Lori didn't know even a quarter of the people at the party.
She fully expected to have an epic hangover in the morning.
She was sure Emma, their babysitter, had to have noticed her slurred speech when she called home to ask if the college sophomore could stay a few more hours.
She hadn't been to anything like a party in more than a year, maybe two, and Lori was loving this one!
After a difficult pregnancy, including a couple of months of bed rest and ending with an emergency C-section several weeks before her due date, Lori had spent almost a year at home with Winnie, their tiny new daughter and Derek, their rambunctious two year old. It had been the most rewarding year of her life, but she missed being with adults, and being able to every so often do things just because she wanted to.
Stuck in full time mothering mode, when Kevin told her that their friends Paul and Andrea had invited them to a party that Friday, her first reaction was to say no. Kevin didn't just let it go, pointing out how she'd often told him how she felt isolated. "I think you could use a night out," he said, "and since Winnie gave up nursing last month, I don't see any reason we can't go." She had to agree that a night out would be a nice change from their usual routine, and told Kevin she was up for it!
The night of the party, Lori tried on at least five different outfits, asking Kevin for his opinion. Seeing how worried she was about her appearance after months of mostly dressing in sweatpants and baggy t-shirts, he told her, "Honestly, sweetie, you look great in any of the outfits you've tried. I don't know how you've managed it, but you look hotter right now than you ever have!
She still was a little nervous about her appearance, but could have explained how she'd managed to get herself back in shape; busy as her two tykes kept her, she found time to work out on the various equipment in their basement which Kevin had bought but never found time to use. He hadn't noticed that the treadmill, rowing machine, stationary bike and stepper never seemed to get dusty.
Arriving to the party, which was already in boisterous progress, both Lori and Kevin jumped in; Paul and Andrea introduced them to a few people, but Lori's small talk skills were a bit rusty. Taking advantage of not having to worry about passing on any alcohol to her daughter, she relaxed after a few glasses of wine and even had a couple of tequila shots!
A bit past Midnight, the party was clearly winding down; other than Paul and Andrea there were at most three other people Lori knew and a handful of Paul's co-workers hanging in. Though she'd really liked being out in the world, Lori knew they had to get home before too much longer; the problem was both she and Kevin were in no shape to drive home or give the babysitter a lift to her home. Paul offered them the use of a guest bedroom for the night, but Kevin and Lori insisted that they couldn't stay the night.
"You can hang out here as long as you need to," Paul said, "It'd be nice to just sit out on the patio and chat, we didn't get to catch up when the party was in full swing!"
Lori was happy to have a quiet conversation with their hosts; she had known Paul since she and Kevin had met during their Senior year in college, but she'd only met Andrea a few times before she and Kevin had become focused on their kids. Andrea and Paul chatted mostly about their work, Lori and Kevin mostly talked about how different their lives were with two young kids. "We must sound really boring to you two," Lori said.
"That's not true," Andrea replied, still slurring a bit, "I was actually thinking the same thing, I mean that our work stories have to seem unimportant compared to having to take care of your two youngsters!" Realizing that all four of them were still fairly intoxicated, she said, "hold that thought, I'll be right back!" Moments later she returned with a handful of Red Bulls and passed them out.
"I appreciate the thought, but I think it'll take more than this to wake us up," Kevin said, noticing it was almost 1:00 AM, "besides the alcohol, the truth is we're usually sound asleep way before this time!"
"Maybe we should stop talking about our day to day and try something different to keep you two awake while you sober up," Andrea said, "How about a game of Truth or Dare?"
Lori had never played Truth or Dare in college, somehow managing to miss the fun she heard her roommates discussing the handful of times they'd gotten into a game. From the stories they told, it seemed like the game always ended up including some sort of risque behavior!
Lori turned out to be the only holdout, finally giving in only after getting Andrea, Paul and Kevin to agree that sexual behavior was forbidden. The group also settled on a few other ground rules:
The game would start with one of them spinning a bottle to point at a second player, who then had to choose to either truthfully answer a question or perform a dare given by the first player.
A player would be allowed to change their choice of a Truth or a Dare after hearing what would be required, but if they did so they would have to accept whatever substitute Truth or Dare the other players agreed on.
Still somewhat doubtful that this was a good idea, Lori was the first person to be chosen to submit to a question or perform some sort of dare. She chose Truth. Paul asked her,"Who was the last guy you kissed other than Kev?"
"Terry Wachovsky," Lori answered immediately. Still a bit addled by the drinking, Kevin tried to remember if he'd ever known anybody by that name, and if so, when would he have been around! Lori wanted to get on with the next person; wasting no time, she spun the bottle.
The bottle pointed to Paul, who smirked and looked straight at Lori and said, "Dare."
Annoyed by his smirk, Lori blurted, "Take off your shirt!"
"Raising the stakes a bit, are we?" Paul asked, but he didn't seem to mind, having his shirt off before Lori could answer.
Lori defended her choice of dare as Paul spun the bottle, saying, "I didn't think it was a big deal, Paul's been on this patio without a shirt too many times to count. It's not sexual."
Paul's spin pointed at Andrea, who called for a Truth. Paul asked her, "Of the vast number of men you've kissed, who was the best?"
Depriving her husband of the answer he expected, Andrea said without delay, "That's easy, Tom Hervart, my first boyfriend in college." Seeing a look of disappointment on Paul's face she added, "Sorry, love; you're better at SO many things, but that boy knew how to kiss! Besides, it was years before we met." Even though it didn't involve her, Lori felt herself blushing as her friends joked with each other. Andrea spun the bottle, which ended up pointing at Kevin.
"Truth," Kevin chose, thinking it safer than whatever Andrea might have in mind as a Dare.
Looking pleased with herself, Andrea asked, "When was the most recent visit you've made to a strip club?"
Looking a bit uncertain of how to answer, Kevin tried to guess if Paul would back him up if he tried to say his last strip club experience was way back before he and Lori were married. Paul had been with him less than two months ago at a club one town away, but would he want to rat out Kevin if it meant admitting to Andrea he was there as well? He decided the hot water he'd be in when Lori heard the truth would be nothing compared with what he'd be in for if he tried to lie now and Paul snitched on him. "Middle of July, this year," he said sheepishly.
"What the fuck?" Lori grumbled, glaring at her husband, shaking her head as he tried to explain that it was a co-worker's choice for celebrating his last day in the office. He considered quitting the game but went ahead with his spin, which pointed right back at Andrea!
"Dare!" Andrea chose.
Kevin somehow didn't consider how, in her current mood, Lori would view his asking of Andrea what he did, announced her dare; "Flash us your bra!"
"Okay," Andrea replied slowly, "any part at all, or something specific? How long a flash?"
"All of it, for at least one minute," Kevin answered unwisely.
"Not what I was expecting from you, but I can do that!" she replied, pulling her tank top up to her chin! She stood up and did a leisurely spin around to let her companions see her bra, a semi-sheer red thing, size 36C, in its entirety from all angles. When Paul announced her minute was up she let her top settle back in place and sat down.