All characters are above the age of 18 unless otherwise specified.
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"Never have I ever gone skydiving."
"Oh come on, Claire, that's such a basic one to start off with!" Natalie complained.
"Okay well it's hard to be the one to start!" Claire protested back. "It was Jenna's idea anyway, I don't know why she got to pawn off starting it."
I took another sip of my drink, sitting back in the outdoor swing with my wife Sabrina next to me, our thighs touching lightly. It was funny watching the friends squabble with each other.
"Fine, I'll go," Jenna cut in. "You're right. Never have I ever... killed an animal."
I put down my finger: hunting with my uncle when I was 14 or 15. Shane, the other husband in the group, put his finger down as well.
"Of course it's just the guys," Natalie tssked. Jenna was the only one in the group of six who'd been skydiving, so the three of us had nine fingers left.
"Your turn," I replied, taking us in order around the group. Everyone else sat in their own individual chairs, me and Sabrina lucky enough to have snagged the two-seat swinging couch.
"Okay," Natalie said with a glimmer in her eye. "Never have I ever blacked out."
"Ugh that's a good one," Sabrina replied from next to me; every person beside Natalie put their finger down.
"Yeah bitch, I know," Natalie replied confidently and took another big sip of her canned margarita.
"Better be careful or you won't be able to say that for much longer," her husband Shane joked.
If we were at the stage of the night where we were playing high school drinking games, I would definitely say that was true.
But when you're in your late 30s and have a weekend alone without kids or work, you try to take advantage.
The four girls were best friends. My wife Sabrina and her friend Claire had been inseparable from their childhood, and when she moved to the same city as Claire after college, she was quickly incorporated in with Claire's other friends Natalie and Jenna.
Shane, Natalie's husband, and I were honorary members at this point, and had more than enough practice being "one of the girls."
And it was fun. Don't get me wrong; I loved beer and football weekends, but every once in a while it was fun to just watch reality tv, play silly games, and drink a spiked lemonade.
So a little weekend getaway to Jenna's (or her parents', technically) mountain cabin outside the city was a great opportunity to indulge in that side a little.
Besides, an 8-year-old and 5-year-old don't give Mommy and Daddy too much time for fun. So the occasional times when we could drop them off with my parents and relax were very, very necessary.
Naturally, that maybe meant a little overindulgence in drinking. I was already solidly buzzed, and I could tell pretty much everyone else in our cabal was even further along than I was.
Especially Natalie. Her cheeks were flushed and her words were already coming out a little slurred.
"Oh shut up," she said back to her husband.
Everyone had gotten up to the cabin in the afternoon, enough time to do a big grocery run, settle in for dinner, and then come outside to the fire pit for smores and drinks. Natalie had made everyone take a celebratory shot as a cheers for the weekend.
Shane chuckled at his wife before adding his: "Never have I ever kissed a guy."
All the girls put a finger down with groans. I put a finger down as well, leading to long stares from everyone but Sabrina, who had already heard this story.
"I kissed a friend in college as a joke, just fucking around. But I can say I've done it," I explained without prompting. "Never have I ever driven a boat."
A few fingers went down, and it was Sabrina's turn. She was pretty good at hiding her lack of sobriety, but I could tell exactly how drunk she was from the slightly glazed-over look on her face.
"Never have I ever been to a live sports game."
The circle continued, fingers dropping progressively. Mostly innocuous, and we finished off the game with Claire losing. Or winning? I guess it depends on perspective.
"Another round?" she suggested.
"Yeah but more fun this time," Natalie demanded. She had opened another drink. "Y'all have been doing boring ones. Get spicy! Come on, I want to have some fun."
"Okay Natalie, you start us off then," Jenna responded in kind.
"Alright. Never have I ever..." she paused for a second, contemplating. As if her own bar was a high one to clear. "Never have I ever masturbated to porn."
Shane and I glanced at each other, knowing that of course we were going to get taken out by that. My wife and Jenna did as well, leaving only Claire with Natalie.
"Alright," Shane paused. "Never have I ever put something inside me."
"Where?" Jenna asked.
"Like in a bodily hole. An orfa... offi..."
"Orifice," I offered.
"Yeah, that. Never have I ever put an object or thing inside an orifice."
Now it was the girls' turn to be targeted.
"Never have I ever had the cops called on me."
Unfortunately, no one put a finger down.
Sabrina's turn. I wondered what she was going to say, trying to think of all the things she'd never done.
I figured I knew what Sabrina's answers would be for all the questions; we'd been relatively open with each other about sex, and tried to be decently adventurous and fun in bed. So it was fun to know how her answers would go before she even dropped the fingers.
There were definitely a good amount of options for her to choose from too, but I also didn't know quite *how* drunk she was, and how much she'd want to share. "Never have I ever done the rice purity exam thing."
"Drink!" Natalie said to herself, dropping a finger and drinking, along with everyone else but me.
"Wow how cute, guess you guys are the pure couple," Jenna needled with a laugh.
"I just think it's silly. I've had more than enough fun in my life," Sabrina replied. "I don't need to put an exact fucking number on it or something."
Now it was Claire's turn. Claire was definitely the most innocent and timid of the group. It was no surprise she'd had the least amount last time, and the least fingers down in this R-rated version too.
"Okay, never have I ever... gotten high," she almost whispered after a pause for debate, as if she were confessing a deep secret to the group.
"Girl what? Never?" Natalie seemed taken aback. Personally I wasn't that surprised. We weren't in a legal state and Claire wasn't the type I'd expect to have an underground dealer.
"Like, on weed or any drug?" Shane asked.
"Any drug," Claire clarified. "But that includes weed."
"You should try it sometime," Natalie advised. "It's pretty nice."
Sabrina and I had partaken in smoking with Natalie and Shane on a select few occasions before.
"Maybe I will. I don't know, I just didn't really want to in college, and the occasion hasn't come up since then," Claire explained.
"Do you want to change that?" Jenna asked pointedly.
Eyes turned to her.
"What are you suggesting Jen?" my wife asked, giving me a sidelong glance.
"I maybe brought some edibles."
"Girl say less," Natalie declared.
"Would you want to try one?" Jenna asked Claire, arms wrapped around her knees, which were tucked up tight to her chest.
"I mean, sure. Why not?"
"Okay, cool. I'll get them," Jenna stated matter-of-factly.
Sabrina gave me a quick glance and tried to convey something that I couldn't quite mind-read. We communicated pretty well, but talking just in eye movements was tough for anyone.
"Is this an open invitation?" Sabrina asked, and I understood what she was getting at.
"Sure, for whoever wants one," Jenna said, and looked around the group.
"Yeah sure, I'm down," I said as nonchalantly as I could when Jenna's eyes fell on me. I definitely didn't want to turn them down but also didn't want to seem greedy.
"Might as well if everyone else is," Shane added.
Jenna scampered off back into the house. Sabrina leaned further into me on the swing in the wait, and I wrapped an arm fully around her, hugging my wife close to me, feeling her natural warmth and the subtle movements of her body with each breath.
Jenna returned quickly, and gave each one of us what appeared to be nothing more harmful than a fruit gummy.
Claire paused briefly before eating hers.
The game continued on as normal.
Never have I ever done coke. Been to a strip club. Done shrooms. Subscribed to an Onlyfans.
The pressure came with each successive turn to try to one-up the person in front of you.