Gamers

It was the 2nd of January, and Vee had basically just told me that she was in love with me. She was blushing, and hanging her head. Thank God for that - I was blushing, too. My knees were trembling. It was hard to breathe. I was stunned, and speechless.

I should not have been. Now that it hit me, I should have known long ago. Vee had drawn the cards for my game, a labor of love if there ever was one. She had taken photos of me. And Jazz had been telling me to share the wealth all along. Did she mean Vee?

- "How ...?" I didn't even know where to begin. "Are you sure, Vee?"

She looked up, into my eyes. ""From the beginning. The first time I met you."

Oh shit. "I - I'm ..."

- "I know that you still have feelings for Jazz. And maybe you've never thought of me in a romantic way." she said. "But I had to tell you. I'm going to tell Max that I can't see him anymore."

Damn. I had completely forgotten about Max for the past two minutes.

Vee looked right at me again. "I know that this is a lot to dump on you, all at once. But I don't want to pretend any more. I have feelings for you, and I want to do something about it before you start seeing someone else."

I found my voice. "You know I think you're wonderful. And I ... I may have feelings for you, too. But ..."

- "Jazz?"

- "No, in some weird way I think that Jazz has been pushing me towards you. No, It's more about Max. I can't ... steal you from him."

- "It wouldn't be stealing." she said.

- "I know. But would he see it that way? I don't want to hurt one of my best friends."

- "Dean, I'm going to break off with him in any case - no matter what happens. That part has nothing to do with how I feel about you."

- "I believe you." I said. "Unfortunately, it's not that simple."

She nodded, sadly. "I understand. It's one of the things I admire about you. But is there a way this could happen?"

I was still having trouble breathing. It's not the usual, for a male, to have a lovely woman declare herself this way. Traditionally, it's the male who puts his heart on the line, to be accepted, or shot down in flames. I felt tremendously flattered, and moved. This beautiful girl - she was getting better looking by the second - was telling me that she loved me. How could I turn that down?

- "We need time, Vee." I told her.

She nodded. "I'm seeing him tomorrow. I'll tell him - not about you, but about how I can't go out with him anymore."

- Okay." I said.

- "And then I'll wait for you. You're worth it."

******************************************************************************

I gamed with the guys a few nights later. Max told us what had happened.

- "Vee broke off with me." he said.

Gerry was shocked. "What? You're the one who drops girls - not the other way 'round. What the hell?"

- "Are you okay, Max?" I asked. I meant it sincerely.

- "Yeah." he said. "We never really connected, you know? I thought she was cute, and smart. And those tits - yowza! But she just wasn't into me, I guess."

- "I'm sorry." said Les. "Nothing awkward, though?"

- "No." said Max. "No hard feelings."

- "Anything on your radar?" asked Gerry. "The Maxmeister doesn't sit still for long."

Max glanced at me. "Actually, that depends on Dean."

- "Me?" I started to sweat. "How?"

- "Are you and Angie still seeing each other?" he asked.

I was

so

relieved. "No. Not since before Christmas. She wanted to date that guy Rick. Rick the Dick. We called it off a long time ago."

Max gave me his version of a penetrating glare. "So ... you'd be okay if I asked her out?"

- "You have my blessing." I told him, with absolute sincerity. And then I breathed a sigh of relief. He could hardly object if I started seeing Vee. Could he?

- "Let's play." said Les.

- "First," I said, "I have to show you what I got for Christmas." I brought out Jazz's board.

Max whistled. Les, for his part, just sat there with his mouth open.

- "Jesus H." said Gerry.

- "Holy shit." said Max. "That is amazing. I thought she was in design."

- "She is."

Les found his voice. "Dean, if you could get her to do the board for Amazons ..."

- "Instead of the map? I don't know. It's a lot of work."

- "No shit." said Gerry.

We played on her board. It was an experiment, of sorts, to see if the mechanics worked with four players. After all, it's a lot easier to find three other players than it is to find six.

Max tried the military route. Les and Gerry both tried the money strategy, while I gathered influence. I was doing quite well - too well, perhaps. Les and Gerry saw that I was ahead, and decided to pool their resources. They bought Max's support, crushed my faction, and then turned on Max.

It was an admirably executed strategy, and it worked to perfection - but not for Gerry. He tried to backstab Les one turn too early. He came close, but Les managed to turn the tables on him, and pull out a victory.

- "Awesome with four players." said Gerry.

- "I kind of prefer the six or seven." said Max.

- "Because the girls are there." said Les. He gave me a nod. "Four works great."

- "It would be even better if Vee would draw the portrait cards." added Max.

- "Holy shit!" exclaimed Gerry. "That's a monster job. There's like 80 of them."

- "She has the time." said Max. "She's single, now."

I was shy about sharing Jazz's self-portrait. I'm not sure why, but I decided to show it only to Les. He was speechless, again.

- "You didn't know about it?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I'm not even sure that Lucy knew. How could she have seen this, and not said anything to me? Dean - this is amazing. And heart-breaking."

My best friend got me.

*************************************************************************

I emailed Jazz about the reaction to her board, and then described the game we had played on it. I also let her know that I had showed her self-portrait to Les, and asked if Lucy had seen it. Finally, I tackled the difficult part: I told her about my meeting with Vee. I didn't leave out many details.

Her response came a day later.

Finally!!!! It's about time. How could you not know that Vee has had a crush on you since forever? You have my blessing, for what that's worth. Even more, you have my encouragement, and my hope that things will work out between you. She's a bit shy (compared to yours truly), but she's bright, talented, loyal, and best of all - crazy about you.

And she is lovely. Some people think she's cute, but that's an insult. Vee is downright beautiful. And she makes Angie look flat-chested! I have indeed been pushing you towards her. Of all my friends, she's the one I think is the best match for you.

I'm glad you played Maharajah with four people. That sounds like a much better balance. And I'm thrilled that they liked my board. That's what it's for!

You can show Lucy the sketch - she has only seen it via Skype. Maybe ... I wouldn't show it to the other girls, though. Keep it our secret. You can swear Gerry to secrecy, or something.

I know that Max complicates thing for you and Vee. Just wait. He's a butterfly - he'll land somewhere eventually.

Keep the updates coming!

Jazz turned out to be something of a prophet. Mid-way through January, we had a girls & guys game at Trisha and Angie's apartment. Angie asked me to come a little earlier, because she wanted to ask me something. I was worried - if Rick the Dick was permanently out of the picture, was she going to suggest that we resume our benefits package? That could be awkward.

To my enormous relief, that was not what she wanted to say. Instead, Angie let me down gently.

- "I know what I said, before Christmas. And Rick is

definitely

history. I'm sorry, too - I never thanked you for helping out at the party. I was just so ... embarrassed."

- "I understand." I said. "Nothing to be embarrassed about."

- "Thank you." she said, blushing anyway. "But ... well, I just wanted to say - I don't think that we should pick up where we left off, if you know what I mean. I'm sorry. But I ... I may be interested in someone else. I don't want to start something with you, if ..."

- "Max?"

She was shocked. "How did you know?"

- "I don't think it's that big of a secret."

- "Oh, no. Does Vee know?" she said. "The last thing I want to do is hurt her."

- "Angie - don't worry. Vee broke it off with Max. It was her idea. She won't be upset. From what I can tell, she'll be pleased for both of you."

- "You think so? I wish I could be sure. Could you ... could you

ask

her, Dean?"

Weird, right? I also had a talk with Max, letting him know that whatever he had heard, or thought, about Angie and me was long over, and that I was not in the running.

- "Thanks, man. I appreciate it." he said. Neither of us mentioned Vee.

We played Maharajah, on the new board. It received rave reviews.

- "Wow, Dean." said Trisha. "That girl is in love with you."

I winced. It was a good thing that Vee wasn't there that night.

- "How many hours did she spend on it?" wondered Angie.

Kasia wasn't there, and I simply refereed, so there were seven players. It worked well - though I think 4 or 5 players was the ideal. One thing we noticed was that people had an easier time remembering the different areas of the palace, because of Jazz's wonderful drawings.

After the game, Les and Lucy drove me home (they didn't do any of their legendary walks in January). I invited them in, so that Lucy could see the self-portrait.

She stared at it for the longest time, without saying anything. Finally, Les had to prompt her.

- "Well?" he asked.

She turned to me. "You are one lucky son of a bitch, Dean." she said.

**************************************************************************

Vee and I went out twice in late January. We kept it low-key - well, maybe 'secret' would be a better word. Angie and Max would have no reason to be jealous, but there was no need to rub their noses in it. I took her to dinner at a lesser-known Italian place on the edge of town, and we also went for fancy ice cream at a little cafe, also well away from campus.

It did feel odd to be so secretive, but we reassured each other that a) we weren't doing anything wrong and b) the purpose of the secrecy was to avoid hurting our friends' feelings.

I was also very honest with Vee. I liked her - quite a bit. But that wasn't on the same level as her declaration of love for me. She had spent hours drawing the cards for Amazons, as a gift to me. I had a good idea of how much time, and how much love was involved - since Jazz had done something similar. By contrast, I had done ... nothing.

I didn't feel that I deserved Vee's strong feelings. It was also going to become awkward if I didn't develop similar feelings - and soon. She understood.

- "It'll happen, or it won't. We'll deal with it either way." she said.

I wished I could share her confidence. I had no desire to break her heart. But it was impossible for me to say, so early in our semi-secret relationship, that I loved her. To be honest, I was still trying to figure out if Jazz was exaggerating: how could Vee make Angie look flat-chested?

It was difficult to estimate the actual size of Vee's chest. She almost never showed cleavage, and now, in the depths of winter, she wore layers of bulky clothing which concealed everything. That left me studying her face, whenever I had the opportunity. She had a cute little button nose. Oops! That word again - cute. But I was beginning to come around to the same appraisal as Jazz: Vee really was quite lovely.

We decided to keep our relationship a secret until Valentine's Day. That was our self-appointed day to begin officially dating. But we didn't last quite that long.

When I saw her at the very end of January, she looked wonderful. How had I ever believed that this stunning girl was merely cute? It may be that a woman who loves you looks considerably better than one who does not; some guys, though, may think the exact opposite. But I was coming to believe that I had seriously underestimated Vee's beauty.

I was dropping her off, outside the apartment she shared with four other people. She hadn't invited me in, because we were still keeping our dates a secret. Roommates talk, and two of them were acquaintances of Angie and Trisha. Vee also confessed that there wasn't much space in the apartment, with five bedrooms. But neither of us wanted the evening to end, so we sat in my parents' car, talking about anything and everything.

She was generally a bit shy, though she warmed up quickly if I took the lead. I liked finding a topic that could get her going; it was a pleasure to watch her face become animated. She saw me studying her, and stopped.

- "What?" she asked.

I leaned across, slowly. She didn't flinch, or move away. Her lips were slightly parted. She watched as I came closer, and closed her eyes as I gently touched her lips with mine. They were soft, and yielding. It was out first kiss, and there were fireworks going off in my head. I actually forgot to breathe, and had to pull back and take a deep breath.

- "Wow." I said.

She smiled, and leaned forward in turn to resume our kiss. We pressed our lips together, and kissed chastely for several minutes. I had no plans to go any further - it wasn't cold in the car, with the heat on, but we were both wearing bulky winter jackets. Vee had mittens on her hands.

But regardless of what I had planned, Vee's kisses were growing more a little more urgent, a little more passionate. Her breaths were shorter, a little more ragged. I extended just the tip of my tongue, and brushed her lip.

She responded instantly, seeking my tongue with the tip of hers. I was also beginning to be turned on, just from kissing. I reached an arm around her, and she came willingly, snuggling closer. There was just something about Vee, that made me want to hold her in my arms and protect her.

And this may sound heretical, but kissing Vee was, in some ways, more exciting than having sex with Angie.

We necked in the car for the better part of an hour. I stroked her thigh, through her pants, but didn't touch her pussy. I wasn't about to start something we couldn't finish. It got a little warmer - and a lot steamier - inside the car. Vee unzipped her jacket. I eventually slipped my arm inside, and hugged her tighter, but I resisted the urge to take hold of her breasts.

Vee finally disengaged herself, and we said a tender goodnight.

A week later, I took Vee out for a quiet dinner. I got her talking about her childhood, but she didn't seem as comfortable with the subject of her family. Instead, she got me going about how long I had known Les, Gerry and Max. That gave me a momentary qualm.

- "Are you sure Max isn't going to be hurt when he finds out about us?" I asked - it wasn't the first time we had had this conversation.

- "I don't think so." she answered. "No more than Angie. Probably less. We really only went out a few times. He held my hand a few times, and we kissed once or twice - but nothing like with you last week."

- "That was your choice?"

- "Yes." she said. "I'm sure Max would have liked much more. I like him - but I was never in love with him. I really only went out with him because he asked."

- "Well, Vee,

I'm

asking." I said. "Would you go out with me? I mean, officially - as of next week."

- "I would love to." she answered.

We had a nice meal, and a pleasant conversation. She turned down the offer of dessert. I asked if she wanted to go somewhere else for a drink.

- "Not really." she said. "Could you just take me home?"

I was a bit disappointed, but agreed to drive her back to her apartment. It was not quite so bitterly cold this particular evening. I wondered if she might be up for another necking session. But as I pulled up, Vee surprised me.

- "Do you ... want to come up? My roommates are out. I have some beer, if you want to have a drink here."

- "That would be great." I said. My mouth was suddenly dry.

Vee apologized for the apartment before she had even opened the door. "It isn't much." she said. That was certainly true. It made Angie and Trisha's place look palatial.

She went right to the fridge, and then swore. "Sorry." she added. Vee had bought me a six-pack of imported beer, but her roommates has absconded with four of them. I didn't care about that - I was stunned to see which brand she had bought. Months earlier, I had been arguing the merits of Belgian beers with Les. Vee had remembered the name of the beer I had championed that night. Hoegaarden, if you're interested.

- "I can't believe you remembered." I said. "How do you do it?"

Vee just blushed.

- "Can I see your room?" I asked. No, it wasn't my smooth seduction routine - I really wanted to see her room. The apartment didn't tell me anything about her, but her room would be full of things that might help unlock the mystery of Vee.

We took the beers with us. I would guess that Vee got last choice of the rooms. It was either a small den, or office, or else a large closet. There was room for a single bed, a small desk, and a chest of drawers. But she had photos pinned up over her computer - including four of me - and a few framed prints on the walls. I pointed at one that looked like a French impressionist painting.

- "Manet?"

- "Monet." she said, with a little smile.

I studied a second print. "That looks like ... the guy who went to Tahiti."

- "Gauguin?" she said, a bit surprised.

- "Yeah - Gauguin. Is it him?"

- "Noo ... it's mine."

- "Yours?" I looked close. "Wow, Vee - that's really good. You could have fooled me. Well - you

did

fool me."

We talked about art, and her work, for a bit. With my prompting, she produced a portfolio, and showed me some of her art. It was abstract, featuring bright colours and bold, slashing swipes of paint. Then she had incredibly intricate designs, with complex patterns endlessly repeated. Her influences, she told me, had been Celtic and Moorish art.

- "I'd love to go to Southern Spain some day." she said. "Granada, Seville ...". She showed me some photos of the Alhambra, and then more examples of the fantastic patterns.

- "I'm impressed." I said. "I can't believe it's so interesting, without a single portrait."

- "That's their religious stricture." she explained. "No human or animal representations. Same as the Orthodox Iconoclasts."

- "Thank you for showing me." I said. "It's ... it's wonderful to learn about you. The more I learn, the more I like."

She smiled, shyly. We were sitting on her bed - the only place to sit, other than at her computer - with a scrapbook spread across our laps. I kissed her. Vee kissed me back, a little more aggressively than she had in the car.

I had a flash of insight, then. Vee had been very bold, to tell me of her feelings for me. But that was not her nature. She let me lead in our conversations, choosing and changing the topics we discussed. I guessed that she would also let me take the lead in other matters.

We kissed, and I progressed from chaste to French in a matter of moments. I put my arms around her, and with my right hand, reached for her left breast. Vee didn't protest. In fact, she moaned into my mouth. I think I might have moaned as well. Her breast was so large, but so soft, and malleable.

- "Vee." I breathed. "I don't want to wait until Valentine's Day."

She sighed. "I don't either."

- "Then you have

way

too many clothes on." I told her.

Vee shivered, but she didn't object. Instead, she stood up, and put the scrapbook away. She looked me in the eye, and smiled. Then she pulled her sweater over her head. Underneath it, she had a flannel shirt, which she began to unbutton.