Mixed doubles was pretty much of a bust. Lila, with her height, natural grace of movement and shot-making ability could handle her part well, but Rachel was shorter and less skilled, throwing off the balance of power. It did not matter whether she played with Eli or with me, her partner was in trouble. Even though Eli and I tried to direct our hardest shots to each other and let the girls face off against each other, the team Rachel played on was a loser.
After three short and mediocre sets, Lila suggested the girls sit out and root on the guys. Eli and I played a couple sets of singles, both of which I managed to win in tie-breakers.
After we called it quits, I suggested Eli and Rachel come over to our house for a couple of beers. Rachel, who had been a little moody since her poor showing on the court, brightened at the suggestion.
On the way, we stopped off at the dairy bar. Amber, the amorous dairy maid who often looked me over and made suggestive remarks, was in the take-out window. I figured she was due for disappointment when she saw her competition -- the vision of my tall statuesque, brunette girlfriend would make her realize how hopeless it was, and she would probably stop coming on to me.
Wrong again: Amber still gave me her sultry up and down appraisal, but also greeted Lila respectfully. Amber was in one of Lila's classes. They exchanged some small talk. Amber even complimented Lila for "hanging out with such awesome guys." Lila reflected on the drive home that Amber was "very precocious."
When we got home, Rachel and Eli stripped off their sweaty tennis gear and jumped naked into the pool to wash off. Lila did the same, and after getting the beer, I made it unanimous, reflecting on how the recent liberalization in our social mores had made changing rooms and modesty less relevant. After cooling off, we all sat naked around the poolside patio table enjoying the beers. As the sun sank lower, however, clothing once again took on relevancy. Our guests asked if they could borrow some clean shorts and shirts, and we were happy to oblige, although Lila's clothes hung long on smaller Rachel.
After a light dinner and a couple more beers, Rachel went to their car and came back with what looked like three decks of cards, and suggested we try "another game that I stand a better chance in." The lettering one of the boxes read, "XXX Poker." Rachel explained the rules.
"It starts out like strip poker, with an extra twist. After your clothes are gone, the next time you lose a hand you have to pick a card from the deck and follow its directions." There were three levels of play, designed to fit the erotic comfort level of the players. The tamest was Level X for "adolescents and shy adults," according to the game description. It was designed merely to titillate and provide some laughs -- "a sort of spin the bottle thing" was Rachel's description -- French kissing, light petting, etc., and players could opt out and take penalty points or go into another room for privacy.
Rachel suggested we seek middle ground and "start off" at Level XX, which was designed for "polyamorous groups, swappers, swingers and open-minded adults." If we felt comfortable with that, we could try a customized level between Double and Triple X in the future, she said.
I looked at the game description and saw Level XXX was designed for "all of the above plus LGBTQ, S&M, no holds barred."
"You and I are never going to be comfortable with the Triple grade," Eli confided to me. "We should stick to the Double X level."
"I take it you guys have played this before."
"We were introduced to it by people Eli knows," Rachel said.
"It's a big ice breaker," Eli added. You get to know the ladies very well, much sooner than you usually would. That's the enjoyable part. It wasn't as much fun watching Rachel get to know the guys, but..."
"You certainly seemed turned on, though," Rachel said. "You couldn't take your eyes off me mixing it up with whatshisname, and I wasn't bored watching you and whoever. We liked it enough to get the game and play it with another couple."
"That second game was the first time I ever watched you getting fucked, except for the times we've had a mirror handy. I like it better when I'm seeing you get it from me in the mirror. But admittedly, it was stimulating seeing you in action with the guys. It increased my level of excitement with the ladies."
I looked at Lila. She was following the description of the game and this conversation with interest. She looked at me and said, "Well, for us, it wouldn't be like seeing each other naked for the first time or watching each other do things with strangers. These are our friends, and... well, we could try it." I marveled at how far she had come, so fast.
We made sure we all started out on an even field with the same amount of clothing. Several poker hands were dealt and played. Sometimes we dropped out of hands rather than play weak cards, which made us immune from clothing loss, but if we tried to play a hand and lost we had to remove something. The law of averages prevailed. Eli lost his shirt and shorts on the first two hands, but got a reprieve by winning the next couple, while the rest of us lost clothes. Lila was the first to bare her breasts, to a jocular wolf whistle from Eli. Rachel followed, and gave a bosom shake show, which affected my card sense so that I literally lose my shirt on the next hand. Rachel's shorts soon followed, and I had to admit the game became more interesting as these beautiful ladies shed their wardrobes.
Before long we were all down to skivvies. Lila was the first to lose it all, giggling as she dropped her panties, exposing her beautiful muff. Eli ran his tongue back and forth between his lips, getting some laughs. He lost the next hand, and had to drop his briefs, as the girls leaned forward with exaggerated stares at his crotch, followed by playful appraising gasps. He appeared to be semi-aroused, as was I. Rachel dropped the next hand, and her panties too, leaving me the only partly-clad player, down to my briefs. Next hand was lost by Lila.
"I have nothing left to take off. What now?" she asked.
"Now the real fun begins," Rachel said. "Pick a card from the XX Deck."