I palmed the controller in my hand.

  “You have such little faith in me,” he said as he pressed a few buttons and made his way to sit beside me, grabbing his drink and taking a rather healthy swig.

  The intro came up and, after mashing a few buttons, we chose our characters. Liam went for Wolf, while I chose Solid Snake.

  “Why do you want to be a dude?” he asked, stupid words flying from his mouth before he had a chance to think about them.

  “Am I automatically required to choose a chick character because I have boobs?” I asked, worried I had pegged him wrong. Sexist comments like that really irked me.

  “Nah, it’s just what most chicks go for. Stereotypes are overrated anyway,” he said as the countdown started and our characters appeared on screen.

  My muscles tensed as the words “GO!” appeared on the screen, and I braced myself, unsure of just how skilled this man would be. Considering he had this whole elaborate setup, an entire room dedicated to gaming alone, told me I might’ve been in over my head.

  After our first round, which I won by a hair thanks to Snake’s rocket launcher, I looked around and noticed several people gathering in the room to watch.

  “Great, now I have an audience to witness you kicking my ass,” Phantom joked.

  “Damn skippy!” I said a little louder than deemed necessary.

  Before we had a chance to start our second game, Sky came over and sat down next to me, leaning in so she could talk without many others hearing her. “I’m gonna head home.”

  “Why? Is everything okay?” I asked, worried about the strain in her voice.

  “Yeah, I’m just not feeling great. You should stay and keep having fun. Call me tomorrow to make sure I’m still alive,” she joked, turning to get up from the couch.

  “Hang on. I’ll go with you,” I said, preparing to hand over my controller and bail on my bet with Phantom.

  “Hell no,” she said, sitting back down and leaning in so she could whisper in my ear. “I started, and I’d prefer all these douches not to know. I don’t need an escort, I just need to go home and plug myself.”

  “Ahh, okay. Sorry,” I whispered. “Glad you’re going to be okay though. How about you call me tomorrow when you’re not shoving chocolate in your pie hole.”

  Laughing, she leaned in for a hug. “Deal.”

  “What the hell are we waiting for?” the V for Vendetta dude hollered from behind us.

  “Just chill, dude,” Phantom said over his shoulder. Leaning into me, he whispered, “Everything okay?”

  “Yep, she just wanted to tell me she was going home.” The sincere smile I flashed him was all he needed to get his head back in the game. “You ready to lose your ass?”

  “Bring it.”

  A few hoots and hollers filled the room as we started our next round, and I suddenly felt a bit self-conscious that we had such an audience.

  “Whatever happened to the beer pong anyway?” I asked as I bumped shoulders with Phantom and dodged Wolf’s blaster.

  “Guess they want to watch me wipe the floor with you,” he joked just before using the Wolf illusion.

  The shit talk didn’t stop, the both of us hurling insults back and forth while we fought. Phantom ended up winning the second round, which meant whoever won the last battle also won the bet.

  Our audience continued to dwindle, the night getting later as we finished up our final game. Only a few remained. With a quick glance, I could tell they weren’t going to last long.

  The next thing I knew, the word “Game!” was displayed across the screen and my Solid Snake character did its winner’s pose.

  “Hah! Take that, Wolf!” I screamed, jumping up and doing some God-awful booty dance in front of the television. I didn’t care what I looked like though. I just won the bet.

  Looking over at the Phantom, I stopped dancing. He was grinning up at me, almost as if he had some sort of secret he was keeping from me.

  “You did not just throw that match so I would win, did you?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest at the thought he would be so sneaky.

  “In front of my colleagues who are delusional enough to think I’m the best gamer around? Hell no,” he said with a laugh, holding his arms out toward the empty room. “Shit. Where’d everyone go?”

  “They gave up on us.” Laughing, I walked over to him and crawled on his lap. “Should we check the rest of your place and make sure we’re alone first?” I asked, pecking him on the lips once, twice, three times, to hopefully distract him a bit.

  “Nah, I know we’re not. My best friend is a leech and wouldn’t have left without making a scene,” he said while wrapping his arms around my waist and returning my kisses.

  “Well, you know what happens next, right?” I whispered against his lips.

  “What?”

  “It’s time for me to collect.”

  Chapter Seven

  Liam: I’m Game

  Walking into the great room, I noticed Thad completely passed out on the main couch, his mask in his hand like he’d taken it off just as he fell to sleep. Putting my finger over my lips, I motioned for her to stay quiet and follow me. The sound of the boots she still had on her feet made a light clopping sound, her face scrunched up in a cute way each time she made a noise.

  Thankfully, the place wasn’t too wrecked and most of the mess stayed in the kitchen and dining room areas.

  “Do we need to clean up?” she whispered as I gestured for her to enter my bedroom and shut the door behind us.

  “Nah. I have someone coming to handle it all tomorrow.” Grabbing her hands, I slowly guided her to the side of the bed. She hesitated, and it made me wonder if she was going to change her mind about this whole… arrangement. “You still cool with this?” I asked, wanting to make sure she hadn’t come to her senses after the alcohol wore off.

  “Definitely.” With a bit more hesitation, she pulled her hands away and fidgeted with her mask, as if making sure it was on tight. “Can we do something fun though?”

  “I thought we were going to do something fun,” I joked, feeling all too nervous in my own skin—my own room. This was a place I should’ve felt comfortable. Yet, having her in my space had me more twisted up than a trailer in a tornado.

  “I mean, in addition to super-sexy fun time,” she said with a wink that was barely visible beneath her black mask, making my stomach do all kinds of crazy things. Her green eyes peering through the holes were like a mystery to me—one I had to solve.

  “What’d you have in mind?” I asked, curious what could be even more fun than super-sexy fun time, as she put it.

  “Let’s keep the masks on, Phantom.” Her widening grin told me this was something she was looking forward to. “You game?”

  “I’m game for anything, Black Cat,” I said. “Plus, I glued this fucker on. Doubt I will be patient enough to get it off right now anyway.”

  “Good,” she said in a hushed tone. “I think it’s sexy.”

  Her eyes never left mine as she slowly sat down on my bed. I just watched, enraptured by how elegant she looked. Settling back on her elbows, she extended one foot out, holding it up expectantly. It took me a moment of gawking at her shapely legs before I realized she wanted me to help he
r remove her boots.

  With my heart rate increasing by the second, I got down on one knee and began unzipping them, my fingers caressing the leather at a measured pace. The sound of the zipper seemed loud, mixing with my excited breathing and filling the void in the quiet room. Eagerly, I continued down her leg, each inch revealing a soft fabric, which looked kind of like long socks with a sexy, lace top.

  I grabbed hold of her heel, tugging lightly and allowing the leather to fall away from her leg, revealing the cute boot sock beneath. Dying to press my lips to her soft skin, I cupped my fingers beneath the lace top and pulled, gracefully gliding the sock to her ankle. As the stocking began to slide down her leg, I bent over and pressed my lips to the soft expanse of exposed skin, starting at her knee and inching my way further and further, following the same path the fabric took. Her soft sighs told me I was doing something right, so I kept my lips on her long after the sock cleared her foot.

  “God, that feels amazing,” she breathed as I continued paying homage to her beautiful stem. She moaned as I began rubbing the sole of her foot while peppering a trail of kisses along her ankle.

  Gently setting that foot down, I reached for the other, repeating the motions. The sounds she made as I took care of her were amazingly sexy. My mask began to get in the way, and I almost wished I could take it off so she’d be able to see me—the real me.

  Once her legs were completely devoid of boots and socks, I trailed kisses up her inner thighs, teasing and nipping as my fingers danced along her skin in unison. Without hesitation, she propped both legs on my shoulders while pulling the gloves from her hands and tossing them across the room.

  I wanted so badly to see her—watch the pleasure cross her features as she trembled beneath my touch. Lifting my head, I continued to graze my hands up the outside of her thighs, to her hips, and up beneath her dress. Pulling her head up, she looked me in the eye, desire pooling in their green depths. Biting her lip, she sat up further and began to unzip her dress, all while never allowing her gaze to leave mine.